Papers by Edward McKeever
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2018
International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 2014
Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 2020
Handbook of Qualitative Research Techniques and Analysis in Entrepreneurship
Until the mid-1990s, research in the area of entrepreneurship was often described as a mono-metho... more Until the mid-1990s, research in the area of entrepreneurship was often described as a mono-method field, heavily reliant on surveys and questionnaires (Aldrich 1992). This focus on ‘numbers’ and the dominance of a positivist paradigm has been explained by the existence of a more or less dominant set of philosophical assumptions and associated methodological procedures (Silverman 2001; Bryman and Bell 2003). In terms of distinctiveness, positivist or natural scientific inquiry is best understood in terms of a desire to deduce and measure the nature of reality and represent it in quantifiable terms (Zaner 1970; Bryman 1988). Since the turn of the millennium however, entrepreneurship and small business journals have started to reflect a growing openness to new philosophies and methods of inquiry (Gartner and Birley 2002). This increased maturity and tolerance of previously unorthodox approaches has been explained in part as a reflection of the philosophical and methodological sophistication of a growing body of interpretive business research (Anderson 2000; Cope 2005a; Jack 2005). It also reflects a shift in the types of questions being asked by researchers with roots in the more established social sciences relating to the ‘how’, ‘why’, ‘when’ and ‘where’ surrounding entrepreneurship and the contexts in which it takes place (Chell and Pittaway 1998; Kodithuwakku and Rosa 2002). Gartner and Birley (2002) have commented that this represents the progression of qualitative research from being a ‘special case’ to being recognized as a useful and coherent method of exploring the rich and complex phenomenon of entrepreneurship.
Journal of Business Venturing, 2015
Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 2014
ABSTRACT Social capital, which offers the broader theoretical construct to which networks and net... more ABSTRACT Social capital, which offers the broader theoretical construct to which networks and networking relate, is now recognized as an important influence in entrepreneurship. Broadly understood as resources embedded in networks and accessed through social connections, research has mainly focused on measuring structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of the concept. While useful, these measurements tell us little about how social capital, as a relational artefact and connecting mechanism, actually works in practice. As a social phenomenon which exists between individuals and contextualized through social networks and groups, we draw upon established social theory to offer an enhanced practical understanding of social capital – what it does and how it operates. Drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Robert Putnam, we contribute to understanding entrepreneurship as a socially situated and influenced practice. From this perspective, our unit of analysis is the context within which entrepreneurs are embedded. We explored the situated narratives and practices of a group of 15 entrepreneurs from ‘Inisgrianan’, a small town in the northwest of Ireland. We adopted a qualitative approach, utilizing an interpretive naturalistic philosophy. Findings show how social capital can enable, and how the mutuality of shared interests allows, encourages and engages entrepreneurs in sharing entrepreneurial expertise.
Handbook of Research on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 2014
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Papers by Edward McKeever