A framework for measurability of “opportunity” construct in entrepreneurship studies using the meta-synthesis approach

Entrepreneurship is defined as the process of creating new economic or business activity entailing the opportunity recognition, evaluation and exploitation behaviors. Opportunity is hence at the heart of entrepreneurial activities. Yet, this construct has be utilized inconsistently in the literature such that it is posited that possibly the most consistency in the literature is inconsistency in the conceptualization and operationalization of this construct. One important reason for this inconsistency is supposed to result from the nature of the opportunity construct which is argued as a non-researchable construct in recent discussions in the literature. This research, which is basic-theoretical in terms of the purpose and descriptive-content analysis in terms of data collection, combines 18 papers related to measuring the construct of opportunity using the meta-synthesis approach and presents an integrated framework for studying the construct of opportunity in entrepreneurship studies. It presents 4 paths for making the opportunity construct measurable which can provide valuable insights for entrepreneurship scholars to progress research on the most important construct of this field.