The questionnaire used within this research is organised into ten different sections (Appendix VI). Section I sets the context, business and owner related, with regard to the process of setting-up the business, namely the way respondents became owners of the business, reasons to setting up/take control, reasons for the location, owner’s relationship with that location (social embeddedness) and influences on the business setting up, perception of success.
Sections II, III and IV aim at understanding the owners’ perception about the role of people within their personal network in the setting-up/taking control and management of the business. The three sections relate to three different moments in the business context: Section II - the past - is about the beginning of the whole process (setting-up or taking control) by the interviewed person; Section III - the present - is about the operation of the business over the 12 months prior to the moment of the interview; and Section IV - the future - is about the operation of the business in the following 3 years. As mentioned in Section 5.5.3, questions about past and present are about enacted social support, and questions about the future are about perceived social support.
In the three sections only open-ended questions were used. Respondents were asked to identify, based on free recall, the existence, or not, of any behaviours worthy of mention, that had significantly affected the business owner, either in the positive sense of helpful behaviours or in the negative sense of unhelpful or constraining behaviours, both by the family and people within personal circle. If behaviours were acknowledged, respondents were also required to indicate the person responsible for the behaviours, what the behaviour was about, and the implications to the business.
In Section V the respondents were invited to rank, from 1 to 4, the helpful and unhelpful behaviors from family and people within personal circle identified in the three previous sections, as being significant to the business. The behavior that had the most important effect on what happened should be ranked as first and there onwards, until the one that had the least effect (maximum rank 4).
Section VI and VII of the questionnaire aimed at collecting respondents’
perceptions about the existence and effects of specific helpful behaviours and unhelpful behaviours, both from family (Section VI), and from people within their personal circle (Section VII). A set of specific statements representing 18 helpful behaviours and 18 unhelpful behaviours have been identified, based both on literature review and on exploratory qualitative stage (as described in Section 5.4).
These statements were grouped according to six possible types, of social support and social hindrance (3 statements per type of support/hindrance) (Table 5.1).
Table 5.1: Possible types of social support and social hindrance
Types of social support Types of social hindrance
Provision of emotional support Expressing criticism of what I was doing in relation to the business consequences of helpful behaviours were included; as well as 18 statements about unhelpful behaviours, plus 18 statements about the consequences of unhelpful behaviours. The total list of statements was duplicated, being each respondent asked about the existence of each behaviour (helpful and helpful), and hypothesized consequences, both from family (Section VI) and from people within personal circle (Section VII). Answers were given according to 5 point Likert-type scales, ranging from 0=behaviours did not happen at all to 4=behaviours happened a lot. Respondents were to identify if anyone had behaved in the specified ways (0=not at all to 4=happened a lot), and who was the person with most significance with regard to that behaviour. Additionally, three situations (sentences) were identified (again based on literature and qualitative phase) illustrating the hypothesized consequences of each one of the six groups of behaviours, upon the business owner or upon the business itself. Answers were also given according to a 5 point Likert-type scale ranging from 0=not at all to 4=to a great deal.
Section VIII aimed at establishing the owners’ perception of the overall importance of their personal network to the business. Respondents were asked to
score (from 0=not important at all to 4=very important) the six groups of helpful and unhelpful behaviours (hypothesized types of support and hindrance), when they existed, both from family and people within personal circle.
Additionally, in this section, measures of work-family conflict and family-work conflict (WFC–FWC) were included. As stated before (Chapter 4) it was considered that tourism businesses are subject to specific demands that could lead to conflicting, or hindering, situations with regard to their social context, particularly related to the family context, although not exclusively. Owners often have to balance their time and attention between their family duties and business related duties, and some incompatibilities may arise, causing situations of conflict.
As a result of that, the family may act, although involuntarily, in ways that are perceived as hindering behaviours towards the business.
As suggested in Chapter 3 (Section 3.4.6.2) business related constrains could give raise to WFC-FWC, translated into possible behaviours likely to hinder/undermine the business context. In order to evaluate these possibilities, questions related to work demands and family demands were included in the questionnaire. These measures were adapted from Netemeyer et al. (1996) WFC-FWC self-report measures.
Section IX was entitled “The perception of yourself” and included two different sets of statements: statements aiming at understanding owner’s perception about their satisfaction with the business, and social desirability. As acknowledged in Chapter 2 (Section 2.8) the analysis of small and micro businesses success needs to recognise firm’s owner’s perspective of success, which will depend on his/her own motivations and reasons for starting-up and stay in business. A 3 item version of the Job Satisfaction Index (used by Kopelman et al. 1983), adapted to owner’s satisfaction with business ownership has been included in the questionnaire:
Generally speaking I am very satisfied with the business
I frequently think of quitting this business
I get a satisfactory income from this business
An additional set of 6 statements was developed referring to specific facets of the business success. These 6 statements were developed based on the small business literature, and refer to aspects like working conditions, lifestyle, and economic outcomes. Answers were given according to a five points Liker type scale, ranging from 1=strongly disagree, to 5=strongly agree.
A short version (10 items) of MC-SDS scale has also been included in this section, aiming at understanding if respondents were influenced, and if their answers were influenced, by their desire to be socially approved (a control variable). The scale has 10 items with a T or F response format. Five sentences are in its correct form (not in a socially desirable format) and five sentences are in a socially desirability format.
Section X sets the respondent’s profile (age, gender, marital status, children, and residence), and level of human capital, namely occupation, previous experience in the sector and parents previous experience as business owners.