Primary Data

The point of departure of our primary data collection took place following a conference in Paris about the topic of The Role of the Private Sector in the Economic Integration of Refugees. The initial research phase consisted of unstructured interviews with one of our key gatekeepers. This individual functioned as a critical informant and helped us set the direction for our further investigation. The second phase evolved around our research approach as we collected primary data based on semi structured interviews. This method of data collection is what we deemed to be the most relevant given our exploratory perspective to our research. Leaving the possibility of open-ended questions with room for elaborative questions and new insights but also in order to better shape our research question along the way (Yin, 2003).

3.6.1.1. Method

The method of primary data collection consists of 18 semi-structured in-depth one-on-one interviews. The aim of an in-depth interview is to inquire more deeply than a regular

questionnaire-based interview (Milena, 2008). This method is relevant to our abductive research approach as it presents a more creative mode of discovery, that distinguishes itself from the inductive or deductive research approaches (Bechara et al., 2007). The abductive approach allows us to determine anomalies along the research process which might be inconsistent with our understanding of the world (Bechara et al., 2007). Due to time constraint, we were unfortunately not able to engage in a specific sampling strategy (Flyvbjerg, 2006). Most of our interviewees were found through recommendations made by the Chambers of Commerce, and later through the entrepreneurs own networks. This may present a bias in the sample as individuals might have had the tendency to try to recommend successful entrepreneurs within the Turkish formal sector. These recommendations might have to a certain extent prevented us from grasping the obstacles that were encountered by unsuccessful entrepreneurs of the formal sector. Moreover, our main focus is not set on a specific industry. This is illustrated by the sectoral diversity of the organizations and Syrian refugee entrepreneurs interviewed for the purpose of the study.

3.6.1.2. Interview Guide

Two interview guides were developed separately in order to support our semi-structured interviews. The interview guides are attached in appendix 1 and 2. The first one was aimed at the refugee entrepreneurs, from this interview guide the one aimed at national and international organizations was created. The interview guides questions were progressively adapted to each organization through research conducted prior to the interviews. These interview guides were developed in English as it was the main language of communication of the different parties. A short vocabulary list of keywords was made in Arabic to be used during the interviews (see appendix 4). This allowed a better interview flow for the interviews conducted mixing both Arabic and English to avoid relying on online translation tools. This was practiced in four out of the twelve interviews conducted. The order of the questions often deviated in order to allow a natural flow to the interview and to favor our exploratory research approach. The interview guide aimed at organizations would start by an introduction of the interviewers, the aim of our study, and the relevance of the interviewee to our study. We would proceed to ask into the interviewees current position in the organization and would proceed gradually into the heart of the study. Given the literature

review used in our study, we have developed common themes that appeared as barriers to the entrepreneurs and used these as starting points in order to allow a further in-depth discussion. Open ended questions were also added by the end of the interview guide. This section focuses on the main challenges and suggestions these individuals deem important allowing a perspective of their vision towards a positive change. The interview guide aimed at entrepreneurs has been conducted in similar ways. However, there has generally been added more in-depth questions during the interviews, when asking into the barriers in the pre-developed themes. This has allowed us to identify further barriers that have previously not or to a very little degree been touched upon from academics in the literature review such as the role of the media regarding this area of study. Moreover, in the interviews conducted with the Syrian refugee entrepreneurs, more time has been devoted for their storytelling and examples of anecdotes. During the storytelling, some interviewees have shown to stumble across communication difficulties by wanting to use specific words in order to convey a specific idea. This difficulty in the use of language has portrayed several episodes of their hardship of putting words into experiences and feelings. Pre-determining general barriers in the interview guide as a directive thread in order to conduct our interviews, has helped in order to avoid as many communication hardships from the interviewees as it has helped them organize their thoughts throughout the interview. This is what Gibbs (2012) refers to as narratives. According to him, ‘narration or storytelling is one of the fundamental ways that people organize their understanding of the world’. Embedded with the communities and cultural contexts in which these entrepreneurs currently live in. This allowed us to gain a better insight of their understanding of the meaning of the events these individuals have experienced (Gibbs, 2012).

3.6.1.3. Entrepreneurs and Organizations

We interviewed two different groups, presented in appendix 5. First, we interviewed local and international organizations involved in different projects, aiming to improve the formal refugee entrepreneurs environment in Turkey, with the intent to understand the opportunities these actors create or not for the entrepreneurs. Through these interviews, we sought to gain more insight into their awareness of this area, their engagement in it, and their future plans.

These include national and international organizations. Getting the organizations point of

view on what they perceive as being the current barriers for Syrian refugee entrepreneurs is important. Not only would this give us an additional perspective to our topic, but it would also help answering the research question by determining; the role of these organizations in the barriers that affect the Syrian entrepreneurs. Finally, it will also help us determine the requirements in order for the entrepreneurs to receive financial support and if this support is granted to them. Thereafter, we interviewed Syrian refugee entrepreneurs from the formal sector. The aim of interviewing this group was to firstly identify a range of barriers, as well as the role of their support system. And next, understand the sources of the difficulties they encountered and categorize them. This allowed us to gain more insight into the types of challenges they faced when engaging in their entrepreneurial activities. Our objective is to identify the barriers from the perspective of the Syrian entrepreneurs and organizations within the formal sector. As well as the role the organizations play when the entrepreneurs try to overcome the barriers they face. The Syrian refugee entrepreneurs point of view is essential as it draws a reality taken from experience and the obstacles encountered in their entrepreneurial journey (Bechara et al., 2007). This aspect is what will set a strong base in order to answer our research question, as the barriers identified from their interviews are the ones that will be taken as a point of departure during the data analysis.

The interviews were conducted in both Gaziantep, Turkey, in the form of one to one interviews and in Denmark; in the form of online interviews. The interviews lasted between 38 minutes and 2 hours and 30 minutes. As aforementioned, the interviews were conducted face-to-face in Gaziantep, and over skype or zoom video-calls from Denmark. The interviewees were offered confidentiality prior to the interview (Easterby et al., 2015).

Despite none deeming it necessary there has still been requests of some interviewees not to be recorded to accommodate their level of comfort. A list of the entrepreneurs recordings is included in appendix 27. Please note that the recordings are available upon request. In these cases, notes have been taken by both interviewers directly on an interview guide and joined into a clearer form after the interview. As aforementioned, due to time constraint one interview was conducted in the form of a questionnaire, that was sent back twice, via email, between the interviewers and interviewee in order to get a more in-depth perspective through follow up questions and specifications requests regarding some answers. The interviews were transcribed based on audio and video recordings and are presented as a complementary

part to the appendices. The method of transcription used is not related to the classical dialogue transcription format, as we transcribed parts of the audios that fit the interview guide directly. Hence, the presence of follow up questions sections in the interviews. The interviews were transcribed as follows: text in bold shows our questions. Text in red presents follow up questions and answers from the interviewees. Moreover, text in grey refers to questions that were not asked by the interviewers (appendix 6 to 23). Finally, the text in blue are comments from the translator. The interviews were conducted in English and Arabic, and all answers have been translated from the interviews into English. Moreover, one interview was conducted with the presence of an informal translator, after the interviewees request and chosen by him. This specific interview presents comments from the translator himself (appendix 15). We do account for our native languages being respectfully Portuguese and French, meaning some translation and interpretation may have been unaccounted for or lost in the translation process. According to Saunders at al. (2009), conducting an interview in a language where the interviewee feels confident in, allows for a more natural, immediate and detailed response. This is also valid for the one interview where a translator was present.

3.6.1.4. The Process

Despite being able to interview a great number of entrepreneurs and key individuals from several institutions; unfortunately, we were for example not able to get in touch with a Syrian refugee entrepreneur specialist from the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, the Building Markets organization nor anyone from the SPARK organization. Such organizations are highly involved in this area. Unfortunately, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce never replied to any of our emails. Additionally, when contacting them through the phone we were faced with a language barrier as the person having responded did not speak English and it seemed that no one in her office was in a position to take over in English. This barrier was unfortunately for us as researchers, not one we were able to overcome from a far.

Interviewing a specialist from the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce would have helped us gain more knowledge in terms of what is being done in the city of Istanbul as an important number of Syrian refugee entrepreneurs conduct various businesses there. When writing to the SPARK organization, they unfortunately disclosed that they were too busy with the

COVID-19 circumstances and were very limited in the amount of time. This resulted in them redirecting us to their website for any needed information. Accessing secondary data in that manner was of course an asset. However, had we been able to get an internal point of view from an interview with a representative, it would have allowed us to gain a better understanding of their involvement with Syrian refugee entrepreneurs. In addition, with the SPARK organization holding an important role in the country regarding this topic, not having been able to interview a responsible from the organization will leave a gap in terms of initiatives taken by the organization in order to help Syrian refugee entrepreneurs in overcoming these barriers and other incentives they might have access to through them.

Additionally, the questions posed may have been interpreted in a different way due to nuances lost in translation. In order to ensure reliability of the data, several measures have been taken when conducting the interviews by keeping a neutral tone or avoid asking leading questions (Saunders et al, 2009). However, biases may appear from the interviewer due to the way the questions were posed as a result of translations or explanations in Arabic or English. Additionally, to ensure reliability and reduce response bias, anonymity was offered to company owners and organization representatives. An offer none of the interviewees took upon. Furthermore, the interviews conducted had reached a certain point of honesty that some interviewees were willing to share what they deemed as inside information in order to give more context to their point being made. Our data attachment consists of: the recorded interviews, their transcriptions as well as academic texts, reports and online articles.