8/12/2009 12:12:21 PM By
E.J. Reedy
At the recent Academy of Management meetings, I was lucky enough to attend a Professional Development Workshop on "Business Creation Panel Studies: an International Overview." Most of the data presented was looking at the concept of nascent entrepreneurship, but the Australian and Latvian presentations also dealt with some other populations. There is a great deal of similarity among the different projects presented, as is apparent from the slides below; however, for a number of reasons the presenters seemed to feel that there was still room for international comparative research and perhaps, eventually, a harmonized data file.
One of the most interesting parts of sitting in on this session for me was hearing the experience of each principal investigator in gathering support for their project, dealing with vendors, getting data, and then analysis. Indeed, a couple of themes emerged across presenters which were of note on the pure logistics of organizing a panel survey. This is my own summary, not something which was presented at the event:
- Funding - Many of the organizers experienced exogenous shocks to their funding source in the course of carrying out the surveys. Even without shocks, most of the principal investigators talked about the expensive nature of panel data collection and the importance of securing funding early.
- Vendor - In all but one case, I believe, these panel surveys were collected using an outside vendor under direction from the academic principal investigator. While it was not the case for each country, more than half seemed to have had some pretty significant vendor issues during the process. Indeed several had switched vendors during the course of the panel data collection.
- Sample - In each case, I don't think the principal investigators ever felt they were able to truly get a large enough sample of nascent entrepreneurs. This is typically a function of cost and sheer difficulty of screening the adult population (or some other source) in order to find people in the process of starting a business.
So, with thanks to the presenters in this session for their gracious permission to post the slides to Data Maven, here in the order they presented are the slides from the workshop.
Business Creation Panel Studies: An International Status Report
Recent Overview Paper on Nascent Entrepreneurship
Per Davidsson and Scott R. Gordon
Australia
Canada
China
Latvia
Netherlands (Presented by Paul Reynolds)
Norway
Sweden
United States
Commentary
8/11/2009 11:38:07 AM By
E.J. Reedy
Scott Shane highlighted in his blog yesterday some interesting data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) at the University of California, Los Angeles, related to the interests of college freshmen in business. The CIRP Freshman Survey is part of a larger effort at CIRP to measure the college experience and something which caught my interest about a year ago, so I wanted to share more detail on the survey and some additional tabulation from it which will help researchers to see why there is some great potential here. In particular, this data set would seem ripe for some doctoral research, as CIRP is open to research proposals, and to my knowledge, very little has been done with this data looking at career choice.
From the CIRP website...
The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey is administered by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA. Informing colleges and universities since 1966, the CIRP Freshman Survey has collected data on over 13 million students at over 1,900 institutions, and is the largest American study of higher education. The CIRP Freshman Survey is designed to provide comprehensive information on your incoming first-year students. It can be used by itself, or, when used in conjunction with the Your First College Year Survey (YFCY) and the College Senior Survey (CSS), provides valuable baseline data for a longitudinal assessment. The CIRP Freshman Survey is used by researchers and practitioners to examine readiness for college, how students choose colleges, student values and beliefs about diversity and civic engagement, and student expectations.
Participating institutions receive a detailed profile of their entering freshman class, as well as national normative data for students in similar types of institutions. These campus profile reports, together with the national normative profile, provide important data that can be useful in a variety of program and policy areas:
- Admissions and recruitment
- Academic program development, review and self-assessment
- Institutional self-study and accreditation activities
- Public relations and advancement/development
- Institutional research and assessment
- Retention studies
- Longitudinal research about the impact of policies and programs
Although the normative data provided with the institutional reports (and published annually in The American Freshman) are based on the population of first-time, full-time freshmen, participating institutions also receive separate reports for their part-time and transfer students. Additionally, participating campuses can obtain supplemental reports profiling students by various subgroups (for example, by intended major or career, by academic ability, by home state).
Now Scott's post highlighted the response to a question which reads as follows in the 2009 questionnaire, although the response categories have likely changed over the years.
Please indicate the importance to you personally of each of the following: (Mark one for each item)
Response categories - Essential, Very Important, Somewhat Important, Not Important
- Becoming accomplished in one of the performing arts (acting, dancing, etc.)..........................
- Becoming an authority in my field.........................................
- Obtaining recognition from my colleagues for contributions to my special field..........................................
- Influencing the political structure...........................................
- Influencing social values.......................................................
- Raising a family.....................................................................
- Being very well off financially................................................
- Helping others who are in difficulty.......................................
- Making a theoretical contribution to science.........................
- Writing original works (poems, novels, short stories, etc.)....
- Creating artistic works (painting, sculpture, decorating, etc.)..
- Becoming successful in a business of my own..................... [bold added]
- Becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment..
- Developing a meaningful philosophy of life...........................
- Participating in a community action program........................
- Helping to promote racial understanding..............................
- Keeping up to date with political affairs.................................
- Becoming a community leader..............................................
- Improving my understanding of other countries and cultures..
- Adopting “green” practices to protect the environment.........
What struck me most when I read Scott's summary of the data was the high level of response to the question. According to Scott's tabulations, the measure has run between 40 and 50 percent of college freshmen choosing either "essential" or "very important" to the choice "Becoming successful in a business of my own" since at least 1976, with the exception of a period of time in the 1990s.
In correspondence with John Pryor, one of the directors on these projects at UCLA, I had looked at another measure which the Freshmen Survey appears to have related to entrepreneurship, specifically, their probable career choice. Here is the question from the 2009 survey:
Mark only three responses, one in each column [column headings - Your mother's occupation, Your father's occupation, Your probable occupation]
- Accountant or actuary.....................
- Actor or entertainer.........................
- Architect or urban planner...............
- Artist................................................
- Business (clerical)...........................
- Business executive (management, administrator)........
- Business owner or proprietor..........[bold added]
- Business salesperson or buyer.......
- Clergy (minister, priest)...................
- Clergy (other religious)....................
- Clinical psychologist........................
- College administrator/staff...............
- College teacher...............................
- Computer programmer or analyst...
- Conservationist or forester..............
- Dentist (including orthodontist)........
- Dietitian or nutritionist......................
- Engineer..........................................
- Farmer or rancher...........................
- Foreign service worker (including diplomat).......................
- Homemaker (full-time).....................
- Interior decorator (including designer)..
- Lab technician or hygienist..............
- Law enforcement officer..................
- Lawyer (attorney) or judge..............
- Military service (career)...................
- Musician (performer, composer)......
- Nurse...............................................
- Optometrist......................................
- Pharmacist......................................
- Physician.........................................
- Policymaker/Government................
- School counselor.............................
- School principal or superintendent..
- Scientific researcher........................
- Social, welfare, or recreation worker..
- Therapist (physical, occupational, speech)........................................
- Teacher or administrator (elementary).................................
- Teacher or administrator (secondary)..................................
- Veterinarian.....................................
- Writer or journalist...........................
- Skilled trades...................................
- Laborer (unskilled)...........................
- Semi-skilled worker.........................
- Unemployed....................................
- Other................................................
- Undecided.......................................
John and I had corresponded about his survey because he presented a paper at the 2008 Kauffman Symposium on Entrepreneurship and Innovation Data in which he highlighted the need from his perspective to update the occupation choices represented on the survey for a modern world. Indeed, in his paper he highlighted the following, "approximately 17 percent of incoming students cannot find a suitable occupation on the list and answer with 'other' (another 14 percent respond with 'undecided'). In 2008, approximately one out of five seniors answered 'other' for the probable career after graduation on the CSS."
In corresponding with John, he was nice enough to send me the time series for the answers to "Your probable occupation" that related to business ownership, which with his permission, I have included below.
With this response garnering between 1.6 and 3.7 percent over the course of the survey, it is at an extremely different level than the question Scott highlighted. Obviously, both are relevant, but more work needs to be done to understand and interact the responses on individual records. Indeed, if you are a researcher doing work with this data, please let me know. What I would hypothesize is the question Scott highlighted has more to do with interest at some point - a question polling firms have asked in the adult population at different times - while the question which I highlight is probably more akin to the nascent entrepreneurs or people who plan to start a business in the next few years. Now, this is only conjecture and there are other places in this survey where the idea of entrepreneurship would seem to appear, but the conclusions which we draw from the data can differ and should be investigated more. Indeed, the question which I highlight remains closer to historic highs than the question which Scott highlighted, but it should be noted that neither question is at a peak currently.
It will be interesting to see what the coming years of data show in these trends and what work can be done to improve measurement of entrepreneurship and innovation in the CIRP surveys. John Pryor also asked that I share this on the post: "HERI is interested in exploring the development of entrepreneurship (among other areas) with follow-up surveys of these students as they have been out in the working world." I believe John is referencing surveys like what is planned shortly on "becoming scientists" as listed on their website.
8/11/2009 10:28:06 AM By
E.J. Reedy
Alicia Robb, Denny Dennis, and I did a Professional Development Workshop at the Academy of Management a couple of days ago. Here I am posting the slides from that workshop, which focused on data available for entrepreneurship research, along with notes from my comments at the event, which I had not put into slides.
Alicia Robb, Kauffman Foundation and University of California, Santa Cruz
Denny Dennis, NFIB
E.J. Reedy, Kauffman Foundation
Additionally, at the meeting, hard copies of the proceedings of the 2007 Kauffman Symposium on Entrepreneurship and Innovation Data were handed out. Additional copies were requested by some but electronic versions of each paper are available on line. The 2008 proceedings, which focused on ideas for improving data are also available.
And lastly, we highlighted a few ways in which scholars could connect with Kauffman and other scholars in this area. There is this blog, Data Maven, for tracking data developments. On Facebook, join the Kauffman Entrepreneurship Scholars group. Subscribe to entrepreneurship emails from Social Science Research Network. Or participate in Kauffman's emerging scholars programs.
8/10/2009 3:51:03 PM By
E.J. Reedy
I just got an email from Tim Sturgeon at MIT which was quite encouraging. First, they have recently received notification from the National Science Foundation (NSF) recommending funding for the 2009 National Organizations Survey. While this is still some time away before researchers could use the data, Tim and his co-principal investigators presented an overview of some of their plans in November 2008 at the Kauffman Data Symposium. The issue of whether or not an entrepreneurship sample can be funded, as they propose, remains, and is something which this team is looking to Kauffman for. As such, I remain open to feedback on that portion of the proposal.
But outside of this, I wanted to highlight that apparently data collected in the Globalization Module of the 2008 General Social Survey will soon be available for analysis by application. The data will be posted to NORC Data Enclave soon. They also have plans to make the National Organization Survey data available for scholarly use after collection. Kauffman sponsored a small entrepreneurship module in the 2008 GSS, as well, which might be of interest.
8/6/2009 4:09:02 PM By
E.J. Reedy
7/21/2009 10:20:33 AM By
E.J. Reedy
Paul Reynolds is organizing an interesting PDW at the 2009 Academy of Management highlighting studies looking at nascent entrepreneurship in specific countries. These are all panel data sets.
Friday, 7 August 2009
8:00 to 10:30am
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Room Columbus H
More details
6/12/2009 8:38:00 AM By
E.J. Reedy
For those wanting to spend some real time getting to know data sets looking at nascent entrepreneurship.
Panel Study on Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) 101
July 9-12, 2009
In your research, have you ever looked for
- a nationally representative source of nascent entrepreneurs?
- a nationally representative sample of people who are not organizing
- businesses?
- longitudinal measurements of entrepreneurial performance?
Then you want data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED),
now with two datasets.
But before you try to use the PSED, do you know what this means?
FILTER OFF
USE ALL.
SELECT IF (sysmis(cfphlag=1) or
(cfphlag < 90)).
EXECUTE.
If the answer is "no," then whether you are a faculty member or a doctoral student,
you need PSED 101 from the College of Charleston!
PSED 101
This four-day intensive workshop assumes that you have research questions about the
nature of entrepreneurship that you would like to answer using PSED I or PSED II.
It does not assume that you have (a) any degree of familiarity with the contents of
the datasets, or (b) knowledge of how to build syntax files that will answer the
research questions you have.
You'll learn how to write SPSS or STATA syntax files for creating variables, checking
data, correcting weights, performing analyses.
You'll also learn the overall data structure of the PSED, the differences between the
PSED I and PSED II, and the sorts of research problems for which each is most
appropriate.
Finally, under the individual guidance of the two instructors, you'll learn how to
construct the details of syntax files needed to answer your own research questions.
You'll leave with a CD containing the course materials, and with a personal copy
of the Handbook of Entrepreneurial Dynamics: The Process of Business Creation.
INSTRUCTORS
Amy E. Davis is Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at the
College of Charleston. Her research examines gender, family, and social
networks in entrepreneurial and organizational contexts. Her dissertation
research was supported by a Kauffman Foundation Doctoral Fellowship. Amy's
PSED work is done in STATA.
Kelly G. Shaver is Professor and Chair of the Department of Management and
Entrepreneurship at the College of Charleston. He was in charge of the
Person Variables section of the PSED1, and served on the Advisory Committee for
PSED2. His specific research interest focuses on the psychological variables that
predict entrepreneurial persistence. Kelly's PSED work has been done using SPSS,
and his syntax file "kscleans" has been widely used to prepare the PSED1 dataset
for analysis of individual-level variables.
The PSED is described in detail in the Handbook of Entrepreneurial Dynamics: The
Process of Business Creation, edited by Gartner, Shaver, Carter, and Reynolds
(2004) and available from Sage Publications, ISBN 0-7619-2758-1.
Thanks to funding from the Kauffman Foundation, both PSED I and PSED II are
available at no charge from the Institute of Social Research at the University of
Michigan: http://psed.isr.umich.edu.
REGISTRATION
The workshop will be held in the Tate Center for Entrepreneurship at the College
of Charleston from July 9-12, 2008 (arrival should be on July 8).
For 2009, the PSED 101 registration fee is $200. Thanks to support from the
Kauffman Foundation, the first 10 registrants who need travel support will
each receive a $450 travel scholarship.
To register contact Kelly G. Shaver by email.
5/27/2009 10:50:00 AM By
E.J. Reedy
A lot goes into making a survey high-quality but also affordable. One choice that we made with the Kauffman Firm Survey to save on costs and try to achieve higher retention rates was to field a survey which used dual modes of collection - CATI or computer-assisted telephone interviewing and the internet. In doing so with our panel of nearly 5,000 businesses, we've been able to cut costs on the whole project and extend the period of data collection. In a field which desperately needs more longitudinal surveys, I think there are some lessons to be learned:
- It takes time. Initially respondents were much less likely to choose web vs. CATI because they didn't know our effort and they didn't fully trust us. With time, the response rates via the web have gone from the low thirties to the upper sixties.
- It saves money. The above mentioned transition has cut our actual cost per interview down considerably.
- It is more convenient. We've been able to make it very easy for respondents to stay in our sample, thus achieving nearly 80 percent retention rates.
These are just a few reasons why this dual mode choice has been good for Kauffman. In a new research paper studying the effect of this choice and any biases that it might cause in the sample, researchers at Mathematica find very few indications that the CATI vs. web option (or those who switch their response choices) matters at all. Perhaps the biggest possible influences of mode effects are industry and employer vs. non-employer.
5/20/2009 7:21:00 AM By
E.J. Reedy
This week the Bureau of Labor Statistics added two new data series to their umbrella data effort, the Business Employment Dynamics (BED). BED is built from records that BLS gathers from states as a part of the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. In releasing these two new series, BLS is further expanding its offerings related to births and deaths by industry and by state, as well as annual measures of gross job gains and losses at the establishment level. These are concepts which BLS has conceptualized in recent research papers:
Read more about the BLS BED augmentations.
5/4/2009 10:11:00 AM By
E.J. Reedy
We have just received very exciting news about a proposed change to one of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' most important surveys - the National Youth Longitudinal Survey. The 1979 version of this study follows "a nationally representative sample of 12,686 young men and women who were 14-22 years old when they were first surveyed in 1979. These individuals were interviewed annually through 1994 and are currently interviewed on a biennial basis."
Currently, NYLS79 is getting ready to go back to the field on round 24 of surveys with this same group and the Bureau of Labor Statistics has published a call for comment on their work to the federal regsiter. The Bureau has highlighted the following changes in the current wave of work as compared to previous questionnaire documents:
The round 24 questionnaire reflects a number of content changes recommended by experts in various social science fields. The round 24 main NLSY79 questionnaire includes a more extensive set of questions about volunteer activity and monetary donations to charitable organizations. The round 24 survey also will include retrospective questions on business ownership. This new section augments information previously collected in the survey by asking how many businesses respondents have owned since age 18 and collecting detailed information on the characteristics of up to ten businesses. Questions on estate planning and wills will be asked in round 24 to augment information previously obtained on health, asset accumulation, and retirement plans. Round 24 includes a series of questions on mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. The questions cover the period since January 2007 and ask respondents whether they had been more than two months behind on mortgage payments, received a foreclosure notice, or lost property due to foreclosure. Round 24 includes a short series of questions on whether respondents were offered stock options by their employer, whether the option was offered before the respondent accepted the job, whether the option affected the respondent’s decision to take the job, whether the option is tied to work performance, and whether the respondent has exercised or plans to exercise the option. Questions on assets will not be asked in this round. It was determined after Round 19 that an extended series of questions on assets is not necessary every survey round. The questions on political involvement included in Round 23 are not included for Round 24.
I am so excited by a couple of sentences here that I just wanted to reitterate the passage:
The round 24 survey also will include retrospective questions on business ownership. This new section augments information previously collected in the survey by asking how many businesses respondents have owned since age 18 and collecting detailed information on the characteristics of up to ten businesses.
If this isn't great news and a wonderful opportunity for the entrepreneurship research community, I don't know what would be. But, today, I also want to put out the challenge to researchers and those with experience in doing surveys with similiar populations looking at retrospective recall of business ownership activities and other important topics to send your ideas (or just your congratulations) to BLS and OMB before June 15, 2009.
We will be formulating comments and a letter, which I will post to the blog before sending. If anyone is sending comments and wants to share them, we would welcome the opportunity to second ideas which we agreed with in our letter.
Draft Questionnaire for round 24
nyls.html (3.20 mb)
Questionnaire from Round 23
ftp://www.nlsinfo.org/pub/usersvc/NLSY79/NLSY79%202008%20Prelim%20Quex.html
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Developing better data is part of Kauffman's long-term strategy for advancing better research and policy on entrepreneurship and innovation. Data Maven is place you can connect with new data developments, provide us feedback on possible new projects, and contribute to the community seeking to improve entrepreneurship and innovation measurement.
E.J. Reedy is a manager in Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation. Learn more ...
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