Identification and Analysis of Entrepreneurship Research Priorities in Knowledge and Information Science from the Viewpoint of Faculty Members and Doctoral Students in the Field

Studying and researching the challenges and research needs of entrepreneurship in knowledge and information science can help us to develop entrepreneurship in this field. In this way, the purpose of this study was to identify and categorize the important entrepreneurship research topics in knowledge and information science and measuring their importance to determine research priorities in the field.

This study was conducted as a survey, The purpose of the study was application and the nature of the research was descriptive and analytical. The study population consisted of faculty members and doctoral students of knowledge and information science in Tehran University, Kharazmi University, Al-Zahra University, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Shiraz University, University of Esfahan and Shahid Chamran University in the academic year 2016-2017. Data were collected by a questionnaire was made by researchers. To assess the formal validity of the questionnaire, the opinions of experts in the field of knowledge and information science were used and construct validity was applied to assess its validity and Pearson's correlation coefficient Cronbach's alpha was used to measure its reliability. In order to analyze the data, descriptive statistics (mean) and inferential statistics (Friedman test and t test) were used.

After reviewing the literature and experts' views, 58 research topics were identified and classified in 8 main aspects. Among the research topics identified, research priorities from the viewpoint of the studied population were included "entrepreneurship education", "research in entrepreneurship", "information technology", and "the relationship between entrepreneurship and knowledge and information science".

Results indicate that new and applied topics and topics related to information technology are more preferred than the traditional subjects and theoretical subjects for future research in this area. Research planning in order to target research topics requires identification of the most important research axes. The results of this study will help to clarify the research needs of the field of entrepreneurship in knowledge and information science.