「觀光學」所涵蓋之內容與涉及的層面相當廣泛，嚴格說來，它並非基礎成獨立性學科，而是一門多元化、應用、與綜合性學科，所以若得以將各相關學術領域的理論，善如運用於與「觀光」相關的研究，必能多少對觀光學界在學術領域中之形象的提昇有所助益。「觀光」乃工業化及已開發國家中相當普遍的一個社會現象。然而，以社會學角度出發，來探討此一現象的研究輿論述卻不多見。社會學已是一個相當成熟的學術領域，其各派理論必定有助於我們詮釋和瞭解「觀光」這個大眾化的現象。殊為可惜的是，我們卻未能善加運用這些社會學的知識。有鑑於此，本文特嘗試著運用當代三大主就社會學派（結構功能學派、衝突學派、及符號互動學派）的理論來探究「觀光」這個現象。

Tourism is a multifaceted phenomenon that can be approached from various perspectives. Different sociological theories can give us important insights into the forces that shape the world of tourism. When studying tourism, however, researchers have rarely taken a sociological perspective. This study explored the possibility of adopting sociological theories in tourism research. It seems obvious that the study of tourism would benefit much from adopting sociological theories.