ACCOUNTING RESEARCH METHODS

Atty. Francis Manabat Javier, BSA, CPA, LL.B., MBA-AC

Professor, FEU Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance
Lecture on Accounting Research
Guide on Writing Thesis Paper in Accounting Research
When you start writing your thesis, you should be aware that it consists of a macro-
structure made of the 5 chapters and each of the chapters has its own micro-
structure. You should use this to guide your writing. Though the thesis is a technical
you should also note that it is creative process.

1. Structure of the Thesis

2. Chapter 1 – Writing Thesis (Introduction)
3. Chapter 2 – Writing Thesis (Review of Literature)
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Quantitative/Qualitative)
5. Chapter 4 – Analysis of Data (Quantitative/Qualitative)
6. Chapter 5 – Summary Discussion and Conclusion
7. Writing Style and Language Expression
8. APA Format and Style
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
In Chapter 3 of your Thesis, you discuss details about the methodology you employed in
collecting data for your study. Here the title 'Methodology' is adopted for this chapter in
which you tell the reader how you collected the data to answer the research questions
in Chapter 1 - Introduction. You will describe the methods and procedures (or
techniques) used in the your study in sufficient detail that will enable future researchers
to follow your methodology for their respective study. You should write the methodology
of your study as though it were a 'recipe' which can be followed closely by individuals
who read what you have written.

In short, Chapter 1 describes why the research question is being asked and Chapter 3
describes how the research question is answered. Note that there are several ways of
writing Chapter 3 and the following is a suggestion on the sub-sections to include. Here,
Chapter 3 for qualitative research has been divided into 8 sub-sections.

Please check with the requirements specified by your respective institution.

Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
1. PREAMBLE
The 'Preamble' sub-section would normally consist of TWO parts. In the first part, you restate the
'problem statement', the 'purpose of the study' the 'research questions' (unless your study is based
on the grounded theory method) and the theoretical framework. Again you may ask, why should I
keep on 'retelling' about the purpose, problem statement, research questions and theoretical
framework of the study! You would assume that the reader should know what the study is all
about. You should keep in mind that when your thesis is later kept in the university library or in an
online database, researchers interested in your study may 'jump' straight to Chapter 3 to find out
how you went about collecting data for your study. Hence, it would be appreciated by future
readers if you told them briefly the problem statement, purpose, research questions and the
underlying theory of your study so that they understand this chapter.

In the second part of the 'Preamble', you tell the reader the sub-sections in Chapter 3 and how you
will address each sub-section. Think of this part as the 'warm up' for the full discussion of your
data collection strategy. Note that the information regarding methodology should be
comprehensive and detailed enough to permit replication of the study by other researchers.
 Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
Excerpt of the 'Preamble' sub-section:

• "The study examined decision-making styles and its effects on employee performance in the workplace.
Previous studies have demonstrated that leaders may make decisions that are not popular with employees
(Boachie-Mensah, Dogbe & Ophelia, 2011). The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of
performance-related pay on motivation of employees. Pay increases or the lack of for employees can have
an effect on employee's and the productivity of their work. If the employee feels they are not compensated
for their work, they may tend to decrease in being productive in their work ........................ . Specifically
the study sought to answer how might leaders's decision-making styles effect employee performance and
how leader's decision-making styles are informed by emotions or feelings............... This chapter is divided
into several section addressing the choice of research design, selection of informants, data collection
procedures, pilot-testing, instrumentation and data analysis".

2. RESEARCH DESIGN or METHOD

Generally, 'methods' used in qualitative research are more flexible compared to the 'designs' or 'methods'
used in quantitative research. Some argue that in qualitative research, the 'Research Design' sub-section
is not essential. However, having this sub-section enables you to tell the reader from the on-set whether
your study used an ethnographic, case study, phenomenological, narrative analysis, historical inquiry,
grounded theory or the generic qualitative method that does not subscribe to any specific qualitative
philosophy.
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
• You should state the rationale for your choice of the research design or method and its
appropriateness. For example, why did you choose the case study method or the grounded
theory method or the narrative inquiry method.
• Show how the method you had chosen helped accomplish the goals of the study. Focus
only on what you employed and implemented in your study.
• Discuss in detail the steps you took when using a particular design. For example, if you
study used the ethnographic design or method, write as though it were like an 'operators's
manual' that you might share with others so they can be assured that someone can replicated
your design.
• Description of your research design needs to have enough detail to eliminate
assumptions of the need to ask questions by someone who want to adopt or adapt your
research design. "It is a balancing act between too much information and not enough
information".

• Cite from textbooks and articles on qualitative methods by the greats such as Guba, Lincoln, Creswell,
Merriam, Patton, Charmaz and others. However, do not take chunks from these authors but focus on
what you need in telling readers about the particular design or method you used or had adapted
accordingly.

• Readers are interested in knowing HOW YOU USED the ethnographic method or the case
study method or the phenomenology method in YOUR STUDY and not a generic description
of the ethnographic or case study or narrative inquiry or phenomenology method.
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
Excerpt of the Research Design or Method Sub-Section:
• "The case study method was used in this study because it is well-suited in answering the
research questions appropriately and adequately. The strength of the case study method is
because it allows for the examination of the phenomenon in depth using various kinds of
evidence obtained from interviews with those involved, direct observation of events and analysis
of documents and artifacts (Yin, 2003). Also, the case study was used because the focus of the
study is more to describe and explain rather than prediction, and the variable variable studied
is note easily unidentifiable or embedded in the phenomenon to be extracted for study
(Merriam, 1988). In addition, the case study allows for empirical inquiry of phenomenon within
its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not
clearly evident (Yin, 2003)......................."

[source: adaptation of Elic Brown. Chapter 3 Methodology. http://www.elicbrown.com/dissertation/CHAPTER3.pdf]

Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
3. DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES
• Irrespective of which qualitative research design you adopted for your study, the three most common
data collection techniques are the:

1. INTERVIEW TECHNIQUE [or Focus Groups]

2. OBSERVATION TECHNIQUE &
3. DOCUMENT ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE

• You may have used one or more of these data collection techniques in your study. Do not tell what is
an interview, or observation or document analysis technique but rather tell how you used these
techniques in your study.
• Discuss where the Interview with your subjects or informants took place.
• How did you arrange the setting to ensure the level of quiet, intimacy and privacy.

Excerpt of the 'Data Collection Techniques' sub-section:

• "On-site interviews and observations was the main data collection techniques for the
study........Secondary data sources included documents provided by participants that pertain to the
study........Interviews were conducted based on questions listed in Interview Guide (see Appendix C).
However, participants were allowed the freedom to talk about their experiences in a way in which they
were comfortable...............
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
4. INSTRUMENTATION
• If you used INTERVIEW as a data collection, you will invariably have used an Interview
Schedule or Guide
• Tell the reader if your interview schedule was semi-structured or unstructured
• Discuss the types of questions included in the interview schedule or guide
• Provide examples of the questions you asked your informants

5. INFORMANTS (or Sampling)

• In this sub-section, you give details about how you got your subjects or informants for your
study. The issue of sampling can be quite confusing in qualitative research. Students often ask
"how many subjects or informants" do I need for my study.

• Students should avoid applying the sampling principles of quantitative research. The key
consideration in sampling in qualitative research is "saturation" and not representativeness and
the size of the sample is not statistically determined (Neuman, 2003).
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THE INFORMANTS?
o Tell the reader how you chose the informants for your study - Usually, 'purposive sampling' is used because
the informants are available, convenient and most importantly represent characteristics you want to study
(Silverman, 2000).
o Outline the procedures you adopted for selecting the sample of 10 Managers including justification for
the sampling method or sampling procedure; i.e. why did you choose the particular sampling method.
WHO ARE THEY? - Provide as much information as possible about the characteristics of your informants.
WHY YOU CHOSE THEM? - This is based on your judgement - the informants will be able to provide you with
information needed to answer the research questions; also you can argue that the informants are most characteristic,
representative or possess attributes typical of the population.

Excerpt of 'Sampling' sub-section:

• In this study purposive sampling was adopted which is “a method of sampling where the researcher deliberately
chooses who to include in the study based on their ability to provide necessary data” (Parahoo, 1997, p. 232). The
rationale for choosing this approach was that the researcher was seeking knowledge about the nurses’ opinion of
pain in patients who suffer from dementia, which the participants would provide by virtue of their experience.
• The researcher worked in conjunction with the Head of Department, in choosing participants, based on their level
of experience in caring for patients that suffer from dementia as well as their qualifications. There were 12
potential participants, of whom seven participated in the study. Some of the nurses were not available as they were
off duty, off sick, on holiday, while others did not want to participate in the study..........................
• In-person interviews were conducted and recorded in a quiet, neutral location where the participants were not in
danger and there was no intimidation or coercion.........
[source: A. Langen (200). Chapter 3 Research Design and Methodology. http://www.ais.utm.my/researchportal/files/2015/02/Example3-Res-Design.pdf]
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
6. PILOT-TEST
• Some experts suggest that pilot-tests are not important for qualitative research while others suggest it
would be useful for novice researchers to do pilot-test. For example, if you are using interviews for the
first time, it would advisable for you to conduct interview as a pre-exercise to get used to the type of data
collection. The pilot test will assist the researcher in determining if there are flaws, limitations, or other
weaknesses within the interview design and enable the researcher to make necessary revisions prior to
the implementation of the study. However, the informants or participants involved in the pilot-test should
similar to the informants involved in the final study. It has also been suggested that the pilot test can the
researcher with the refinement of research questions.

Example:
• A pilot-study was conducted with 3 senior managers and were interviewed at their workplace. The
interview was audio-recorded to ensure correct use of the device. During the exercise, attention was
given to body language and non-verbal responses and the manner of asking questions. As the researcher
was the main data collection instrument, the pilot-study provided an insight into phenomenon studied,
increased experience in interviewing as well as enhanced interpersonal skills. Also errors in
interviewing skills were rectified and not repeated in the main study
• Source:
• Dissertation Guides Workbook - Chapter 1-5. Capella University,2008. p.65
• Kvale, S. (2007). Doing interviews. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
7. DATA ANALYSIS
• Data analysis in qualitative research is subject to wide variation and this makes it important that
you tell in great detail how YOU ANALYSED the data YOU collected.

You should include the following in this sub-section:

• Explain how you analyzed the data collection. It has been suggested to think of it as “How
to” guide that others would follow your data analysis and coding method.
• Give a step by step narrative description how you conducted the entire analysis of your data.
• You might start by making a bulleted list in another document, and then narrate that list here in
this section
• It is important for your reader to know what you did with the collected data and that it fits well
with your research philosophy, research design and research questions.
• There should be enough detail to reduce the likelihood of a reader making assumptions and
forcing him or her to ask questions seeking clarification which may cast doubts on the findings.
• However you need to balance between too much details and not enough information. Too
much details may also put off the reader from reading this sub-section.
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
8. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Letters of permission to conduct the study.

• Letters of invitation to participate with attached consent forms.
• Show compliance with protection of human subjects (as required by your respective
institution)
• A paragraph must be inserted that states the study is deemed to be one of minimal risk to
participants and that the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the
research will not be greater than any ordinarily encountered in daily life, or during the
performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests.
• Care should be taken to ensure that the participants fully understood the nature of the study
and the fact that participation is voluntary.
• A statement should be made that confidentiality of recovered data will be maintained at all
times, and identification of participants will not be available during or after the study. For
example, all data collected was anonymized by replacing the participants' names with
ascending code numbers (P116 - P119) in the order of the initial interviews
Participants should be informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time without questions being asked.
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Qualitative)
9. RESEARCHER'S POSITIONALITY

• Throughout the research process, you have interacted with your informants or participants or
subjects and there is always the likelihood that you may impact the methodology or findings of
the study. Especially in qualitative research, it is difficult for you to distant yourself from the
subjects you interact with. Hence, it is necessary that you state your 'position' which is described
as 'reflexivity'. "Reflexivity involves a self-scrutiny on the part of the researcher; a self-
conscious awareness of the relationship between the researcher and an 'other' (Bourke, 2014,
p.2). In short, it is a process of continuous self-analysis in which you reflect more deeply on the
experiences you encountered when doing the research.

• For example, if you study involves issues of race, ethnicity or religion, you would be concerned
how your race, ethnicity or religion being different from your subjects influence interactions
with them. The nature of qualitative research puts you in the position of having to be close with
your subjects and it is reasonable to expect your beliefs, political stance, gender, socioeconomic
status, educational background and so forth to influence the research process. It is critical that
you be mindful of your own biases when you interview or observe your subjects.

Chapter 3 of your Thesis is given different titles such as 'Research Design', 'Research Methods' and so forth. Here, the title 'Research Methodology' is used in which you describe in detail how you
collected the data to answer your research questions stipulated in Chapter 1 - Introduction. Chapter 3 should be written like a "recipe" so that someone who wants to replicate or adopt your
methodology can do so with minimum confusion.
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Quantitative)
• Do not leave any gaps that will require examiners to do a lot of guesswork what you actually did. This will
definitely irritate them. Do not make any assumptions and leave out details on what you did when collecting data.
Do not assume that anything is too insignificant to mention.
• This is the Chapter where you will have to use a lot of your own words in describing what you did before, during
and after collecting the data. Chapter 3 of your thesis consists of several sections that work together to address the
research questions or hypotheses. In short, Chapter 1 describes why the research question is being asked and
Chapter 3 describes how the research question is answered. Note that there are several ways of writing Chapter 3
and the following is a suggestion on the sub-sections to include. Please check with the requirements specified by
your respective institution.

1. PREAMBLE
• Chapter 3 presents a discussion of the data collection process. Begin by restating the 'problem statement', the
'purpose of the study', the 'research questions' and 'hypothesis' (unless your study is based on the grounded theory
method). Then discuss the sub-sections involved and how you will address each throughout the Chapter. Note that
the information regarding methodology should be comprehensive and detailed enough to permit replication of the
study by other researchers. Some of the sections may be a repetition of Chapter 1 such as the Research question and
Hypotheses. Do not simply copy and paste test from Chapter 1. Instead, rewrite with a different emphasis. Here in
Chapter 3, you emphasize the methods and procedures (or techniques) that will be employed in answering the
Research Questions and Hypotheses.

Excerpt of a 'Preamble' sub-section:

• "Bullying continues to be a problem in schools. The purpose of this study is examine the factors...................... Specifically the
study was designed to answer ................ This chapter is divided into several section addressing the research design, informants,
sampling, data collection procedures ......................................".
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Quantitative)
2. RESEARCH DESIGN

• There is quite a bit of variation in the use of terminologies for this sub-section. Some researchers prefer
the terms 'research paradigms' and 'research strategies' while others prefer the terms 'research designs'
and 'research methods'. Here the term 'Research Design' is used to differentiate it from 'Data Collection
Techniques' discussed later in the next sub-section.

• Some argue that 'Research Design' sub-section is not essential. However, having this sub-section tells
the reader from the on-set whether your study used an EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN, DESCRIPTIVE
[SURVEY] DESIGN or CORRELATIONAL DESIGN.

• You should state the rationale for your choice of research design and its appropriateness. For example,
why did you choose the DESCRIPTIVE [SURVEY] design and not the EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN.

• If you used a SURVEY, refer to the proponents of the SURVEY design.

• Tell if you SURVEY was longitudinal or cross-sectional.

• Show how the method you have chosen helped accomplish the goals of the study.

• Avoid a textbook description of your research method but rather focus only on what you employed and
implemented in your study.
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Quantitative)
Excerpt of the 'Research Design' sub-section:

• The survey design was used for this study and administered to a selected sample from a specific
population of advertising managers in the hospitality industry in the state of Penang, Malaysia.
The SURVEY involved the administration of a Questionnaire which sought to obtain data on
current practices and opinions on the future of advertising in the hospitality sector. SURVEYS
using Questionnaires easier to administer and lend themselves to group administration; while
assuring confidentiality and effective in providing information in a relatively brief time period at
low cost to the researcher (Robson, 1993). They are widely used as a key tool for conducting
management research and obtaining information about opinions, perceptions and attitudes. The
background characteristics collected from respondents enables answering the research questions
on differences in practice and opinions on the future of advertising in the hospitality sector
according to age, gender and experience............................[continued]
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Quantitative)
3. DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES
• In this sub-section, you tell the reader about the data collection techniques you used. If you used
the DESCRIPTIVE [SURVEY] design and administered a Questionnaire and conducted an
Interview, then you must explain it here.
• Did you administer the Questionnaire to the sample by assembling them in one location
[such as a classroom, auditorium and so forth]?
• Did you send the Questionnaire by mail, or as an attachment by email?
• Did you make available the Questionnaire online [such as through Survey Monkey]?
• How was the Interview conducted?
• Did you conduct the interview and where was it conducted?

Excerpt of the 'Data Collection Techniques' sub-section:

• The Questionnaire was mailed to each respondent selected for the study, accompanied by a
cover letter (Appendix D) and a coded postage-paid, self-addressed return envelope.
Respondents were requested to complete the Questionnaire and return it through post within 2
weeks. A postcard reminder (Appendix E) was sent to each recipient of the Questionnaire.
According to Suskie (1996), reminding recipients to complete the Questionnaire contributes to
the likelihood of of doubling the initial response rate after the first
mailing...............................[continued]
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Quantitative)
4. INSTRUMENTATION

• The INSTRUMENTATION is the process of developing the Instrument for collecting the
relevant data to answer the research questions. Generally, you have 3 options:
1. Use an existing instrument which is available commercially - example is the well-known
Eysenck Personality Test
2. Adapt an existing instrument to meet your needs - describe in detail how you adapted the
instrument.
3. Build an instrument from scratch - describe in detail how went about developing the
instrument

• Then tell the reader about the feature of the Instrument/s used in your study such as:
• How many instruments were used?
• How many items / questions for each instrument?
• Are the items divided into sections?
• What are the sections?
• What does each section measure? - e.g. Items 7 to 13 is regarding 'facility maintenance’.

• Finally, tell the reader, the steps taken to ensure that the instrument/s are reliable and valid.
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Quantitative)
5. SAMPLE
• Unless the population is extremely small, a sample usually will be drawn from the
population. For example, the target population was supervisors in food manufacturing factories
and the sample selected was 10 supervisors.
• If you intend to make inferences based on the results you obtain from the sample of 10
supervisors to the population, explain how accurately the sample represents the population.
• Explain how this sample of 10 supervisors is adequate enough to provide a manageable
volume of data that is able to answer the research questions.
• Outline the procedures you adopted for selecting the sample of 10 supervisors
including justification for the sampling method or sampling procedure; i.e. why did you
choose the particular sampling method.
• How did you determine the size of the sample? i.e. why 10 and not 15?

Excerpt of the 'Sampling' sub-section:

• The population for this study comprised all human resourse directors in banks in the state of
Sabah. Eligibility criteria specify the characteristics that people in the population must have 10
years experience in their organization to be included in the study. In this study, the sample
participants had to aged 50 and above, had a masters degree, been in their present position for at
least 5 years and willing to participate in the study.
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Quantitative)
6. PILOT-TEST
• Some experts suggest that pilot-tests are not important for qualitative research while others suggest it
would be useful for novice researchers to do pilot-test. For example, if you are using interviews for the
first time, it would advisable for you to conduct interview as a pre-exercise to get used to the type of data
collection. The pilot test will assist the researcher in determining if there are flaws, limitations, or other
weaknesses within the interview design and enable the researcher to make necessary revisions prior to
the implementation of the study. However, the informants or participants involved in the pilot-test should
similar to the informants involved in the final study. It has also been suggested that the pilot test can the
researcher with the refinement of research questions.

Excerpt for 'Pilot Study':

• A pilot-study was conducted with 3 senior managers and were interviewed at their workplace. The
interview was audio-recorded to ensure correct use of the device. During the exercise, attention was
given to body language and non-verbal responses and the manner of asking questions. As the researcher
was the main data collection instrument, the pilot-study provided an insight into phenomenon studied,
increased experience in interviewing as well as enhanced interpersonal skills. Also errors in interviewing
skills were rectified and not repeated in the main study.

Source:
Dissertation Guides Workbook - Chapter 1-5. Capella University,2008. p.65
Kvale, S. (2007). Doing interviews. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lecture on Accounting Research
4. Chapter 3 – Methodology (Quantitative)
7. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
• Letters of permission to conduct the study.
• Letters of invitation to participate with attached consent forms.
• Show compliance with protection of human subjects (as required by your respective institution)
• A paragraph must be inserted that states the study is deemed to be one of minimal risk to participants
and that the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research will not be
greater than any ordinarily encountered in daily life, or during the performance of routine physical or
psychological examinations or tests.
• Care should be taken to ensure that the participants fully understood the nature of the study and the
fact that participation is voluntary.
• A statement should be made that confidentiality of recovered data will be maintained at all times, and
identification of participants will not be available during or after the study. For example, all data
collected was anonymised by replacing the participants' names with ascending code numbers (P116 -
P119) in the order of the initial interviews
• Participants should be informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time without
questions being asked.

8. CONCLUSION
• This chapter discussed the research methodology of the study and described the research design,
population, sample, data-collection instrument and ethical considerations. Chapter 4 covers the data
analysis.