Hi everyone: I have a cross-over article that is seeking a home. Reviewers
tell me it would best be a chapter in a book on entrepreneurship research
methods. Does anyone know of such book in progress? All ideas are welcome!
Kind regards, Howard Frederick
Measuring Entrepreneurial Activity in Low-Teledensity Countries
Abstract
In 2009, a team of 38 researchers carried out the Global Entrepreneurship
Monitor (GEM) survey of social and business entrepreneurial activity in the
Kingdom of Tonga. The GEM survey estimates the proportion of the population
involved in business and social start-ups and new firm creation. This paper
describes not the results of the survey but rather the methodology employed.
Because Tonga is spread out over a swath of the Pacific Ocean, the team
faced challenges in terms of survey design, field work, logistics, and
quality control. To meet the standards of rigour, we designed a ruggedised
method for measuring entrepreneurial activity. Countries with a teledensity
threshold of less than 30% (fixed lines per 100 inhabitants) present serious
challenges to survey designers. The study discusses questionnaire
preparation, recruitment and training of interviewers as well as survey
design issues such as sample size, response rate, sampling weights, and
lessons learned. The report will assist other teams in measuring
entrepreneurial activity in low-teledensity countries and provides
guidelines when it is repeated elsewhere. The study also proposes a way
forward to incorporate new technologies such as tablet PCs, GPS, and GIS to
address the dilemmas of measuring entrepreneurial activity in
low-teledensity countries. This case is accompanied by a 24-minute video
which illustrates the major points of the paper.
Keywords: Survey research methodology, household survey, teledensity
entrepreneurship, Tonga, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, small island
developing states.
Email:
howard.frederick@deakin.edu.au
Dr Howard Frederick | Professor of Entrepreneurship Education
Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Community | School of Management
and Marketing
Faculty of Business and Law
Deakin University| 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood VIC 3125
Office: +61-3-9251-7182
Mobile: +61-488-282-116
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