Inhalte

Based on the planning and implementation of their own empirical research project with a thematic focus on start-up and entrepreneurship research (the available project topics are announced on the chair's website), students go through all phases of a scientific research process. This includes specifying start-up-related research questions, deriving hypotheses based on literature, planning and implementing data collection and data use, and statistically analyzing and processing the results. Finally, the results are presented, discussed in light of current start-up research, and critically reflected upon in terms of theoretical implications, practical relevance, and methodological limitations. This semester, we will be looking at the IAB/ZEW Startup Panel, among other things: https://www.zew.de/en/iab/zew-start-up-panel Students can also use other data sources (e.g., the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI) dataset and ”Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study” (UKHLS)) or collect their own data. German interview data is also available, which can potentially be evaluated automatically using AI if the necessary skills are available.

Lernziele

After completing the module, students will be able to conduct independent empirical research projects in the field of start-up research. They will be able to develop research questions and hypotheses independently based on relevant scientific literature on entrepreneurship and start-ups. Students will be able to collect suitable data for investigating start-up processes, founders, start-ups, or young companies, or obtain such data from existing data sources, document it transparently, prepare it methodologically correctly, and analyze it using appropriate statistical methods. In addition, they can interpret empirical results in the context of existing start-up research, discuss them critically, classify them both theoretically and practically, and reflect on the methodological limitations of their own research.

Prüfungsleistung

• Final presentation, 15 min (15%) • Term paper, 15 pages (85%) The presentation will be given in working groups if projects were worked on in working groups; for the term paper, individual papers will be submitted and graded individually—however, overlaps in the texts of members of the same working group are permitted after consultation with the module coordinator.

Literatur (1)

Davidsson, P. (2016). Researching entrepreneurship: Conceptualization and design (2nd ed.). Springer. (freely available online via BTU library)

Bemerkungen

Module with limited number of participants - Registration two weeks prior to the commencement of lectures!