Tutorial Week 11

FIC0154 Basic Communication Research (27^th November 2012)

Reference materials: Sample journal article & how to read a journal article reference sheet (to be photocopied from your group rep).

Discuss the following questions and present a summary of your discussion in next week’s tutorial.

1.      What is the Research Topic?

A research topic is the specific area that a researcher wishes to investigate. A research topic could be written in a direct or indirect way. The research topic for this research is Islam and Online Imagery on Malaysian Tourist Destination Websites.

2.      What Background Information did the authors give you in order for you to understand their research?

Background information is also known as the introduction. Background is the information that the readers or other researchers need to know about the study. A background may include multi-pages and multi-sub headers to ensure the readers understand the specific research. A background should be written from a general form to a specific form which means from definition, to content, context or background (statistic, showing numbers and so on), and finally present the specific topic and research questions. This research emphasized on relating religion and the Internet. It showed that different religion used Internet for different purpose. In addition, this research also provided information on religious travel.

3.      Why do you think each of those topics/sections of Background Information is necessary?

Each of those topics or sections of Background Information is necessary as it provide information for the readers or other researchers to understand the research. The researchers need to include background information as it shows that the researchers do not make up the information by themselves. Thus, background information is also a support to ensure the research is both valid and reliable.

4.      What are the Research Questions of this study, if any?

Research questions are questions that researchers want to know the answers by doing the research and as a guide for researchers to conduct their study. Research question is general as it is open ended. Each research must have at least one research question. There are three research questions in this research.

(a)    How do Malaysian DMOs perceive Islam’s role in promoting their destination to Muslin and non-Muslim tourists?

(b)   How do Malaysian DMOs websites differ among themselves in portraying Islamic images?

(c)    How do Malaysian DMO websites portray Islamic images during festive and non-festive seasons?

5.      What is the Hypothesis of this study, if any?

A hypothesis is a statement which pre-establish the relationship between two variables and it could either be accepted or rejected after completing the research. A hypothesis is specific. Hypothesis is not necessary if there is no pre-establish relationship between the two variables. The hypotheses for this study are:

(a)    The perceptions of the Malaysia DMOs on Islam’s role in promoting their destination to Muslim and non-Muslim tourists.

(b)   The way Malaysia DMO’s websites differ among themselves portraying Islamic images.

(c)    The way Malaysia DMO websites portray images during festive and non-festive seasons.

6.      What is covered in the Literature Review?

A literature review is usually embedded within the introduction or a research paper or may be a standalone section. A literature review may contain few sub-headers. Literature review may include the things that other researchers have concluded in previous research, their findings and also their results. The background of religious, the purpose of tourism activities, the impact of tourism activities, and the online destination image are covered in the literature review. There are 5 sub-headers in this research.

(a)    Religious Tourism.

(b)   Islam and Tourism.

(c)    Islam and Malaysia Tourism.

(d)   Religion and Online Destination Image.

(e)    Conceptual Development.

7.      Why do you think the above topics are covered in the Literature Review?

The above topics are covered in the Literature Review as the topics are the information or data that other researchers have concluded in previous similar research, their findings and also their results. All these information are needed for the researcher to refine the problem, clarify techniques and prevent mistakes from the previous study.

8.      What Method(s) did the authors use to conduct their research? Briefly outline what they did and how they did it.

The method which authors use to conduct their research is interviewing with Malaysian DMO’s through email. The content of the email briefly explained what is the role of Islam in promoting their destination to Muslim and non-Muslim tourists and how does their website reflect Islam to promote their destination.

9.      What were the Results obtained from the Method(s)?

One DMO stated that their brochure and website only had one statement about Islam. Second DMO focused on Prime Minister Aspiration towards Islam Hadhari. Third DMO stated on heritage trails of Islam. Some of the examples are picture of mansion and mosque. While the other 5 DMOs stated took moderate approach on Islam.

10.  What Discussion points / Conclusions did the authors bring up as a result of their study?

The conclusion which authors bring up as a result or their study is they concluded that DMO’s pictures emphasize on beauty of destination. Result show minimal, albeit varying and portrayal of Muslim values on DMO website.

11.  What were the Implications / Significance / Importance of this research study, according to the authors?

Implication or significance or importance of this research study according to the authors are complements and adds to two streams of online religious studies and how religious group use Internet and online behavior by religious surfers. Furthermore, it shows how images become a source of information and to stimuli visitors to form perception of destination.

12.  What recommendations for Future Research did the authors propose?

Future research should avenues regarding the Internet’s role in marketing religion and religious destinations. Future research should validate the new variables as well as add more categories and variables to paint a fuller picture of Muslim imagery online. Besides that, future studies should extend this research to other Muslim countries in order to compare their online Islamic Imagery. Future research should also compares how government and private agencies differ in portraying Islam on websites. Future study could also consider what strategies besides the presence of Muslim imagery are used by DMOs to balance the information on their sites to attract Muslim and non-Muslim tourists. Last but not least, future research could cluster destination websites based on their website features.

13.  Were their Limitations in the study, according to the authors?

The limitation in this study is Malaysia, has limited the generalize ability of the findings. The other limitations included the content analysis lent minimal support to the first hypothesis and the results also lent minimal support to the second hypothesis.

14.  What Kind of Sources did the authors use for their entire research paper?

The kind of sources which the authors use for their entire research paper are:

(a)    Interviews by using open-ended questions.

(b)   Surveys by sending e-mails.

(c)    Journals on previous related study.

(d)   Websites on the field of study.

End

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Teh Woon Ya (0310182), Darius Shu (0309847).