| Author: | Zhou, Ting |
| Title: | How do faculty members in teaching-oriented universities of China perceive research performance evaluation in hospitality and tourism management? |
| Advisors: | Law, Rob (SHTM) |
| Degree: | DHTM |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Subject: | Tourism -- Research Hospitality industry -- Research Research -- Evaluation Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | School of Hotel and Tourism Management |
| Pages: | viii, 158 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Evaluating research performance is essential to knowledge development. As the benchmark of knowledge advancement, evaluating research performance sheds light on the direction of academic research, in terms of allocating resources and distributing funds. In many university practices, the research performance has largely determined academics' career progression and consequently, there exists the increasing pressure on academics to reach the existing metrics of research performance. Nevertheless, the fundamental problem with how to employ "sound measurements" to define "good research" in hospitality and tourism management remains unexamined. This gap inspired researchers to explore how to define good research and how to scientifically evaluate research performance in hospitality and tourism management to direct academic research and encourage academics to conduct quality research. The four objectives of the study were (1) to investigate the academics' perceptions on a "good research" and explanations on what the "sound measurements" that can define "good research" are, as well as the influence of current measurement on career development; (2) to analyse what factors or incentives can effectively motivate academics to conduct research; (3) to examine the career goals of academics in different seniorities and how to achieve these goals; and (4) to provide recommendations on building an incentive mechanism for teaching-oriented universities to help the career development of academics. This exploratory study adopted a qualitative research approach guided by constructivist grounded theory to answer the research questions. By conducting 32 in-depth interviews of faculty members in teaching-oriented universities, the perceived characteristics of good research and measurements that can define good research were captured. The perceived measurements that define good research include counting publications and research projects, citation analysis and peer review, contribution to teaching, contribution to societal service and industrial interaction, and building research teams. Furthermore, the 11 categories of research incentives (incorporating three categories of intrinsic incentives and eight extrinsic incentives) were identified and organised on "the axis of research incentives", linking to the continuum of intrinsic-extrinsic motivation. The intrinsic incentives include the "puzzle" (passion & interest & sense of achievement), the "vision" (research aspiration), and the "mission" (career & family responsibility); the extrinsic incentives encompass the "metrics" (tenure & research assessment), the "weapon" (research knowledge & skill), the "ribbon" (recognition & award), the "gold" (financial rewarding & economical pressure), the "stage" (supportive platform & research policies), the "think tank"(mentor & team), the "air" (atmosphere & herd effect & exemplary role), and the "catalyst" (industrial prospect). This study also offers discussions and recommendations involving research evaluations of hospitality and tourism management. The discussed controversies include the orientation of publication compared to the orientation of contribution, the intrinsic drivers compared with the extrinsic drivers, pursuing quick result or deepÂploughing into certain research areas, and the encouragement of sole author or co-authorship. In sum, the results of this study provide knowledge to better understand the nature of good research, research assessments, and research incentives in hospitality and tourism management; the implications of this knowledge for stipulating research policies encourage academic research and benefit career development. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5799.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 3.67 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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