Researching entrepreneurship using big data: implementation, benefits, and challenges

Abstract Advancements in technology and digitalisation have paved the way for multidimensional possibilities in the availability, extraction, and implantation of data. Consequently, the application of big data in understanding the spectra of different fields of knowledge has been evolving. Entrepreneurship research is one such developing area. Within this field, research has called for the advancement and application of methodological approaches to understand entrepreneurial phenomena. This study attempts to respond to this call by addressing how big data can be applied to entrepreneurship research. Therefore, the use of big data analysis and analytics in entrepreneurship research was explored and several theoretical perspectives and methodological possibilities for applying big data to entrepreneurship research were investigated. Furthermore, benefits, challenges, and ethical considerations were considered with a focus on how to navigate these challenges and implement them. The study concludes with future directions for emerging technologies that can be adopted in entrepreneurship research. Finally, recommendations are offered to researchers on how to apply big data not only to collect information but also to analyse and present it in a meaningful way.