The state of qualitative tourism research

Previous reviews of tourism research methods have concentrated on studies u nderpinned by positivist science or assessments of quantitative methods and analyses. Conspicuous by their absence are reviews that focus on studies s upported by the interpretive paradigm and assessments of qualitative analys es. This paper provides a descriptive review of the latter research using f eature articles from foul major journals in the field, employing "moments o f qualitative research" as the framework or analysis. This paper makes no a ttempt to assess methodological sophistication but provides baseline data a bout previous and present uses of the interpretive paradigm and qualitative methods. It reviews each journal from its inception through 1996.