Phenomenology of practice in hotels: a research protocol proposition

Abstract

This article aims to propose a Practice’s Perception Protocol. The protocol can assist researchers interested in understanding hotel management as a practice in different contexts. The 3Ps of the research are based on the phenomenology of practice (Van Manen, 2014) and comprise four phases. The first is related to the preparation when entering the field. The second and third phases involve phenomenological immersion in the field, using (1) shadowing with the recording of observations and informal conversations in a field diary and (2) in-depth interviews structured based on Seidman's proposal (2006) and Van Manen's guidelines (2014). Finally, the fourth phase covers the description and analysis of the empirical material. This last phase is carried out based on (1) the recommendations of Van Manen (2014) about the “phenomenological text”, (2) the guidelines of Strati (2007) on the technique of the “open text” and (3) the considerations of Cloutier (2016) on the writing of the text. The 3Ps can assist the researcher conduct studies in the context of hotel organizations and they have a potential methodological and practical contribution for researchers interested in investigating management as a practice in other tourist organizations.

Keywords
Phenomenology of practice; Research protocol; Hotel Management as Practice