Description
Book SynopsisThis expansive and practical
Handbook introduces the methods currently used to increase the understanding of the usefulness and versatility of a systematic approach to qualitative research in entrepreneurship. It fills a crucial gap in the literature on entrepreneurship theory, and, just as importantly, illustrates how these principles and techniques can be appropriately and fruitfully employed.
The Handbook is underpinned by the belief that qualitative research has the potential to charter hitherto unexplored waters in the field of entrepreneurship and thus contribute significantly to its further advancement. The contributors seek to assist entrepreneurship researchers in making more informed choices and designing more rigorous and sophisticated studies. They achieve this by providing concrete examples of research experiences and tangible 'how to' advice. By clarifying what these research methods entail, how they are currently being used and how they can be evaluated, this Handbook constitutes a comprehensive and highly accessible methodological toolbox.
Dealing with both well-accepted qualitative approaches and lesser-known, rarer and more novel approaches to the study of entrepreneurship, this Handbook will be invaluable to those studying, researching and teaching entrepreneurship.
Trade Review'. . . the Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Entrepreneurship
is an important contribution to the field, and should be referenced in any paper using qualitative methodologies to investigate the entrepreneurial phenomenon.' -- Craig S. Galbraith, Journal of Enterprising Communities
'There is no hiding behind the ramparts of dry scholarship here. The credibility of the theory being spoken of is not the stuff of constructed proofs, but alignments of critical insight and utility. This is where qualitative work can make a difference to the field, and where this book makes its mark.' -- Robin Holt, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research
'The Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Entrepreneurship
is an unusually solid and multifaceted book on what qualitative methods have done, are doing and will do in entrepreneurship research. Every serious entrepreneurship scholar should read it. It points at the future!' -- Bjorn Bjerke, University of Kalmar, Sweden
'I would warmly recommend this unique collection of qualitative methods of entrepreneurship research to both mature and beginning researchers as a menu to choose from for their planned empirical studies. For those who try to get away from only quantitative studies in both business practice and academic research, this book is their chance to find a rich inspiration in reflecting on entrepreneurship as a lived experience using grounded theory and ethnographic, discourse and narrative approaches. It might convince editors of top journals of entrepreneurship research to welcome qualitative research submissions as an indispensable complement to "quantitative only" submissions. This domain is not physics. In bringing together such a variety of experts from so many nationalities in this Handbook
, our Danish colleagues are making entrepreneurship research a realistic global venture.' -- Jan Ulijn, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
Table of ContentsContents: Foreword Sara Carter Introduction: Methodological Variety in Entrepreneurship Research Helle Neergaard and John Parm Ulhøi PART I: CHOOSING A VEHICLE 1. The Entrepreneurship Paradigm (I) Revisited William D. Bygrave 2. Critical Realism: A Suitable Vehicle for Entrepreneurship Research? Richard Blundel 3. Researching Entrepreneurship as Lived Experience Henrik Berglund PART II: STARTING OUT AND GEARING UP 4. Ethnographic Methods in Entrepreneurship Research Bruce A. Johnstone 5. Building Grounded Theory in Entrepreneurship Research Markus M. Mäkelä and Romeo V. Turcan 6. An Action Research Approach to Entrepreneurship Claire Leitch 7. Recognizing Meaning: Semiotics in Entrepreneurial Research Robert Smith and Alistair R. Anderson 8. Media Discourse in Entrepreneurship Research Leona Achtenhagen and Friederike Welter 9. A Foucauldian Framework for Discourse Analysis Helene Ahl PART III: GAINING SPEED 10. Sampling in Entrepreneurial Settings Helle Neergaard 11. Catching it as it Happens Ethel Brundin 12. Techniques for Collecting Verbal Histories Brian McKenzie 13. Using E-mails as a Source of Qualitative Data Ingrid Wakkee, Paula D. Englis and Wim During 14. The Scientification of Fiction Jesper Piihl, Kim Klyver and Torben Damgaard PART IV: WINDING DOWN AND ASSESSING THE RIDE 15. Assessing the Quality of Qualitative Research in Entrepreneurship Caroline Wigren 16. A Critical Realist Approach to Quality in Observation Studies Anne Bøllingtoft 17. Daring to be Different: A Dialogue on the Problems of Getting Qualitative Research Published Robert Smith and Alistair R. Anderson 18. Avoiding a Strike-out in the First Innings Candida Brush Postscript: Unresolved Challenges? John Parm Ulhøi and Helle Neergaard Index
