List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Preface
The chapter deals with the sources of the theory that is widely used in accounting research, but drawn from other disciplines. Publication is the natural target output of the research process, and Chapter 11 addresses the complexities of the publication process.
Introduction and Overview
New theories (possibly those related to parallel universes) are needed for a full understanding of the incompatibility. Absence of plausible rival hypotheses – the third rule attempts to eliminate alternative explanations for the events as implausible.
Developing the Research Idea
Changing the playing conditions
The wicket was uncovered and exposed to the weather when the match started and could have been rendered useless when the hot sun dried out the wet pitch; these "sticky" overs provided a possible solution to the problem because Bradman was nowhere near as successful at poor overs as many of his contemporaries were.
Changing the rules of the game
Changing the bowling
But Bradman was too good to fall for such tricks and used his agility, quick reflexes and nimble footwork to move to his feet, off the line of the ball, giving himself room to hit through. off-side field. Such a strategy would have left less talented batsmen vulnerable because it involved exposing all three stumps to the bowler, but Bradman could execute the maneuver without undue risk.
Changing the field placings
Introducing a ‘bodyline’ attack
However, the risks of bodily injury to the batsman from the body line solution were high and its introduction was seen as ungentlemanly and against the spirit of the game. Measuring local time is not a problem, especially during daylight hours, but in the absence of accurate clocks knowing the corresponding time at the base point remains a significant problem.
Existing methods
Eclipse data
Lunar distances methods
As we suspected, the research process is by no means simple, systematic, or clean. Interestingly, this specification of the research question rarely matches the specification of the CEO of the organization in question.
Theory, Literature and Hypotheses
The sum of a set of valid and reliable responses to the construct provides a measure of the concept. More detailed aspects of the literature review are discussed in Chapter 9 (on archival research) and Chapter 10 (on thesis writing).
Data Collection and Analysis
They differ in the assumptions about the underlying distribution of the analyzed data. Multiple assumptions may be difficult to test, especially when only limited data are available. The inclusion of three explanatory variables (DÉCOR, assistants and population) that correlate well with turnover (R=0.684).
Chong and Chong (1997) provide an example of the application of the use of path analysis in the accounting literature. There are few cases of the use of PLS in the accounting literature, but Ittner, et al. Smith and Langfield-Smith (2002) report the results of a survey of the use of SEM in the accounting literature, noting the increasing penetration.
It can be categorical in the form of high/average/low, good/bad, or success/failure.
Research Ethics in Accounting
Professor A requested the cooperation of DeltaCorp's CEO in conducting workforce interviews. Subjects are randomly assigned to treatment, that is, to different levels of independent (explanatory) variables. Randomization: so that the distribution of the variable is equally likely among all independent variables.
Holding constant: so that the variable has the same value across all values of the independent variable. Matching: so that the distribution of the variable is the same for each of the independent variables. The instrument had to be repaired and the entire experiment restarted to ensure the integrity of the results.
This should be reflected in the interpretation of the pattern of successive results over time.
Survey Research
There are several important considerations: Do we know the size of the population and its constituents. Extensive piloting of the survey instrument is essential to demonstrate that it is capable of generating the required responses from the target population. A number of additional considerations arise when we focus in more detail on the collection of data.
It is also an ongoing involvement because vigilance must be exercised in maintaining the mailing list. How to record answers? This should be determined early to make the most of the media used. This is often more successful than offering nominal prizes or rewards for survey returns.
In the accounting literature, Lowe and Shaw (1968) and Onsi (1973) provide examples of the adoption of a structured interview approach.
Fieldwork
The most common scenario, this is where researchers interact with organizational members in a collaborative venture. Experimental – where the research is concerned with conducting a field experiment where new treatments are applied to sub-units of the area. It may be possible to provide alternative views of the same phenomenon through a process of "triangulation", which can increase the validity and reliability of the research.
The researcher ultimately decides how each sentence in the transcript will be coded and, more importantly, interprets the 'meaning' associated with selected passages of text in terms of the theoretical constructs. However, regardless of the research method used, the ability to make broad generalizations from a single study is necessarily limited. Bouwman (1984) provides one of the earliest examples of the use of contemporary EPS in the accounting literature, when he compares the decision-making processes of expert and novice decision-makers.
We can anticipate that this approach will bring benefits to investigations of the use of International Accounting Standard (IAS) information.
Archival Research
In the financial reporting environment, most studies still rely on the content of the corporate report, but newspaper sources are increasingly being used as they provide a more up-to-date medium. Contextual differences can explain many of the apparent contradictions and inconsistencies in the findings of comparative pieces, making it imperative that we return to the original sources. Bowman (1984) uses the number of times the word “new” appears in the president's letter as a measure of managerial risk when answering questions about strategic risk and corporate uncertainty.
The qualitative content of the narrative is transformed into quantitative variables for subsequent analysis with simple formulas. Relationship variables can then be calculated from the narrative for each theme based on the importance of those themes in the narrative. Nevertheless, however careful the researchers are, as Weber (1990, p. 62) emphasizes, content analysis is partly an art and depends on the judgment and interpretation of the investigator.
What it does do is demonstrate the breadth of research being conducted in the critical paradigm, despite the limited nature of publication opportunities.
Supervision and Examination Processes
There are arguments on both sides of the divide and the candidate's desire to innovate is part of his/her personal development. The importance of the supervisor's role in the research process cannot be underestimated. Given the examiner's expertise in the research area, it is highly likely that he or she has published research close to the dissertation topic.
Dissertations perceived as too long give the impression that the supervisor may have exercised insufficient control over the progress of the research. The content page is often one of the last to be reviewed and should not be missed. Matching should mean that there are no unreferenced citations and no references that do not appear in the main body of the text.
C – pass, subject to specified (minor) revisions which have been made to the satisfaction of the supervisor and the awarding body of the university.
Turning Research into Publications
These material gains may be less important than the personal pleasure derived from research success—the pride in one's own publications and the almost addictive effect that initial success can have on subsequent publications. The line between this activity and consulting is extremely blurred, especially if the professional niche is such that it results in a multitude of reports in a similar spirit but in slightly different settings (eg the same thing in different organizations, different industries, different countries, etc.). These revisions may be so excessive as to represent a new paper (eg, redesigning an experiment or running a new sample), but at least they promise that the paper exists somewhere, even if it may never be accepted into that particular journal.
The summary is the first thing the editor/. the reviewer reads and great care is needed to ensure that he 'sells' the article to the reader as he describes what he is doing and why it is important. Workshop' the paper at one or two other universities, to gauge the views of a wider (possibly interdisciplinary) audience. This is rarely an optimal strategy, especially if it is highly likely that the same referee will be used by different journals – the smaller the subject area, the more likely this is to happen.
It's rare that you don't come away feeling that "the referee has a point there" in at least one or two cases.
Structure versus Judgement in the Audit Process: A Test of
Kinney’s Classification
Background
In revision, these analogies were considered in terms of the concepts of "structure" and "judgment" (Dirsmith and Haskins, 1991). Cushing and Loebbecke (1986) investigate this difference through an empirical study of the guidance that accounting firms provide to their auditors. Their study of the policy manuals of twelve large public accounting firms revealed dramatic differences between firms in terms of degree.
Kinney (1986) extends the work of Cushing and Loebbecke (1986) and notes that the unstructured approach involves leaving more judgmental considerations in the hands of the field auditor. It is this classification that forms the basis of the test performed in this study. The degree of audit structure has been shown to be associated with clients' financial disclosure patterns.
This study extends this area of research by examining the impact that the level of audit structure in individual firms has on the tolerance of income-increasing/decreasing accounting policy choices among client firms.
