Today@Dal

Position Title:            RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Start date:                   February 11, 2019

End date:                    September 2019 (possibility of extension).

Location:                    Dalhousie University

Remuneration:            $21.50 per hour (includes benefits)

Workload:                  10 hours per week (if available, more hours possible during the summer)

 Research Project: Crowdsourcing and entrepreneurial opportunities: Towards a framework for opportunity recognition and development 

Research Context: The ability to recognize and develop business opportunities is one of the key elements of the entrepreneurial behavior. It is also the most difficult ability to master, since some people seem to be better at recognizing opportunities than others. Many businesses have been using crowdsourcing to discover and develop new entrepreneurial opportunities. However, few studies empirically investigate the relationship between crowdsourcing activities and entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and development. The goal of this research is to develop an empirically tested framework coupled with suitable measures and activity definitions, which, together, allow entrepreneurs and scholars to obtain a clearer understanding of how to leverage on crowdsourcing for opportunity recognition and development processes.

Tasks of the Research Assistant: Assistance with surveying the literature. Assistance with interview data collection, extraction and transcription. Assistance with the management and analysis of the data. Participating as a co-author on associated peer-reviewed publications.

Qualifications:

The following are necessary:

• A graduate research-based degree (or near completion). For current graduate student applicants, preference will be given to candidates with closely related area of research that will progress towards fulfillment of their program and degree requirements with their participation in this project.
• Demonstrated experience conducting in-person and/or telephone interviews.
• Demonstrated experience with qualitative research. Proven time management, technological, communication and writing skills.
  
  The following would be an asset:
• Experience transcribing interviews.
• Interest in and/or experience with SPSS for windows and NVivo® QSR software.
• Experience preparing manuscripts for publication.
• A valid NS driver's license.
  
  Expectations: The RA will work as a member of a research team under the supervision of Dr. Makani. They will be expected to mostly work flexible hours during the course of the project and specific hours during the interview data collection phase (to be set jointly). They will attend regular meetings with Dr. Makani and/or other members of the research team, either bi-weekly or as required by the state of the project.

To apply please send a current CV, and a cover letter to Dr. Joyline Makani at Joyline.Makani@dal.ca by January 25, 2019. Only qualified candidates will be contacted.