SECTION A

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

$[40$ MARKS$]$

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

$(8$ marks$)$

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

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

$(17$ marks$)$

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

QUESTION $2$

$(10$ Marks$)$

To ensure valid and reliable data is collected for the proposed study, a researcher must ensure that the measurement procedures and the instruments used have acceptable levels of reliability and validity $($Roestenburg$,2021$:$200).$

Considering the above observation, discuss what Mr$.$ Africa could do to ensure that the questionnaire is valid and reliable. Your discussion should be buttressed by relevant in$-$text citations.