The Past, Present, and Future of Entrepreneurship Research: Data Analytic Trends and Training 1 Michelle A. Dean Christopher L. Shook G. Tyge Payne Competent data analysis is essential to entrepreneurship research and to the discipline’s progression. A three-study design was used to evaluate quantitative analytic trends and the adequacy of entrepreneurship doctoral training. First, trends were identified by assessing hypothesis-testing techniques in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice and the Journal of Business Venturing. Second, top entrepreneurship scholars were surveyed regarding the importance of various quantitative analytical techniques to future research and their expec- tations regarding doctoral training. Third, newly minted entrepreneurship PhDs were queried regarding their perceived competence with these same techniques. These studies provide a past, present, and future perspective on data analysis techniques and competencies in entrepreneurship. Introduction Recent discussions among entrepreneurship scholars have focused on the domain of entrepreneurship and its place in the general management field (e.g., Brush et al., 2003; Ketchen, 2003; Sharma & Chrisman, 1999). As with any relatively young field of study, entrepreneurship is constantly evaluating and reevaluating its place among related fields of study in an attempt to establish legitimacy (Bruyat & Julien, 2001; Busenitz et al., 2003). In a recent assessment of the field, Busenitz et al. (2003) argued that in estab- lishing legitimacy, theory development and method are inextricably intertwined. Whereas it is theory that determines the discipline’s boundaries, it is method that facili- tates the testing of such theories and enables communication within the discipline and Please send correspondence to Michelle A. Dean, tel.: (619) 594-6839; e-mail: michelle.dean@sdsu.edu. 1. Paper resubmitted to Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice as a research note. A previous version of this paper was presented at the 2005 Academy of Management Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii. The authors would like to thank Garry Bruton, Wendy J. Casper, Jeffrey Conte, Justin L. Davis, Editor James J. Chrisman, and two anonymous reviewers for their insights and suggestions. P T E & 1042-2587 © 2007 by Baylor University 601 July, 2007