This course aims to provide basic statistical techniques for investigating socio-economic phenomena, with specific attention to the tourism domain. Particular emphasis is addressed to the descriptive and inferential techniques for data analysis also in a multidimensional context. At the end of this course, the student will be able to i) collect and organize tourism data; ii) arrange a sample survey and build a questionnaire for his/her own research purposes; iii) perform statistical analysis in the tourism field.
Formal Lectures
Basic statistical techniques
Types of measurement scales: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scales. Representation of data in graphs and tables, Central indicators, variability indicators. Probability, sum and product principle. Probability application. Hypothesis test: null and alternative hypotheses. Brief description of linear correlation and regression, Regression analysis.
Design of a sample survey
Sources of error in primary surveys, sampling and non-sampling errors. The primary research process. Steps in a survey research design. Types of surveys: sample or total. Diagnostic tests: sensitivity, specificity, predictive values.
Questionnaires and field work
Issues in designing questionnaires for primary research. Administration methods. Tourism surveys & data. Scaling techniques. How to formulate the questions. The methods for administering a questionnaire. The methods to validate the question.
Methods for analyzing data from a questionnaire
Contingency tables and chi square test. Factorial analysis. Cluster analysis. Data requirements. Interpretation of estimation outputs
Candela G. e P. Figini (2010) Economia del Turismo e delle Destinazioni. McGraw-Hill, Milano.
Vaccaro G. (2007) La statistica applicata al Turismo - Hoepli, Milano
SKIFT MAGAZINE, Megatrends Defining Travel in 2018, 2018, https://skift.com/2018/01/17/the-megatrends-defining-travel-in-2018/.
UNWTO and UNEP, Tourism in the Green Economy, Background Report, (pp.1-64).
UNWTO (2017), TourisM, 2012 highlights, http://mkt.unwto.org/publication/unwto-tourism-highlights.
Garibaldi R. (2020) Rapporto Turismo Enogastronomico
M. R. Costanzo, (2020). “Le aziende ricettive del settore luxury in Sicilia: analisi della performance”, Kindle Direct Publishing, ISBN:9798637542031