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Multicultural nation-states face an added layer of challenge to social cohesion when countries already face various degrees of political, socio-economic and religious divide. Communalism has been a dividing threat, and some societies have encountered civil wars. Reconstructing social fabric in post-war countries is a challenge, and there is a need for a catalyst that can reinforce social cohesion. Although post-war countries use tourism, tourism is also perceived as a hegemonic activity, which still needs to be verified. This paper aims to analyze the relevance of tourism as a catalyst for social cohesion of post-war societies. This study discusses the notion of social cohesion and debates the prospect of tourism to act as a catalyst. The paper provides new insights on how tourism can be used to reflect on the society and social cohesion. This study contributes to theory and practice by developing a framework for assessing social cohesion via tourism, using a qualitative approach. The methodology uses a review of literature and policies in tourism and social cohesion. Findings support the validity of tourism as a catalyst, and this study proposes a framework for assessing social cohesion via tourism.

In this study, the notion of social cohesion is discussed and the prospects of tourism to act as a catalyst are debated upon. A review of literature and policies in tourism and social cohesion are used.

Findings support the validity of tourism as a catalyst, and a framework for assessing social cohesion via tourism is proposed.

This study proposes a framework for assessing social cohesion via tourism.

Selecting the methodological approach is a critical decision as it largely determines the effectiveness of the research. Encapsulating the research approach as a chapter in a thesis is often a challenge to many young researchers, despite the abundance of guides on PhD thesis writing and on the various approaches to research methodologies. However, most guides are descriptive and fail to provide appropriate illustrations of a methodology chapter especially in qualitative research. In a qualitative methodology chapter, key factors are the assumptions, theoretical lens, and worldviews on the topic, making qualitative methodology chapter less definite, more subjective and lacks a conventional model. This chapter addresses the need for qualitative research samples and aims to advance the understanding of writing a qualitative research methodology chapter by providing essential guidelines. The guidelines are drawn from an actual qualitative research methodology chapter of a PhD thesis in the field of tourism and social cohesion.

This first chapter provides an overview of all the chapters included in this book. This book focuses on contemporary research methods in hospitality and tourism. Revisiting the traditional research methods is necessary for academia and practitioners in the hospitality and tourism field. New understandings and interpretations of traditional research paradigms such as positivism and interpretivism as well as more recent paradigms such as realism and pragmatism in the context of hospitality and tourism are vital to strengthen the research practices. We hope that the edited book can help researchers and practitioners in our field in their research journeys and applications.