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Methods and Methodology

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Entrepreneurship in Family Business

Part of the book series: International Studies in Entrepreneurship ((ISEN,volume 30))

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Abstract

Having (re)conceptualised and operationalised “familiness” and entrepreneurial processes in the last chapter, I shall now turn to the design of the research. This chapter, therefore, will outline the methods used in this research with relation to the data collection and analysis. My main objective in this chapter is to justify and make sense of my selection of these research methods.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In choosing this specific region for the fieldwork, accessibility was an important consideration, while other rationales will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter.

  2. 2.

    I lived, studied, and worked in business in eastern China, until early 2004.

  3. 3.

    By using the selection criteria as stated above, some businesses, based on the initial visit, were less relevant to the purpose of this research, being either not in their second generation or not entrepreneurial. These businesses were taken off the case list, replaced by others which were approached, assessed, and selected.

  4. 4.

    This emphasis was very helpful for increasing the interest and a subtle sense of responsibility of the participants, particularly of the owner-managers.

  5. 5.

    In practice, such paperwork cast a potential shadow on the interviews by actually arousing the participant’s alertness from the outset. I then had to continue with topics of a “casual” nature, such as personal and family experiences, and even current events at both national and international levels, to moderate the participant’s nervousness after signing the documents.

  6. 6.

    It is common practices in China that small to medium-sized private enterprises deliberately process their financial statements and operational records, for tax purposes for instance, so that publicly accessible figures are different from their actual performance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New Zealand Asia Institute, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Henry X. Shi

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  1. Henry X. Shi
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Correspondence to Henry X. Shi .

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© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Shi, H.X. (2014). Methods and Methodology. In: Entrepreneurship in Family Business. International Studies in Entrepreneurship, vol 30. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04304-3_3

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