Abstract
A key mission of this journal is to enhance the theoretical development of the fields of hospitality and tourism. While much of tourism research has been built upon theoretical underpinnings, a longstanding view is that hospitality is an applied field that utilizes theories from other fields rather than its own. Hospitality settings merely provide the context for a study. In this issue, we present a call for a deeper look at the potential for theory development in lodging and foodservice. In the first article, we propose a line of reasoning to suggest that there may be a theory of lodging based upon the differences in human behavior at home versus when staying in a hotel. How we choose to live in a hotel as viewed through our use of the facilities can be distinctive from how we might behave in our own homes.
In the second article is offered a discussion about how we dine at home, in our local community, and when traveling further away. When eating at home, we have all of the food preparation and dining provisioning responsibilities. When eating in our local community restaurants, we often make different selections than we do at home. We may meet neighbors or friends. We often want to revisit a favorite restaurant. As we may be observed by others who know us at these restaurants, we usually practice our social niceties in order to remain a citizen in good standing in the community. When traveling, we have no meal facilities of our own, so we must eat in restaurants. It is a time when we are fairly certain that we are not observed by those that know us and we are often more adventurous. We may want to experiment with unfamiliar menu selections. We may indulge. The sense of freedom from daily conventions coupled with distinctive food offerings often allows us to temporarily shift our dining behaviors.
We offer these articles as a beginning point for exploration without firmly advocating that either theory exists or should exist. Theory development is a demanding process that includes careful thinking with well-reasoned arguments. Prediction is a central tenant. These steps have yet to be accomplished. For now, we wish to stimulate the academy to explore these ideas. We invite you to read the articles, think about the ideas, and then join us in further discussions.
Separately, we also will be offering an open forum to discuss the use of classical null hypothesis statistical testing versus other approaches in our published research. Scholars are recognizing that classic testing of the null hypothesis is not always appropriate for social science research. Another approach, Somewhat Precise Outcome Testing (SPOT), has emerged as an alternative approach that does not rely upon linear thinking and null hypothesis testing. The difference in approach has catalyzed some questions and challenges in hospitality and tourism research communities.
We plan to have open sessions for these discussions at the 2017 ICHRIE summer conference in Baltimore, MD. We welcome your involvement as it is our collective scholarly community that shapes these ideas and values. Come join us in Baltimore!