An empirical analysis of the chain of response model's utility in predicting persistence in an entrepreneurship continuing education seminar.

摘要

This study analyzed the utility of Cross' Chain of Response (COR) model and several demographic factors to predict persistence to complete an entrepreneurship education seminar series. Additionally, it explored the relationship of the same variables with whether the participant's started their own business.;This survey yielded a response rate of 44.8% of the deliverable 338 survey instruments mailed to individuals who attended the nine-part "Small Business Fundamentals" seminar series at the University of Wisconsin - Madison Small Business Development Center. All analyses used a familywise alpha = .05. Reliability measures were: self-evaluation, .86; attitude, .87; goals and expectations, .88; opportunities and barriers, .80; information, .59; life transitions, .70.;Using stepwise regression analysis, the workload, goals/expectation and information constructs emerged as the significant variables in relation to persistence. The model explained approximately 16% of the variance for persistence and had 39% accuracy in classifying persistence levels when tested on the holdout group. The findings related to the information construct were limited by it low construct reliability score.;Approximately 43% of the female participants and 48% of the male participants reported starting a business. A correlation analysis indicates a very low correlation between persistence and starting a business (R = .01). Only goals and expectations exhibited a significant correlation with both persistence and starting a business. In summary, this study provided a limited validation of the Chain of Response model and several demographic variables to explain and predict participant's persistence to complete an entrepreneurship seminar series has been demonstrated through this study. It also identified that a limited link existed between persistence and application (i.e., starting a business). Educators can use these findings to evaluate their program planning and development efforts. Future research with the COR model and other models should continue to address the relationship of participation, persistence, and application in a continuing education context.