SECTION A $[40$ MARKS$]$

Examine the information provided below and answer questions $1$ and $2.$

In their recent study titled 'Identifying Entrepreneurial Opportunities during Crises: A Qualitative Study of Italian Firms,$\text{'}$ Cucino,

Ferigno, Crick, and Piccaluga $(2024)$ adopted an exploratory research approach to examine the factors influencing entrepreneurial

firms' capability to identify and exploit novel opportunities during the COVID$-19$ pandemic crisis. Building upon existing literature on

opportunity recognition during crises $($Baron$,2006$ Bendickson et al$.,2020)$ and the resource$-$based theory of the firm $($Barney$,$

$1991$ Wernerfelt, $1984),$ the study empirically identified five key influencing factors: entrepreneurial alertness, entrepreneurial

personality, entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial proclivity, and entrepreneurial purpose.

Building on these insights, Thabo Africa, a South Africa$-$based entrepreneurship researcher, aims to investigate the subsequent

impact of these factors on the entrepreneurial performance of firms. To achieve this, Mr$.$ Africa plans a quantitative study to assess

how these five factors influence entrepreneurial performance across twenty selected South African firms.

QUESTION $1(30$ Marks$)$

Suppose Mr$.$ Africa has sought your assistance with the study. Please outline how you would go about conducting the

study with reference to each of the following:

$1\mathrm{.}1$ Develop an insightful and relevant title, along with a statement of significance, for Mr$.$ Africa$$s study. $(5$ marks$)$

$1\mathrm{.}2$ Formulate FOUR $(4)$ research questions and FOUR $(4)$ research objectives that comprehensively address the

scope and focus of Mr$.$ Africa$$s study.

$(8$ marks$)$

$1\mathrm{.}3$ Propose a research design for Mr$.$ Africa's study, detailing the sampling strategy, data collection methods, and

analytical framework. In your response, motivate the choice of design, outline the primary sampling considerations$$

such as study population, sample size, and sampling strategy $($probability or non$-$probability$)$and critically justify

the selected data collection and analysis methods in alignment with the study's objectives.