Researching Entrepreneurship: Conceptualization and Design - Paperback

by Per Davidsson (Author)

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 Jking International Business School, Sweden. He is also Chair of the Research Committee of the Entrepreneurship Division of the (American) Academy of Management.

Back Jacket

In this book, one of the most highly recognized entrepreneurship scholars shares in a personal and readable way his rich experience and ideas on how entrepreneurship can be researched. 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 this fully updated edition, numerous real examples accompany the treatment of problems and solutions concerning design, sampling, operationalization and analysis.

Researching Entrepreneurship is targeted primarily at research students and academics who are relatively new to research or to entrepreneurship research. This said, basic knowledge of research methods is assumed, and when foundational issues are discussed they are typically approach from a non-standard angle and/or with an eye to illuminate entrepreneurship-specific problems and solutions. This makes large parts of the contents potentially valuable for entrepreneurship scholars at any level of research proficiency. The book is also of interest to sophisticated, non-academic users with a professional interest in collecting and analyzing data from emerging and young ventures, and to those who make use of published entrepreneurship research. 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; research design; validity assessment; statistical inference, and replication.

Entrepreneurship research has developed rapidly in the decade that has passed since the first edition. Therefore, all chapters have been comprehensively updated and many have been extended; sometimes to twice the original length. Two of the original chapters have been excluded to make room for entirely new chapters on "the Dependent Variable" and "The Entrepreneurship Nexus." While retaining a unique, personal tone, the author uses examples and references that build on contributions from a large number of top entrepreneurship researchers.

Author Biography

Professor Per Davidsson is Director and Talbot Family Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship at the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research (ACE) in the QUT Business School (Management). He holds a second affiliation as Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Jking International Business School, Sweden. Per is especially known for his extensive research on start-up and growth of small firms as well as societal well-being and job creation effects of those activities. Apart from many books, book chapters and research reports, he has published over 60 peer reviewed articles in scholarly journals, and he is one of the most cited scholars in entrepreneurship worldwide. In 2010/11, Per served as elected Chair of the leading professional organization in his field, the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. He is Field Editor of the leading scholarly publication, the Journal of Business Venturing and serves on the editorial boards for several other journals. He has led several major research programs based on longitudinal survey studies; large-scale archival data compilation and analysis, and experimental research approaches.