Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Accounting Research
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The following table sets out the lectures to be delivered. These cover
background information on the research process, specific information on
accessing certain databases, and a series of examples of how to conduct
research in different areas relevant to business and accounting.
COURSE PLANNING:
Details
Reading
Materials
Chapter 01
Appendices
Tasks:
1. Critically analyze a selected accounting paper - (Saha and Akter, 2013).
2. Find out ranking of the journal above.
1&2
Chapter 02
Appendix 2
(Clarkson,
1995)
At the end of this session you are supposed to be able to do or have knowledge of
followings: Preparing research proposals; plan your research; portray a Gantt chart for your
research plan; find out sources for a new idea for your next research.
References:
Clarkson, M.B.E. (1995), A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate
social performance, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 92117.
3.Theory, Literature and Hypotheses
- Theory Agency theory, Institutional theory, Legitimacy theory, Signalling theory,
Stakeholder theory, Stewardship theory etc (Gray et al., 1995a, 2010).
- Literature search Databases, What to read and look for (Gray et al., 1995b).
- Databases- WRDS, Thomson one, Datastream, Bloomberg, Lexis Nexis etc.
Chapter 03
(Rankin et
al., 2011)
Tasks:
5. Apply theory to support your research idea presented earlier in your proposal.
6. Cite all literature available to support the theory. Use appropriate database for literature
search.
Presentation Topics: Institutional theory, Validity issues internal and external validity.
At the end of this session you are supposed to be able to do or have knowledge on
followings: Know and use appropriate theoretical frameworks for your research; know about
good databases to find data for your study- where to find data (to know further in details
about databases, please contact the instructor for a separate module on databases); setting
hypotheses for your research in null and alternative form; set up your own research
multivariate model with a constant, variables, dependent variable, independent variables and
moderating variables.
References:
Gray, R., Kouhy, R. and Lavers, S. (1995a), Methodological themes: Constructing a
research database of social and environmental reporting by UK companies,
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 78101.
Gray, R., Kouhy, R. and Lavers, S. (1995b), Corporate social and environmental reporting: a
review of the literature and a longitudinal study of UK disclosure, Accounting, Auditing
& Accountability Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 4777.
Gray, R., Owen, D. and Adams, C. (2010), Some theories for social accounting?: a review
essay and a tentative pedagogic categorization of theorizations around social
accounting, Sustainability, Environmental Performance and Disclosures, Emerald
Group Publishing, Bingley, Vol. 4, pp. 154.
Krippendorf, K. (1980), Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology, edited by Kline,
F.G., Sage Publication, Inc., California.
Rankin, M., Windsor, C. and Wahyuni, D. (2011), An investigation of voluntary corporate
greenhouse gas emissions reporting in a market governance system: Australian
evidence, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 24 No. 8, pp. 10371070.
4.Sample Selection and Measurement Data Collection
- Choosing a research method- how much by regression, what experimental, what
do you think by interview and surveys, and unique situation by case study.
- Sample selection Cost benefit analysis of large sample, data trimming, winsorising.
- Measurement issues, Data scaling Nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio, Likert scale,
Semantic differential.
- Data normality, histogram, parametric and non parametric data.
- Data management Variable definition, Excel / Access / SPSS/ STATA. Missing
data, entry errors, corruption.
Tasks:
Chapter 05
(Hasseldine
et al., 2005)
Chapter 06
(Toms, 2002)
Tasks:
9. Analyse your data collected earlier for the proposed research.
10. Present the descriptive and inferential statistics for your research.
At the end of this session you are supposed to be able to do or have knowledge on
followings: do univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis on your quantitative data for
your research; know which test is good for your type of data; test for suitability of your data
for multivariate regression analysis; advanced regression tools available; problems of
missing data, data corruption and entry errors.
References:
Toms, J.S. (2002), Firm resources, quality signals and the determinants of corporate
environmental reputation: Some UK evidence, British Accounting Review, Vol. 34 No.
3, pp. 257282.
Chapter 07
(Hackston
and Milne,
1996)
(Beck et al.,
2010)
Tasks:
11. Do a content analysis for your research (if needed). You may follow Hackston and Milne
(1996), which is a seminal paper for content analysis.
12. Take an annual report of any company. Use content analysis to quantify the data. You
volumetric and qualitative method both.
At the end of this session you are supposed to be able to do or have knowledge on
followings: quantify your qualitative data for statistical testing; software that can be used for
qualitative research (to know further in details about Nvivo, please contact the instructor for a
separate module specially designed on Nvivo); use indices to do volumetric or qualitative
measure for quantifying your qualitative data; test for reliability of your coding.
References:
Alotaibi, K. and Hussainey, K. (2016), Quantity Versus Quality: the Value Relevance of Csr
Disclosure of Saudi Companies, Corporate Ownership and Control Journal, Vol. 13 No.
2, pp. 167179.
Beck, A.C., Campbell, D. and Shrives, P.J. (2010), Content analysis in environmental
reporting research: enrichment and rehearsal of the method in a British German
context, British Accounting Review, Elsevier Ltd, Vol. 42, pp. 207222.
Chapter 13
Appendix 1
(Parker et al.,
1998; Parker,
2012)
Chapter 12
At the end of this session you are supposed to be able to do or have knowledge on
followings: manage your expectation from your supervisor, respond to the expectation of
your supervisor from you, prepare yourself for the examination process.
9.Archival Research (optional, if you are interested to know more on archival research)
-
Cross section data, time series data and panel data analysis
Where to collect data from? Archival sources of data COMUSTAT, BLOOMBERG,
WRDS, Thomson research etc, Lexis Nexis.
Content analysis.
Chapter 11
(Salama et
al., 2011)
(Islam and
Deegan,
At the end of this session you are supposed to be able to do or have knowledge on
followings: How to do surveys and interview research?
2008)
References:
Islam, M.A. and Deegan, C. (2008), Motivations for an organisation within a developing
country to report social responsibility information Evidence from Bangladesh,
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. Vol. 21 No. 6, pp. pp. 850874.
11.Qualitative Methods (optional, in case you are interested in a qualitative research
case study or field study)
Chapter 10
-
Field work
Case study
(Gray et al.,
1995b)
At the end of this session you are supposed to be able to do or have knowledge on
followings: How to do field studies and case studies?
References:
Gray, R., Kouhy, R. and Lavers, S. (1995b), Corporate social and environmental reporting: a
review of the literature and a longitudinal study of UK disclosure, Accounting, Auditing
& Accountability Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 4777.
12.Experimental Research (optional, if your research is an experimental one)
Task:
14. Read and find out what process Elliott et al. (2014) and Maglike et al. (2009) follow to do
their experimental research.
At the end of this session you are supposed to be able to do or have knowledge on:
how to do experimental research in accounting.
Chapter 08
(Ingram and
Frazier,
1980)
References:
Elliott, W.B., Jackson, K.E., Peecher, M.E. and White, B.J. (2014), The unintended effect of
Corporate Social Responsibility performance on investors estimates of fundamental
value, Accounting Review, Vol. 89 No. 1, pp. 275302.
Ingram, R.W. and Frazier, K.B. (1980), Environmental performance and corporate
disclosure, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 614623.
Maglike, M.J., Mayhew, B.W. and Pike, J.E. (2009), Are independent audit committee
members objective? Experiment evidence, Accounting Review, Vol. 84 No. 6, pp.
18591981.
SESSIONS:
Sessions provide a structured programme of work designed to reinforce knowledge and encourage
independent study. The tasks for these sessions are given in this handbook. All participants are expected
to respond to all tasks required for each session and be prepared to enter into discussion and
presentation of the issues. The member of staff in charge of the session will take a lead, but participants
are expected to make major contributions.
PARTICIPANTS WORKLOAD:
In addition to attending sessions and undertaking preparation for sessions and mid and final
assessments, participants are expected to undertake independent reading and learning. As a guide,
this module requires 50 hours of Student Learning Activity Time (SLAT). The SLAT hours include all
formal contact hours and the time devoted to background reading, and all preparation and reading time
associated both with the formal contact hours and the midterm and final assessments (including tasks).
You are expected of at least 3 hours of home reading for each hour of class room lecture.
(ii)
A critical review of the relevant literature, theoretical or applied: this section will identify in
detail what conclusions, if any, are possible given the current state of the literature and will
seek to identify what are the strengths and weaknesses of that literature. This section will
conclude with an indication of the extent to which further theoretical or empirical work,
using either different techniques and/or using different data sets from those in the existing
literature, has the potential for furthering our understanding of the phenomenon chosen for
study.
The project should be typed, well presented and structured and should be typewritten, doublespaced; Appendices should only be used when judged to be strictly necessary to the
understanding of the project. The work should include footnotes where appropriate and all
references should be included in a properly constructed reference list.
2. FINAL RESEARCH PAPER
The final research paper includes an 8,500-word dissertation. This provides an opportunity for
you to investigate in greater depth a subject that you have already studied as part of this
module. The work will enable you to exercise critical judgement and illustrate how economic
analysis has relevance to financial decision taking.
The research must be clear, well written and structured. Reference to sources of information
and the works of other authors should ensure ease of identification and a list of references
should be included. The subject should be dealt with in a competent and scholarly manner. The
candidate is expected to display critical discrimination and a sense of proportion in evaluating
evidence and the opinions of others.
Aims
To provide students with opportunities to be familiar with the frontier empirical and
theoretical research;
Making use of and managing library facilities, databases and other learning resources;
Applications of advanced principles, concepts and methods to select a relevant topic. This
will involve presentations of empirical and theoretical research at the frontiers of the
subject as well as reviews of selected seminal papers. Topics will reflect the research
interests of the School.
The dissertation topic, which should be one that is suitable for in-depth investigation, is
chosen by the participant.
Learning Outcomes of the Dissertation
Subject-specific Knowledge:
To have gained an understanding and be aware of the nature and scope of advanced
research in the social sciences;
To be aware of the significance of alternative epistemological positions when designing and
undertaking research;
To be aware of, and familiar with, the facilities available for conducting literature searches
and obtaining relevant data to facilitate empirical investigation;
To have a critical understanding of a relevant topic and the most appropriate techniques of
analysis.
Subject-specific Skills:
All Tables and Figures should be numbered and placed in the appropriate position in the
text, rather than at the end of chapters or dissertation. The numbering should refer to
the relevant chapter; for example, Table 3.1 would refer to Table 1 of Chapter 3. Give all
Tables and Figures a title and refer to them in the text: remember that data never speak
for themselves. Also remember to provide an explanation of the meaning of any symbol
or abbreviation used, and specify the source of information.
(ii)
Logic, clarity and precision in the written text are important. It is wisest to avoid personal
pronouns, gerunds, exclamation marks, clichs, and excessive use of capital letters and
note form. Care should be taken with grammar, spelling and punctuation. For guidance
on writing style, see:
Fowler, HW and FG Fowler (1984) Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Omega.
Gowers, E (1986) The Complete Plain Words. HMSO, 3rd edition.
Turabian, KL (1987) A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses and
Dissertations. Heinemann.
"In formal examinations and all assessed work prescribed in degree, diploma and
certificate regulations, candidates should take care to acknowledge the work and
opinions of others and avoid any appearance of representing them as their own.
Unacknowledged quotation or close paraphrasing of other people's writing, amounting to
the presentation of other persons' thoughts or writings as one's own, is plagiarism and will
be penalised. In extreme cases, plagiarism may be classed as a dishonest practice under
Section IV, 2(a) (viii) of the General Regulations and may lead to expulsion. The
facilitation of plagiarism through publication may also be classed as a dishonest practice
under Section IV, 2(a) (ix) of the General Regulations and may lead to expulsion."
Details that may interrupt the flow of the text can be placed in footnotes, which should be
flagged at the appropriate point in the text by a superscript. Number the footnotes consecutively
through each chapter. Most word processing packages will provide automatic numbering. It is
preferable to use footnotes placed at the bottom of the appropriate page, than endnotes placed
at the end of each chapter.
Students should provide a list of references, arranged in alphabetical order, by author at the end
of your dissertation. These should be written in the following style.
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
N.B. This handbook is intended for the guidance of participants taking this module. Whilst the details
contained in this handbook represent teaching staff intentions at the time of writing, it is in the nature of
higher education that some module information, such as syllabus, reading lists and assignments, may be
subject to modifications during the teaching of a module. Teaching staff reserve the right to make such
minor changes in the matters covered by this publication and will endeavour to publicise any such
changes as widely and timely as possible.