What is Descriptive Research?

Descriptive research is conclusive in nature, as opposed to exploratory. This means that

descriptive research gathers quantifiable information that can be used for statistical
inference on your target audience through data analysis. As a consequence this type of
research takes the form of closed-ended questions, which limits its ability to provide
unique insights. However, used properly it can help an organization better define and
measure the significance of something about a group of respondents and the population
they represent.
When it comes to online surveying, descriptive is by far the most commonly used form of
research. Most often, organizations will use it as a method to reveal and measure the
strength of a target groups opinion, attitude, or behaviour with regards to a given
subject. But another common use of descriptive research would be the surveying of
demographical traits in a certain group (age, income, marital status, gender, etc.). This
information could then be studied at face value, measuring trends over time, or for more
advanced data analysis like drawing correlations, segmentation, benchmarking and other
statistical techniques.

3 Ways to Implement Descriptive Research to Benefit Your

Organization
The different ways organizations use descriptive research is almost limitless. We already
know that going into the survey design phase with research goals is critical, but how do
we know that our research plan will provide fruitful information. To understand what
your research goals should entail, lets take a look at the three main ways organizations
use descriptive research today:
1. Defining a Characteristic of Your Respondents: All closed-ended questions aim to better
define a characteristic for your respondents. This could include gaining an understanding
of traits or behaviours, like asking your respondents to identify their age group or provide
how many hours they spend on the internet each week. It could also be used to ask
respondents about opinions or attitudes, like how satisfied they were with a product or
their level of agreement with a political platform.
In essence, all this information can be used by an organization to make better decisions.
For example, a retail store that discovers that the majority of its customers browse sale
items online before visiting the store would give it insight on where it should focus its
advertising team.
2. Measuring Trends in Your Data: With the statistical capabilities of descriptive research,
organizations are able to measure trends over time. Consider a survey that asks customers
to rate their satisfaction with a hotel on a scale of 0-10. The resulting value is mostly
arbitrary by itself. What does an average score of 8.3 mean? However, if the hotel
management makes changes in order to better meet their customer needs, they can later
conduct the same survey again and see whether the new average score has risen or fallen.

This allows the hotel to effectively measure the progress it is making with customer
satisfaction over time, as well as measure the effects of new initiatives and processes.
3. Comparing Groups and Issues: Organizations also use descriptive research to draw
comparisons between groups of respondents. For example, a shampoo company creates a
survey asking the general public several questions measuring their attitudes on the
companys products, advertising, and image. In the same survey they may ask various
demographic questions like age, gender, income, etc.
Afterwards, the company will be able to analyse the data to compare different groups of
people and their attitude. For example, the company can statistically identify the
difference in opinion between genders and age. Maybe they find that there is a
statistically low opinion of their companys image from young adult males. This could
mean creating a new line of products attempting to cater to this demographic.
If your research goals fit under one of these three categories, you should be on the right
track. Now all you have left to do is decide how the data collected will help your
organization take action on a certain issue or opportunity. Remember, conducting a
successful survey is only half the battle. It is what you do with the information gathered
that makes your research project useful!
Descriptive research is a study designed to depict the participants in an accurate way.
More simply put, descriptive research is all about describing people who take part in the
study.
The term descriptive research refers to the type of research question, design, and data
analysis that will be applied to a given topic. Descriptive statistics tell what is, while
inferential statistics try to determine cause and effect.
Statistics is the study of the collection, analysis, interpretation, presentation, and
organization of data. In applying statistics to, e.g., a scientific, industrial, or societal
problem, it is conventional to begin with astatistical population or a statistical model
process to be studied
Source. Where should one look for promising business ideas? Michael Porter famously
argued that industries sustain different levels of profitability for firms depending on the
supplier power, barriers to entry, buyer power, and threat of substitute1. This approach
has been criticized, however, on the basis that firms are generally too inert to be able to
establish their strategies purely based on the profitability of a particular industry. Such
criticism is far less true for entrepreneurs, who generally have considerable flexibility at
least at first about the general area in which they look for business ideas.

1. Technological Evolution
A number of researchers have argued that the level of technological maturity greatly
impacts the number of entrepreneurial opportunities. For many years, MIT Sloan
Professor Jim Utterback has shown that young industries, in which needs are not welldefined, present many more opportunities than more established markets2. Once a

dominant product design appears in a market, incumbents often develop economies of

scale, and improve their processes in a way that creates large entry barriers for potential
newcomers. For instance, the car industry presented major entrepreneurial opportunities
at the end of the 19thcentury and at the beginning of the 20th century. However, by the
middle of the century, in most advanced economies, the bracket of entrepreneurial
opportunities in the car industry seems to have closed: not only did the number of
entrepreneurial ventures decrease dramatically, but many existing companies even went
bankrupt. Other researchers have shown that technological areas present more
opportunities when they include a well-respected organization, but that this advantage
decreases as the level of competition grows3. For instance, the fact that IBM entered the
PC market increased the credibility of the technology and consequently also increased the
amount of entrepreneurial opportunities for potential hardware and software developers.

2. Organizational Environment
A quite distinct stream of literature has shown that the characteristics of the population of
existing organizations in an industry impacts entry opportunities. A central theme in this
literature is that the number of opportunities in a particular industry depends on how
crowded the industry already is. Being the very first to offer a product (or service) might
be risky because consumers and investors might not yet perceive the need for such
product. On the other hand, a crowded market generally presents fewer opportunities. In
general, new business opportunities depend on the presence of overlapping suppliers
(competitors) and the presence of complementary organizations. For instance, new
daycare centers tend to be more successful when they complement existing centers
covering a different age range4. Similarly, the local development of an industry can be an
important source of entrepreneurial opportunities because it facilitates the acquisition of
tacit knowledge, relevant social relationships, and opportunities to build self-confidence5.
3. Demand Characteristics
One core insight of the literature focusing on demand in general and fashions in particular
is that it generally involves two opposite forces: one pushing toward conformity and the
other toward distinction6. Demand is therefore not only unstable, but also never quite
homogeneous: customer preferences are generally diverse enough that parts of the market
are always underserved. This is especially the case when the supply is composed of a few
large generalists providing highly standardized products or services7. Tastes also evolve
over time in a predictable manner8. For instance, customers might consider that technical
performance is most important for some time, and suddenly switch their value ordering
(for instance toward design or cost rather than performance) once they are
technologically satisfied9.
4. Institutional Context
Entrepreneurial opportunities also depend on the institutional context. For instance,
researchers have documented that changes in policy regime and changes in the law can

have a dramatic impact on entrepreneurial opportunities. In their famous study of

railroads in Massachusetts, Dobbin and Dowd showed that entrepreneurial activity
increased when the state actively encouraged it financially, that it also increased when the
state allowed cartels (which decreased competitive pressure), and that entrepreneurship in
the sector decreased when the state imposed anti-trust laws (which increase
competition)10. In addition, intellectual property regulation can significantly alter
entrepreneurial opportunities: countries innovation patterns and entrepreneurial activities
are systematically influenced by what can or cannot be patented11,12. Some researchers
have gone as far as suggesting that entrepreneurs simply choose to allocate their efforts
toward productive ends (like innovation) or destructive ones (like organized crime),
depending on the relative pay-offs offered by the society13. Technological evolution,
organizational environment, demand characteristics, and institutional context are four
paramount drivers of entrepreneurial opportunities. Entrepreneurs and investors might
find the proposed framework useful in guiding them in their search for their next
successful business idea(s). After all, as Louis Pasteur famously said, Chance favors the
prepared mind.
A major contribution of our research is to bring to the forefront the unique aspects of opportunity evaluation
in contrast to how entrepreneurs identify or exploit opportunities. Further, we demonstrate that opportunity
evaluation is influenced by the application of socially derived rules that specify what a good opportunity
looks like. In addition, we show that these effects are contingent upon entrepreneurs opportunity-specific
knowledge. Our findings extend previous research on opportunity evaluation as we leverage cognitive
science research to better understand factors that influence opportunity beliefs within the individualopportunity nexus. In this way, we move the scholarly discussion on opportunity evaluation forward for both
the theory and practice of entrepreneurship. Doing so, we further illuminate the opportunity evaluation
phenomena as a critical bridge between opportunity identification exploitation. Theory and Hypotheses
Entrepreneurial opportunities concern the introduction of new means-ends relationship to better serve the
needs of consumers in one or more markets (Venkataraman & Sarasvathy, 2001). From this perspective,
entrepreneurial opportunities first concern subjective ideas about a set of circumstances, followed by the
formation of beliefs about what about what could be done in these circumstances (Dimov, 2011; Grgoire &
Shepherd, 2012; Wood & McKinley, 2010). However, these beliefs are evolutionary in nature. McMullen and
Shepherd (2006), for example, assert that opportunity beliefsdevelop in a sequential pattern with initial
beliefs focused on the existence of the opportunity for someone in general (termed a third-person
opportunity belief) and then beliefs are then formed around considerations of the desirability and feasibility of
opportunities for the entrepreneur specifically (termed a first-person opportunity belief). Recent research
suggests that differences between third-and first-person opportunity beliefs are notable because they are a
function of different phases of the entrepreneurial process, and these phases rest on different sociocognitive dynamics (Wood, et al., 2012). This means that identifying a potential opportunity is conceptually
and empirically distinct from deciding whether or not to personally believe in the opportunity and to act upon
those beliefs (cf. Shepherd et al, 2007). However, the cognitive processes and content that underpin personcentric belief formation remains largely unspecified.
Resource efficiency as a supply-side rule. In addition to the demand-side issue of the novelty of the
offering to the marketplace, the entrepreneur will also engage in opportunity evaluation using supply-side
considerations of how productively resources can be deployed if the venture were to be physically
constructed.

Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship are very popular topics for the researchers in almost
everywhere in the world. Bangladeshi researchers are also not the exceptions. Over the
years many studies have been done and many articles were published on these issues. The
objective of this particular article is to find out the proper steps need to follow in
entrepreneurial decision making. Through this article I have identified five major steps in

entrepreneurial decision making and explanation of every steps also provided. At the end
the steps are displayed by an diagram and the conclusion is drawn. As an entrepreneur
you must make different types of decisions on everyday basis. You must choose
directions. You must solve problems. You must take actions. The decision making process
is one of the most important processes in your company.
Simply, you as an entrepreneur will make a decision about everything. Some
decisions are more influential on your overall business processes, but some of them
are small decisions without important effect on your business as whole. Strategic
leadership is the study of leadership styles, how to streamline organizations, and engage
employees. Different leadershipapproaches impact the vision and direction of growth
and the potential success of an organization.A major question in corporate entrepreneurship
research is: Why are some companies able to adapt and reinvent themselves as industry leaders while
others fail to do so? Some companies (e.g., Apple, Pixar, 3M, Google, Carrefour, Zara, and Virgin) have
consistently been on the forefront of changing the rules of competition. Over time, these companies have
shown deftness in sensing and shaping opportunities as well as synchronizing the deployment and use of
their resources in changing their competitive arenas. These companies appear to benefit from a well-honed
set of entrepreneurial capabilities (ECs) which they have developed and refined over time. Other companies,
however, have failed to inculcate or exercise similar capabilities and spark off game change. Corporate
entrepreneurship research would benefit from examining the nature and content of EC as well as when and
how it affects game change. Such an examination is the focus of this article. Some scholars have proposed
that EC is a type of dynamic capability. A capability refers to a firms capacity to perform a task or activity in
pursuit of its mission. EC enables a companys transformation through sensing and shaping of opportunities
as well as providing specific heuristics to evaluate, select and exploit them (e.g., Bingham, Eisenhardt and
Furr, 2007; Teece, 2007). Unleashed, EC can bring about external changes that alter the domain, nature and
scope of the competitive arena, the competitive game that is played, and how this game is played. Limited
research exists today on EC and whether it differs in any significant way from other types of dynamic
capabilities (Burgelman, 1983; Burgelman and Grove, 2007; Phan, Wright, Ucbasaran, and Tan, 2009)

How do entrepreneurial capabilities and culture affect innovative entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurial capabilities and culture play a critical role in market entry and in the
success of new ventures. They determine the capacity to identify opportunities, run new
businesses, drive innovations and learn from and adapt to changing circumstances.
Culture may also affect innovative entrepreneurship by influencing the propensity of
individuals to become entrepreneurs, the degree to which interested individuals take risks
with regard to establishing a new enterprise and the degree of support that entrepreneurs
receive when setting up a new enterprise.
What are key policy dimensions regarding entrepreneurial capabilities and culture,
and innovative entrepreneurship?
Common challenges across three policy dimensions are particularly relevant and include
the following:

How can entrepreneurship skills be taught most effectively to encourage

innovative entrepreneurship? (see Business and entrepreneurship skills and
experience)

 Business and entrepreneurship skills and experience (see Business and

entrepreneurship skills and experience), which deal with the teaching of entrepreneurship
and the provision of vocational training by universities and other educational institutions.

What cooperative approaches with the private sector are most effective in
providing a business support infrastructure that will be useful to businesses?
(see Business support infrastructure)

Business support infrastructure (see Business support infrastructure), which includes

the public and private provision of knowledge-intensive business services, such as
consulting (business, legal and accounting) and R&D services, and focuses, in particular,
on business incubators, science parks and accelerator programs.

How can governments evaluate policies targeting attitudes towards

entrepreneurship, given the slow rate at which attitudes change and difficulties in
creating a control group? (see Attitudes towards entrepreneurship)

Attitudes towards entrepreneurship (see Attitudes towards entrepreneurship), which

refers to societys perception of entrepreneurial activity (e.g. the desirability of
establishing new companies and how entrepreneurs are viewed by society).
What are the main rationales for policy interventions in support of entrepreneurial
capabilities and culture?
Several factors justify policy intervention regarding entrepreneurial capabilities and
culture:

A lack of entrepreneurial skills and a negative attitude towards entrepreneurial

activity within a society (e.g. when an entrepreneurs failure is seen as negative
and something to fear) can affect the creation and success of innovative new
ventures.
Markets may fail to supply appropriate services, advice and incentives to
entrepreneurs. These failures reveal the need for policy intervention to enhance
entrepreneurial capabilities and culture. For example, a firms training program
may result in a low return on investment if employees leave to join competitor
firms. Thus, firms may not always gain from their investment in training despite
the overall increase in human capital for society. This calls for policy
interventions to address this disincentive.

What are the main policies that influence entrepreneurial capabilities and culture in
the context of innovative entrepreneurship?
Within the context of innovative entrepreneurship, public policy can influence:

Business and entrepreneurship skills

entrepreneurship skills and experience) by:

and

experience

(see Business

and

Supporting and implementing high-quality entrepreneurship education in school

systems, higher education and in vocational education across a broad range of
subjects (including technical and scientific fields).
Encouraging closer links between education institutions and the private sector
(e.g. involving entrepreneurs in coaching and mentoring students and giving guest
lectures, or through apprenticeships in companies).
Providing training targeted at entrepreneurs.

Business support infrastructure (see Business support infrastructure) by:

Improving the support infrastructure for local businesses (e.g. through financial
assistance to incubators and science parks).
Subsidizing advice and training that may or may not be connected with a
particular location (e.g. through a system of vouchers that would enable
businesses to get advice from approved consultants/advisors).

Attitudes towards entrepreneurship (see Attitudes towards entrepreneurship) by:

Ensuring that all high school students are exposed to the concept of entrepreneurship (e.g.
inclusion of entrepreneurship in the curriculum as a compulsory subject).
Promoting entrepreneurship through events (e.g. organizing an entrepreneurship week
in schools and communities, and/or co-financing TV and radio programmes on successful
entrepreneurs).