The epistemology of a set of tourism studies

The assumptions that underlie social science research in tourism are seldom made explicit. The aims of this article are twofold. First, the epistemic question in tourism is opened for closer examination as a means of developing the self-understanding of the grounds of knowledge amongst members of the tourism research community. This is addressed by a detailed epistemological reading of a set of five PhD studies, in terms of their epistemological antecedents and the contemporary constructivistcritical realist debate. Second, arguments are presented for an intensive engagement with epistemology in future tourism studies, on the basis that the status and importance of tourism research is closely tied to the general pursuit of a more satisfactory epistemological solution in the social sciences.