ADVANCING UNDERSTANDINGS: A Linguistic Approach to Tourism Epistemology

Arguing that considerations of knowledge development should reflect a conversational, human-based view of knowledge production, this paper proposes a linguistic approach to understanding tourism epistemology. It then introduces a framework for exploring knowledge progression that includes the components of tourism morphology, or the creation and adjustment of concepts and models; the production and promotion of new interpretations and understandings; and the employment of such interpretations for the purpose of problem solving oriented to the needs of practitioners and policymakers. The paper concludes that scholars should analyze epistemological progress not only to comprehend the development of ideas and interpretations, but also as an exercise in reflectivity regarding the influence of academic forces and trends that govern the process of knowledge production.