Having worked with many entrepreneurs before becoming an academic and then interviewed entrepreneurs and small business owner-managers for my research, I found that they are busy people who do not always understand or have an interest in the academic contribution to their work. The best way in my experience is to make personal connections, I always phoned them before sending them anything.
Also make sure you explicitly make it clear that you understand their time pressures but appreciate their help. Phone interviews were sometimes easier to organise than waiting (in vain!) for response to written communication but it depends on your method.
Kind regards,
Annika
Dr Annika Westrenius (PhD)
Open Foundation and Newcastle Business School
T: +61 2 4348 4610
E: Annika.Westrenius@newcastle.edu.au
W: newcastle.edu.au/profile/Annika.Westrenius
The University of Newcastle
10 Chittaway Road, Ourimbah NSW 2258
Top 200 University in the world by QS World University Rankings 2021
I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land in which the University resides and pay my respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
I extend this acknowledgement to the Darkinjung people of the land in which the Central Coast campus resides and which I work.
CRICOS Provider 00109J
Original Message:
Sent: 10/22/2021 7:58:00 AM
From: Jeffrey Pollack
Subject: How to improve response rates for entrepreneurs in academic research?
Dear ENTREP friends,
I write to ask for advice about what wording and strategies to use in recruitment messages to increase response rates of entrepreneurs in academic research these days. Especially in the time of COVID (when we cannot go see entrepreneurs in person), I've seen response rates decline. I looked to the literature and there is not much there. Does anyone have evidence-based suggestions?
I'd be happy to collect and share the feedback I receive.
Here is what I found in the literature so far...see below. I'd be grateful for additional suggestions on what literature to go to for insights (my email is jmpolla3@ncsu.edu).
Best to all, Jeff
Rutherford, M. W., O'Boyle, E. H., Miao, C., Goering, D., & Coombs, J. E. (2017). Do response rates matter in entrepreneurship research?. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 8, 93-98.
Tracy, E. M., Billingsley, J., Pollack, J. M., Barber, D., Beorchia, A., Carr, J. C., Gonzalez,G., Harris, M., Michaelis, T. L., Morrow, G., Phillips, D., Rutherford, M. W., & Sheats, L. (Forthcoming). A behavioral insights approach to recruiting entrepreneurs for an academic study during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Business Venturing Insights.
Jeff Pollack, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
Professor
University Faculty Scholar
Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Department
Poole College of Management
----------------------------
Abbreviated Land Acknowledgement: North Carolina State University sits on land that was originally stewarded by two Indigenous tribes: the Tuscarora and the Catawba tribes. We honor these tribes today by recognizing that this institution of higher education is built on land stolen from those who were here before the colonizers arrived. Additionally, this land has borne witness to over 400 years of the enslavement, torture, and systematic mistreatment of African people and their descendants. Indigenous Americans since long before their first contact with European settlers, shared their knowledge of the land and its resources and have continued to play a vital role in the development of our local communities, North Carolina, and the nation. We honor these people today and every day by recognizing them in order to break the cycle of colonization and the continued erasure of Indigenous and Black peoples. We must acknowledge the history of the spaces and places we occupy to both understand and unlearn the many ways that we have been socialized. (Statement created by Lynn Locklear-Fisher and adopted by Multicultural Student Affairs)
----------------------------
All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.