Exploring the Dynamics Involved in Dyadic Partnerships

This chapter presents the philosophical assumptions underpinning the study and introduces the research design and empirical techniques adopted to answer the research questions. As discussed in Chap. 2 , four research sub-questions were developed to explore how SEs and IIs establish partner fit to pursue their social and economic interests in Nigeria. These research questions investigate what factors in the micro- and macro-environments influence their collaborative process and what is learned from their experience. This chapter is organised firstly with an overview of philosophical assumptions grounded in critical realism (CR), then the presentation of research design, sample selection (purposive sampling), data collection strategy (primary and secondary data) and data analysis.