RESPONSE: Criticism to qualitative methods in entrepreneurship studies

[entrepreneurship-phd at lists.uni-due.de]

From: a.r.anderson at rgu.ac.uk [mailto:a.r.anderson at rgu.ac.uk] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 6:12 PM

The fundamental issue about whether to employ a qualitative or quantitative approach to any topic, but especially entrepreneurship , is simply what questions am I asking. If you want to know how many or how often a quantitative approach is best. But if you want to know why or how, or simply what is going on here, you need a qualitative approach to be able to address these sorts of questions.

There is no point in trying to "critique" an approach without understanding its underlying epistemological and ontological underpinnings. Indeed, this is reflected in the different types of questions that we can ask. Two good papers that address this are: 

Paul Grant  and  Lew Perren  Small Business and Entrepreneurial Research 
Meta-theories, Paradigms and Prejudices , International Small Business Journal, Vol. 20, No. 2, 185-211 (2002)

Pittaway, L., 2005, `Philosophies in Entrepreneurship: A Focus on Economic Theories´, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, Vol. 11, No. 3, p. 201-221

You might also find the introduction to a 2002 JBV issue useful; 

William B. Gartner and Sue Birley, Introduction to the special issue on qualitative methods in entrepreneurship research,  Journal of Business Venturing, Volume 17, Issue 5, September 2002, Pages 387-395

Also a good worked example; 
Jack, Sarah L.,The Role, Use and Activation of Strong and Weak Network Ties: A Qualitative Analysis. Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 1233-1259, September 2005.

And 

Kevin Hindle, 2004, Choosing Qualitative Methods for Entrepreneurial Cognition Research: A Canonical Development Approach,  Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, Vol. 28, 2004


Alistair R Anderson

FSB Professor; Editor of Entrepreneurship & Regional Development; Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship