BHM301 Research Proposal: Cultural Identity & Queen Victoria Market

This research proposal investigates the impact of the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne on the depiction of cultural identity. The study aims to explore how food exclusive to a certain region and culture influences overall cultural identity, and how society, culture, and religious attitudes relate to the experience of gastronomy within the market. It seeks to understand how the market enhances the cultural experience of tourists and locals, examining the relationship between food and culture. The methodology involves a snowball sampling approach and semi-structured interviews. The proposal highlights the significance of the research in understanding the intricacies of food and cultural relationships, referencing relevant literature on gastronomy, tourism, and cultural experiences. The research addresses the market's role in shaping cultural perceptions and experiences, contributing to the understanding of how food markets represent cultural identities.

RUNNING HEAD: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
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Topic - Impact of Queen Victoria market on the depiction of a cultural identity.
Introduction
Food markets and the consumers makes up the daily crowd in the Queen Victoria
market, right from the start of the morning. The overall consumers and buyers
comes from different parts of Melbourne and beyond as well (Sormaz et al., 2016).
The queen Victoria market is a busy market place and there are a number of
visitors visiting and leaving the hotels in the marketplace, on a regular basis as
well. In addition there is a range of restaurants in the Queen Victoria marketplace
as well where the food served in both formal and informal style – is another
attraction for the tourists and locals passing through this busy market place
(Pearson, Simon and Thompson, 2018). There has been not much studies about the
food culture of Queen Victoria market relating to cultural experience.
Background context
Food in the modern era, has drawn in significant attention, whether it be related to
health, fitness or as a representative tool for a cultural depiction (Okumus,
Koseoglu and Ma, 2018). Food as studied in gastronomy, reflects the generation’s
and a region’s taste preferences and the cuisines served that become the specialties
over a period of time – becomes an important mode for representation of a
culture’s identity. A visitor’s experience of a foreign culture for the very first time
or a repeated number of times is chiefly affected or rather influenced by the
traditional food and cuisine, inherent to a culture (Gálvez et al., 2017).
In Melbourne, people and food lovers visiting from different parts of the country
and outside as well take a trip to Queen Victoria market in Melbourne, in order to

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enhance their gastronomy experience and cultural fulfilment.
Research statement/question, aim and objectives
The aim of this research is to study the impact of Queen Victoria market on the
depiction of a cultural identity.
The research questions are :
1. How the food exclusive to a certain region and culture influences the
overall cultural identity?
2. How society, culture and religious attitude does relates to the overall
experience of gastronomy?
3. How the Queen Victoria market enhance the overall cultural experience of
the tourists and the locals?
The research objectives are : -
a. To study how modern day terms like ‘cult of prosperity’ and ‘cult of
health’ actually relates with the whole gastronomy experience.
b. To understand the various aspects of psycho social and pyschocultural
factors related to the experience of food.
Significance of research
The proposed research study would explore the relationships between food and
culture with respect to the Queen Victoria market.
Research Methodology and Data Collection Methods
The study will use a snowball sampling to collect the sample. The study will take
an exploratory research approach to study the phenomenon. A semi structures

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interview will be used as a data collection method in order to relate to personal
experiences of food and market.
Conclusion
The non-verbal aspects of a culture such as social perception about the culture is
portrayed chiefly by what is nowadays known as the ‘culture of food’. The study
will focus on understanding the intricacies of the food and cultural relationships
and draw a correlation between the same.
References

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Gálvez, J.C.P., Granda, M.J., López-Guzmán, T. and Coronel, J.R., 2017. Local gastronomy,
culture and tourism sustainable cities: The behavior of the American tourist. Sustainable
Cities and Society, 32, pp.604-612.
Okumus, B., Koseoglu, M.A. and Ma, F., 2018. Food and gastronomy research in tourism
and hospitality: A bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 73, pp.64-74.
Pearson, D., Simon, B. and Thompson, M., 2018. Opportunities for distinctive food tourism
experiences through promoting environmentally sustainable food choices: A case study on
Australian cuisine. CAUTHE 2018: Get Smart: Paradoxes and Possibilities in Tourism,
Hospitality and Events Education and Research, p.622.
Sormaz, U., Akmese, H., Gunes, E., & Aras, S. (2016). Gastronomy in tourism. Procedia
Economics and Finance, 39, 725-730.

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