Researching Entrepreneurship

ISBN-13: 9780387257013 / Angielski / Miękka / 2005 / 218 str.

Per Davidsson

Opis

Entrepreneurship is a phenomenon of tremendous societal importance. It is also an elusive phenomenon, and researching entrepreneurship is therefore fun, fascinating and frustrating at times. In Researching Entrepreneurship, one of the most highly recognized entrepreneurship scholars shares in a personal and readable way his rich experience and ideas on how entrepreneurship can or should be researched. After a comprehensive treatment of entrepreneurship as societal phenomenon and scholarly domain, the core chapters of the book discuss design, sampling, operationalization and analysis issues on several levels of analysis: individual, venture, firm, industry, region and nation. The author provides numerous examples of problems and solutions from real research projects, as well as experienced-based suggestions for further improvements in future work. The book is targeted primarily at doctoral students and other (relative) newcomers to the field of entrepreneurship research. However, taking a fresh, reflective perspective and looking beyond research conventions, it should provide potential for inspiration and food for thought also for experienced entrepreneurship researchers. Moreover, while the examples are taken from entrepreneurship research, the book provides a unique "experienced empirical researcher" (rather than "textbook method expert") treatment of issues that are of equal relevance across the social sciences. This goes for topics such as the role of theory; qualitative vs. quantitative research; validity checking; statistical inference, and replication. Per Davidsson is Professor in Entrepreneurship at Brisbane Graduate School of Management, QUT, Australia, and Jonkoping International Business School, Sweden. He is also Chair of the Research Committee of the Entrepreneurship Division of the (American) Academy of Management."

Spis treści

What is Entrepreneurship?.- Entrepreneurship as Research Domain.- This Thing Called “Theory”.- General Design Issues.- Sampling Issues.- Operationalization Issues.- Special Topic: Preparing a “Secondary” Data Set.- Special Topic: Job Creation as the Dependent Variable.- Special Topic: The Power of Replication.- A Quick Look at Analysis Method.

O autorze

Per Davidsson is Professor in Entrepreneurship at Brisbane Graduate School of Management, QUT, Australia, and Jönköping International Business School, Sweden. He is also Chair of the Research Committee of the Entrepreneurship Division of the (American) Academy of Management.

Blurb

Entrepreneurship is a phenomenon of tremendous societal importance. It is also an elusive phenomenon, which makes researching it fun, fascinating—and frustrating at times. In Researching Entrepreneurship one of the most highly recognized entrepreneurship scholars shares in a personal and readable way his rich experience and ideas on how entrepreneurship can or should be researched. Numerous real examples accompany the treatment of problems and solutions concerning design, sampling, operationalization and analysis. Suggestions for further improvements are also provided.

While Researching Entrepreneurship is targeted primarily at research students and academics it is of interest also for those who have professional reasons to collect and analyze data from new and small firms, or assess the dynamism of the economy. For example, analysts in marketing research or consultancy firms, business associations, statistical agencies and other government offices may find this book to be a valuable tool. Moreover, while the examples are derived from entrepreneurship research the book provides a unique "experienced empirical researcher" (rather than "textbook method expert") treatment of issues that are of equal relevance across the social sciences. This goes for topics like the role of theory; quantitative and qualitative research approaches; validity checking; statistical inference, and replication.

Per Davidsson is Professor in Entrepreneurship at Brisbane Graduate School of Business, QUT, Australia, and at the Jönköping International Business School in Sweden. In addition, he holds academic side appointments in China, Latin America and the US.