Case study – The primary methodological approach

To test the key elements of a V/R assessment, the primary research design elected for this PhD study was a case study research approach, which has been discussed in detail by Yin (2009). Case study research “is an in-depth examination of an extensive amount of information about very few units or cases for one period of time or across multiple periods of time” (Neuman, 2011, p. 42). For this thesis, Luganville’s dive tourism system represents the single case through which the established key elements of a V/R assessment are tested. This case study deals with the whole case of Luganville’s dive tourism system, but at the same time this case study will not and cannot deal with everything about this case (de Vaus, 2001). In other words, the focus of this case study will be on the vulnerability and resilience of Luganville’s dive tourism system, with particular attention on how the system’s resilience can be built through climate change adaptation.

There are seven key reasons for why this method was chosen. First, the case study approach is commonly used in vulnerability analysis (Calgaro & Lloyd, 2008; Eriksen & Kelly, 2007), particularly as it provides a way to ‘ground-truth’ vulnerability profiles at the macro-level (O’Brien et al., 2004). Second, case study is frequently applied in political science studies (Majchrzak, 1984; Verschuren, 2003). Third, the phenomenon of the study (i.e. tourism’s vulnerability and resilience to climate change) is difficult to distinguish from its context (Yin, 2009). Fourth, the case study approach is deemed appropriate when the introduction of interventions in the study is impossible (de Vaus, 2001). Fifth, the case study approach can be powerful in exploring a phenomena that is uncertain or ambiguous (Gray, 2004). Sixth, the case study approach aligns well with pragmatism, as it does not link to a particular method of data collection but allows for all, and multiple, data collection methods to be applied to a case study (de Vaus, 2001). Finally, the reason this was the most appropriate primary methodological approach follows Yin’s (2009) analysis in that the underlying research questions of the second research objective were primarily how or why questions (i.e. Why, if at all, is Luganville’s dive tourism system vulnerable to climate change? How can the resilience of Luganville’s dive tourism system be built?); no control of the research environment could be exercised; and the focus of the research was on tourism and climate change (a

91 coupled human-environmental system), which is a current phenomenon with real-life context and an exploration of this phenomenon in depth.

Further to these key reasons, the case study approach was deemed the most appropriate methodology when compared to other methodological approaches. Even though the knowledge of the past can be important in building a system’s resilience (Gallopín, 2006), a case-study approach was more relevant to this study than a pure historical approach, as direct observations of the event could be made and people impacted by the event could be interviewed (Yin, 2009). Qualitative research was a key element of the research design, as this research intended to take a holistic approach exploring a multitude of factors impacting the tourism-climate system, as opposed to focusing on only a few variables of this complex system (Hancock & Algozzine, 2006). As surveys and archival analysis were also relevant methods for the research questions posed (Yin, 2009), elements of these research approaches through the secondary data were also included in this study’s research design, further strengthening the research approach.

The case study approach allows all data collection methods to be applied (de Vaus, 2001), although there is no clear direction in the literature as to which methods are most suited to case studies (see Verschuren, 2003). Yin (2009) identified six main data sources for case study research: documentation, archival records, interviews, direct observation, participant observation and physical artefacts. In applying the case study approach to the case of Luganville’s dive tourism system, the main data sources used in this thesis include interviews and group discussions, as discussed further in Section 3.3.3 on primary methods, whereas the supporting methods include content analysis of secondary data and observations recorded in field diaries, as discussed further in Section 3.3.4 on supporting methods.

One key criticism of the case study approach is in relation to its generalisability (Flyvbjerg, 2006; Verschuren, 2003). Flyvbjerg (2006) counteracts this argument in his statement, “Social science has not succeeded in producing general, context-independent theory and, thus, has in the final instance nothing else to offer than concrete, context- dependent knowledge” (p. 223). The effects of climate change and how these effects impact on tourism systems around the world are very context specific. The case study approach is a well-suited methodological approach that can help achieve such context- dependent knowledge (Flyvbjerg, 2006). It might be that the findings of this study do

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not apply to dive tourism systems in other parts of Vanuatu, the Pacific or in other parts of the world. However, the overall knowledge gained from testing the key elements of a V/R assessment in Luganville’s tourism system context—a real life context—will guide the development of a conceptual climate change V/R framework for tourism (de Vaus, 2001), which is the main aim of this thesis. This framework can then be tested in other contexts by studies using other methodological approaches and/or methods.

As this thesis sets out to develop a conceptual climate change V/R framework, the elements of the structured-case research approach proposed by Carroll and Swatman (2000) and as presented in Figure 3-2 were applied. The three research objectives of this thesis fits well within the structured-case research method, as follows: (1) the first research objective aims at identifying the key elements of a climate change V/R assessment through literature-based scrutiny; (2) the second research objective aims to test the key element of a climate change V/R assessment through a case study of Luganville’s dive tourism system that entails the planning, collecting and analysis of the data; and (3) the third research objective aims to propose a new climate change V/R framework for tourism by reflecting on and evaluating the effectiveness of the applied steps of the climate change V/R assessment.

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3.3.2 Rapid rural appraisal (RRA) – The supporting methodological