Statement
of the
Problem
Several
studies
and
individual
interview
projects
have
been
conducted
by
others
concerning
women
entrepreneurs,
each for
a
particular
purpose.
This
study
merges
selected
sets of
these
investigations,
illuminating
the
realities
of the
American
woman
entrepreneur
and
providing
much-needed
and
perhaps
a
much-wanted
consolidation
of
characteristics.
Purpose
of the
Study
The
broad
purpose
of this
study is
to
identify
the
characteristics
of
successful
women
entrepreneurs
in the
United
States.
Theoretical
Framework
for the
Study
It is
the
position
of this
investigation
that a
universal
characteristics
model is
necessary
to
adequately
portray
the
American
woman
entrepreneur.
Likewise,
it is
the
position
of this
investigation
that the
pertinent
body of
work can
contribute
to the
development
of a
universal
characteristics
model
that can
be
helpful
to
American
women
aspiring
to be in
business
for
themselves.
Research
Question
Questions
surrounding
the
phenomenal
group of
women
entrepreneurs
abound.
But a
single
grand
tour
question
has
guided
the
objective
of this
investigation:
How
can the
American
woman
entrepreneur
be
universally
portrayed
within
seven
characteristics
categories
(demographic,
economic,
support,
personal,
professional,
political,
and
social)
as
indicated
by
selected
studies?
Nature
of the
Study
The
overall
content
of this
dissertation
merges
the
qualitative
and
quantitative
paradigm
in a
kind of
mixed-methodology
or
weighted
design.
An
interpretive
aspect
has been
applied
yielding
a kind
of
multi-qualitative
inquiry.
Theoretical
Frameworks
of
Entrepreneurship
Gender
and the
cultural
intertwining
of class
with
gender
are not
well-developed
themes
in the
sociology
of
entrepreneurship.
Although
gender
does not
appear
as a
separate
theme
in Weber
philosophy,
women’s
entrepreneurship
can be
accounted
for by
studying
the
expansion
of their
participation
in
market
processes
over
time.
Schumpeter
(1989)
viewed
the
entrepreneurial
innovators
as
agents
of
creative
destruction
who
transform
modern
economies
through
their
individual
efforts.
He
idealizes
the
entrepreneur
as an
agent of
historical
social
transformation.
The
distribution
of
resources
by
gender
is not a
separate
theme
in this
literature;
it is
subsumed
by
discussions
of
cultural
adaptation
and
social
reproduction
by the
ethnic
status
group.
Hermeneutic
Inquiry
So it
might be
used to
interpret
the
events
in the
life of
an
organization
or
individual
in order
to
contribute
to a
theory
or
social
transformation.
The
hermeneutic
cycle,
by which
interpretations
of
meaning
are
reinterpreted
through
new
encounters
with the
text, is
in fact
constrained
by
reality,
so that
the
range of
interpretations
is
progressively
narrowed
as
knowledge
advances.
The
hermeneutic
cycle
is the
process
by which
the
researcher
returns
to a
text,
or to
the
world,
and
derives
a new
interpretation,
perhaps
a new
interpretation
every
time, or
a new
one for
every
interpreter.
It is
clear
that
this
happens
all the
time. A
book, a
movie,
or other
written
discourse
could be
understood
a little
differently
each
time it
is read
or seen
(Bernstein,
1983).
Description
of
Methodology
In
general,
quantitative
methods
are the
means
and not
the ends
of an
evaluative
process.
The goal
is not
numbers,
but
numbers
as
symbols
more
easily
interpreted
by the
decision-maker
(Creswell,
1994).
Although
it is
used by
both
qualitative
and
quantitative
approaches,
coding
data
in this
study
enlists
this
philosophy
of
quantitative
inquiry.
This
study
incorporates
a
quantitative
methodology
in that
it
measures
occurrences
to
determine
the
strength
of
individual
findings.
However,
this
occurs
interpretively
and
structurally
rather
than
quantifiably,
because
this
study
does not
enlist
statistical
or
probability
analysis.
There
are a
number
of
reasons
to apply
a
multi-method
approach
in
combining
the
qualitative
and
quantitative
methodologies.
Evaluation
research
typically
has
multiple
purposes.
When
combined
for the
same
purpose,
the
two
method
types
can
build
upon
each
other to
offer
insights
that
neither
one
alone
could
provide.
All
methods
have
biases.
Only by
using
multiple
techniques
can the
researcher
triangulate
the
underlying
truth.
Triangulation
is a
hybrid
variation
to the
strict
dichotomy
of
quantitative
versus
qualitative
research.
In
redefining
qualitative
methods
as
techniques
of
personal
understanding,
and in
redefining
the
quantitative
techniques
of
counting,
scaling,
and
abstract
reasoning,
it can
be seen
how
these
two
methods
build
upon
each
other
(Creswell,
1994).
[See Q3
Inquiries]
The
moment
data is
gathered,
the
researcher
begins
coding
allowing
the
researcher
to
detect
certain
categories
and
properties.
Immediate
coding
allows
the
grounded
theory
researcher
to scour
the data
for
additional
or
improved
means to
collect
the data
with
reduced
bias.
The
coding
process
entails
finding
appropriate
phrases
and word
grouping
to
accurately
reflect
the
emergent
trends
and
themes
of the
data
collected.
Coding
is
applied
in this
study to
aid in
the data
collection
and
assimilation
process,
and to
group
the data
into
their
appropriate
categories.
An
indicator
that the
theoretical
sampling
process
is
complete
is
saturation.
This is
the
point at
which
the
researcher
finds no
new
data
emerging
from a
category,
the
category
is
dense,
that is
fully
described,
and the
relationships
between
categories
are well
established
and
validated
(Strauss
&
Corbin,
1990).
The
basic
procedure
involves
constant
comparative
analysis.
The
approach
is to
analyze
textual
data and
to
discern
the
variables
and
interrelationships
from
the
text.
Once the
variables
have
been
discerned,
they are
coded,
categories
are
created,
and the
researcher
tries to
integrate
categories
and
begins
to
hypothesize.
Similar
categories
are
consolidated
and
reduced
to a
smaller
number
of
concepts
until
there is
no
additional
data to
be found
or
categorized.
The
final
stage is
using
the
broad
categories
to write
a theory
based on
the
coded
data
(Merriam
&
Simpson,
1995).
This
inquiry
employs
interpretational
analysis,
which
finds
“constructs,
themes,
and
patterns
that can
be used
to
describe
and
explain
the
phenomenon
being
studied”
(Gall et
al.,
1996, p.
562).
Software
programs
utilized
in this
investigation
have
enlisted
the five
broad
steps in
interpretational
analysis.
The
first is
segmenting
the
database.
This
data
entry
into a
computer
database
segmented
into
numbered
sections
of text.
Each
segment
or
analysis
unit
represents
one item
of
information.
The
researcher
can
refer to
any
segment
by the
section
numbers.
The next
step is
to
develop
categories
in order
to
summarize
the
data.
“Researchers
need to
develop
a
category
label
and
definition
for each
type of
phenomenon
in the
database
that is
to be
analyzed”
(Gall
et. al.,
1996, p.
564).
The
researcher
can
define
these
categories,
or those
used by
other
researchers
can be
used.
Like
this
study,
researchers
who
create
their
own
categories
are
using an
approach
based in
grounded
theory
in that
it
relies
on
categories
derived
from the
collected
data,
rather
than on
others'
theories.
The
segments
of data
collected
are
coded in
accordance
with
their
defined
categories,
and
those
that are
defined
in the
same
category
are
grouped
together.
At this
point
the
researcher
has
grouped
segments
across
defined
categories
that can
be
compared
and
contrasted
for
usefulness.
This
methodology
leads to
the
final
step of
drawing
conclusions
from the
data.
Case
study
methodology
is
another
qualitative
application
inherent
in this
study in
that it
examines
existing
cases.
Like
hermeneutic
inquiry,
case
studies
conform
to the
conventions
of
interpretive
traditions
(Piantanida
&
Garman,
1995).
This
investigation
does
not,
however,
utilize
the case
study
methodology
in its
full
spectrum
of
applications
such as
direct
observation
of the
population
under
investigation
(Stake,
1995).
This
study
also
fails to
fully
utilize
a
phenomenological
approach
in that
it does
not
intently
study a
phenomenon
for an
extended
period
of time.
Although
this
study
investigates
a
phenomenon,
phenomenology
looks at
the
essence
of
experience,
whereas
Hermeneutics
queries
the
conditions
that
contribute
to how
the
researcher
interprets
human
behavior
or
actions
(Rossman
&
Rallis,
1998).
This
study
utilizes
interpretational
analysis
rather
than
structural
analysis,
which
seeks to
identify
qualitative
patterns
within
the data
itself.
Unlike
interpretational
analysis,
structural
analysis
requires
no
judgment
or
assignment
of
meaning
by the
researcher
upon the
data.
The data
is
viewed
as an
event
separate
from the
perception
of the
researcher.
In
addition,
this
study
utilizes
reflective
analysis
in that
it
relies
almost
entirely
on
inference,
perception,
intuition,
and
researcher
insight;
although
this
method
of
analysis
avoids
the
reliance
on
coding
and semi
quantifying
the
information
gained
during
the
study.
Instead,
it
relies
on the
researcher
to read
into the
data and
develop
an
analysis
based on
personal
judgment/experience
rather
than
statistics
(Gall,
et. al.,
1996).
This
study
utilized
coding
to
assist
in
categorization
of the
data and
to
interpret
the data
using
reflective
analysis.
Although
this
study
applied
a
multi-method
approach,
the
primary
research
procedure
that was
utilized
in this
study
is the
collection
and
analysis
of
existing
documents
(written
discourse).
The
examining
and
recording
of
documents
and
visual
materials
in this
study
followed
the
protocol
format
for
identifying
a)
information
about
the
document
or
material
and b)
key
categories
that the
researcher
is
looking
for in
the
written
discourse
as the
source
of
information
(Creswell,
1994).
Data
Analysis
Procedure
The
methodological
framework
used in
this
study
stems
from
compilation
of
written
discourse
from
which
discourse
analysis
has
identified
patterns
in the
data.
Discourse
analysis
describes
a
heterogeneous
range of
social
science
research
based on
the
analysis
of
recorded
talk
(Silverman,
1993),
and the
researcher
is the
primary
instrument
for
analysis
of the
findings.
Based on
the
hermeneutic
approach,
the
researcher
in this
study
utilized
interpretation
methods
to
capture
meaning
from the
data,
coded
the
data,
categorized
the
data,
and
produced
the
characteristics
model.
The
analysis
was
based on
data
reduction
and
interpretation
(Marshall
&
Rossman,
1995).
This
means
the
researcher
takes a
voluminous
amount
of
themes
and then
interprets
this
information
by using
some
schema.
Tesch
(1990)
called
this
process
de-contextualization
and
re-contextualization.
This
process
results
in a
higher
level
analysis.
“While
much
work in
the
analysis
process
consists
of
taking
apart,
the
final
goal is
the
emergence
of a
larger,
consolidated
picture”
(Tesch,
1990,
p.97).
The
schema
in this
study
encompasses
a
procedure
to
reduce
information
to
perform
a
summarization
of the
content
of the
material
for the
purpose
of
highlighting
the
research
objective
and
conclusions.
The
following
steps (Tesch,
1990)
denote
the
analysis
process
applied
in this
investigation:
1. Get a
sense of
the
whole.
Read
through
the
documentation
to be
analyzed,
jotting
down or
highlighting
major
concepts.
2. Go
through
the
content,
do not
think
about
the
substance
of the
information,
but
rather
its
underlying
meaning.
Note
what
seems to
represent
a reason
for
performing
this
study in
each
case,
what
parameters
exist in
its
purpose,
and any
relative
verbiage.
3. Make
a list
of the
results
of the
analysis
for each
piece.
4.
Cluster
together
similar
themes
according
to
pre-determined
questions.
Utilize
the
hermeneutic
cycle
approach
and
coding
for
analysis
and
categorization
of data.
This study strongly applies the hermeneutic cycle, by which
interpretations
of
meaning
are
reinterpreted
through
new
encounters
with the
text so
that the
range of
interpretations
is
progressively
narrowed
as
knowledge
advances.
The
study
follows
the
hermeneutic
cycle
philosophy
insofar
as the
researcher
returns
to the
text
again
and
again,
deriving
a new
interpretation,
perhaps
every
time.
