THE REAL LIFE GUIDE to ACCOUNTING RESEARCH a BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIEW of USING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS Elsevier Related Books
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE REAL LIFE GUIDE TO ACCOUNTING RESEARCH A BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIEW OF USING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS Elsevier Related Books: Advances in Accounting – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/series/aa Advances in International Accounting – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/series/aia Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/series/aabr Advances in Management Accounting – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/series/advma Studies in the Development of Accounting Thought – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/series/sdat Related Journals: Accounting, Organisations and Society – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/aos British Accounting Review – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/bar Critical Perspectives on Accounting – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jnlabr/ycpac International Journal of Accounting – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/intacc International Journal of Accounting Information Systems – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/accinf Journal of Accounting and Public Policy – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jaccpubpol Journal of Accounting Education – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jaccedu Management Accounting Research – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jnlabr/ymare The Journal of Accounting and Economics – http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jacceco THE REAL LIFE GUIDE TO ACCOUNTING RESEARCH A BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIEW OF USING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER HUMPHREY Manchester School of Accounting & Finance, University Manchester, UK BILL LEE Sheffield University Management School, Sheffield, UK 2004 Amsterdam – Boston – Heidelberg – London – New York – Oxford Paris – San Diego – San Francisco – Singapore – Sydney – Tokyo ELSEVIER B.V. ELSEVIER Inc. ELSEVIER Ltd ELSEVIER Ltd Sara Burgerhartstraat 25 525 B Street, Suite 1900 The Boulevard, Langford 84 Theobalds Road P.O. Box 211 San Diego Lane, Kidlington London 1000 AE Amsterdam CA 92101-4495 Oxford OX5 1GB WC1X 8RR The Netherlands USA UK UK © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This work is protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to its use: Photocopying Single photocopies of single chapters may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the Publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit educational classroom use. Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone ( + 44) 1865 843830, fax ( + 44) 1865 853333, e-mail: [email protected]. Requests may also be completed on-line via the Elsevier homepage (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions). In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; phone: ( + 1) (978) 7508400, fax: ( + 1) (978) 7504744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; phone: (+ 44) 20 7631 5555; fax: ( + 44) 20 7631 5500. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Tables of contents may be reproduced for internal circulation, but permission of the Publisher is required for external resale or distribution of such material. Permission of the Publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the Publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this work, including any chapter or part of a chapter. Except as outlined above, no part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the Publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier’s Rights Department, at the fax and e-mail addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. First edition 2004 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record is available from the Library of Congress. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record is available from the British Library. ISBN: 0-08-043972-1 ᭺∞ The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). Printed in The Netherlands. Dedication Thank you to those people whose lives were affected by us ‘having to work’ on this book, to those who came along during its preparation and changed our lives in wonderful ways and to those whose memories will always remain fond ones. To Kendra, Cameron, Jacqueline, Cathy and the memories of Bob, Nell and Doreen. This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements The idea for this book first originated from a qualitative research conference held in Portsmouth in 1996. Sheena Murdoch and Bernard Williams played an important role in the conception of that conference. The conference was only able to take place because of the financial support provided by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and the determination of the, then, secretary of the research board of the ICAEW, Des Wright. A number of people — Michelle Brooks, Mike Page, John Prescott and Pippa Wilmer — helped with the organization of the conference. The attendees at the conference gave initial impetus to the idea for this book, although some, such as our former colleague Christine Flint, are no longer here to witness its publication. The publishers and staff — particularly Sammye Haigh and Neil Boon — merit our thanks for their faith in the idea and their advice when requested. Our biggest debt, however, is to the authors — some of whom have remained with the idea of the book since the conference and others who have subsequently agreed to fill in important gaps — for contributing their chapters. We hope that the collection does justice to their thoughts and efforts. This page intentionally left blank Contents Dedication v Acknowledgements vi Authors’ Biographies xiii Introduction xxiii Christopher Humphrey and Bill Lee Section One: The Meaning of Research 1 1. The Search for Clues in Accounting History 5 Stephen P. Walker 2. Adventures in Social and Environmental Accounting and Auditing Research: A Personal Reflection 23 David Owen 3. Using Case Studies in Finance Research 37 Greg Stoner and John Holland 4. Accounting and Auditing Research in the United States 57 Tom A. Lee 5. Forever Destined to be Extras in a Broadway Show? A Discussion on the Status of National Accounting Research in an International Arena 73 María Antonia García-Benau and José Antonio Laínez-Gadea 6. ‘Nice Work’: Writing a Ph.D. Thesis in Accounting 95 Anne Loft 7. Learning to Balance: The Experience of an Overseas Ph.D. student in the U.K. 119 Naoko Komori Section Two: Managing the Research Process 137 8. Starting and Managing a European Union Funded Research Project 139 Frank Birkin x Contents 9. Management of a Research Team 149 Jane Broadbent and Richard Laughlin 10. Confessions of a Research Assistant 163 John Burns 11. Making Sense of Interactions in an Investigation of Organisational Practices and Processes 175 Irvine Lapsley 12. Qualitative Research on Accounting: Some Thoughts on What Occurs Behind the Scene 191 Jean Bédard and Yves Gendron 13. Critical Independence 207 Brendan McSweeney Section Three: Collecting and Analysing Data 227 14. Case-Based Research in Accounting 231 Anthony J. Berry and David T. Otley 15. Doing Case Study Research 257 Robert W. Scapens 16. What is the Object of Accounting? A Dialogue 281 Masaya Fujita and Yoshiaki Jinnai 17. Refining Research Questions in the Course of Negotiating Access for Fieldwork 295 Thomas Ahrens 18. Insights from Internet-Based Research: Realising a Qualitative Understanding from a Quantitative Search Process 309 Alan Sangster and David E. Tyrrall 19. The Case Study, The Interview and The Issues: A Personal Reflection 325 David E. W. Marginson 20. Qualitative Research: Experiences in Using Semi-Structured Interviews 339 Joanne Horton, Richard Macve and Geert Struyven 21. To Tape or Not to Tape: Reflections on Methods of Data Collection 359 Treasa Hayes and Ruth Mattimoe 22. Using Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software: Respecting Voices Within Data Management and Analysis 373 Fiona Anderson-Gough 23. Qualitative Data Analysis: Illuminating a Process for Transforming a ‘Messy’ but ‘Attractive’ ‘Nuisance’ 391 Brendan O’Dwyer Contents xi Section Four: Publishing and Dissemination 409 24. Requirements and Understandings for Publishing Academic Research: An Insider View 411 James Guthrie, Lee D. Parker and Rob Gray 25. How Do Accounting Research Journals Function? Reflections from the Inside 433 Kari Lukka 26. Research and Public Practice Accounting 449 Stuart Turley 27. Disseminating Research Through Teaching 465 Sue Richardson and John Cullen Section Five: Interdisciplinary Perspectives 479 28. Qualitative Methodology in Practice: My Experience