Qualitative research is becoming increasingly popular in organisational studies. There is growing consensus that qualitative research contributes positively to the diversity of academic inquiry in entrepreneurship, advancing rich and novel insights about entrepreneurial phenomena. We conduct the first large-scale synthesis of the qualitative entrepreneurship research literature. Based on a sample of 460 articles published across 45 quality journals, we offer an in-depth analysis of the state of qualitative research in entrepreneurship and unearth specific patterns in common practices of published qualitative investigations. Our analysis reveals several potentially fruitful avenues for the continued application of qualitative approaches in entrepreneurship research (e.g. entrepreneur-opportunity nexus). Suggestions on why and how to use qualitative research are provided, and recommendations are offered to guide future qualitative studies to advance better understanding of entrepreneurial phenomena.

定性研究在组织研究中越来越受欢迎。越来越多的共识认为，定性研究对企业家学问的多样性做出了积极贡献，对企业家现象的见解不断深入和新颖。我们进行了定性创业研究文献的首次大规模综合。基于在45种优质期刊上发表的460篇文章的样本，我们对创业的定性研究现状进行了深入分析，并在已发表的定性研究的常见实践中揭示了特定的模式。我们的分析揭示了在定性研究中继续应用定性方法的几种潜在的富有成效的途径（例如，创业者与机会的联系）。