Assessing Social Capital and Community Involvement: Social Network Analysis for the Sustainable Amish Community Tourism Development

Action research was incorporated in quantitative methods, qualitative methods, and social network analysis in this dissertation. Action research helps to refine the initial problem statement of the community (advertisement, lack of collaboration mechanism), and improving the local problem-solving capacity (showing them about their structure). At the same time, the researcher's own academic inquiry which was not directly concerned with community's needs and issues was successfully investigated because of the supports of community. Local knowledge, historical consciousness, and everyday experience of the insiders were acknowledged by the qualitative method. At the same time my skills in research procedures, quantitative data that I had access to, and comparative knowledge of the subject were shared with participants. Mixed method was used in this process. It contextualized causal understandings of social phenomena require lenses of both generality and particularity, both objectivity and subjectivity, both patterned regularities and idiosyncratic stories, both policy and advocacy value stances. Data (different people for the same event, different time for the same person) triangulation and methodological triangulation (multiple methods for the same inquiry) were employed to improve the credibility of findings. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Recreation, Sport, and Tourism

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Jeong, Seonhee

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bruce Wicks

• Sociology, Social Structure and Development

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3314805

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/86019