Critical (Realist) Reflection on Policy and Management Research in Sport, Tourism and Sports Tourism

Abstract

Abstract The paper revisits the ontological and epistemological grounding of economic, social science and management research in sport, tourism and sports tourism that has, as its motivation, a desire to inform policy and management. To inform policy and management requires an implicit assumption about the generality of insights and, moreover, access to enduring phenomena upon which policy levers can operate and upon which management decisions can be based. Yet these assumptions are not typically made transparent in applied work emanating from an economic or management perspective and much social science research rejects the concepts. In what sense, therefore, can research inform policy or management advice, or can policy and management failures be understood? This paper argues that critical realism can provide the philosophical framework from within which answers to these questions can be offered. Moreover, critical realism imposes some clear guidelines upon the nature of research design. As well as research design, the paper revisits concepts of cause, including agency and emergence. The arguments are illustrated with reference to applied research into sports tourism.