Week 1: Introduction
Accounting & controlling and research: audits are some kind of research. Academic research teaches
a critical and constructive attitude towards opinions, analyses, and conclusions. (Ball & Brown 1968)
Don’t believe everything or count on it blindly; there is a way to analyze the information
A lot of academic research is not very relevant and difficult to understand in practice, that’s why it
is often ignored and not used in practice
Mainstream accounting research: there are two research approaches, with a different focus. Both
have their advantages and disadvantages:
Positivist approach (quantitative research): aims to generalize the empirical results (around
different countries) by using a load of data (500 questionees), in order to understand the
cause and effect relationship (causal relationship). Quantitative research tries to predict in
advance what is going to be the outcome, using a set approach without flexibility (Theory >
set hypothesis > test data > results)
√ Economical way to collect large amount of data; extracting data from database
√ Clear theoretical focus from the start; you know the theory, explanations, and
hypothesis
√ Allowed greater control over the research process; you know the hypothesis, data,
and control variables
√ Easily comparable data; set numbers, regression analysis
X Inflexible design; no possibility to change during study (front loaded)
X Weak at understanding social processes; difficult and weak
X Often does not cover the meanings people attach to social phenomenon
Interpretive approach (qualitative research): empirical examination of cause and effect by
focusing on deep (limited; 30) interviews to understand the complexity of human behavior.
By qualitative research you try to have an in-dept understanding how or why a certain
change (process/organization) happens, with the flexibility to move around and change
constantly on the data and theory. The reality is socially constructed (personal
understanding/experience; no single reality)
√ Facilitates understanding of how and why
√ Enables researches to be alive to changes that occur during data collection; adjust
interview guides, improve during interviews
√ Good at understanding social processes; human behaviour, changes, processes
√ Complex data; find meanings/opinions of what people are saying to interpret data
X Data collection is time consuming; travel for interviews and contacting people
X Data analysis is complex and challenging; complex and challenging study
X Generally perceived picture to be less credible by non-researchers; people may not
believe or start doubting the outcomes if there are no credible arguments/collection
You cannot quantify something in a qualitative research!
,Types of reasoning: Theory
Deductive (positivist approach): use theory to reach an Hypothesis
observation, by setting up a hypothesis, drawing some random Data Collection
samples from the (representative) population, and present the Findings
findings to check the consistency with the hypothesis. If the Hypotheses -
Revi or not
confirmed
findings are not in line with the hypothesis you need to sion
of
determine to revise the theory the
ory
Inductive (interpretive approach): use observation to reach a The
ore
theory, using some general observations to identify patterns ticl
gen
and discriminant dimensions, and look for explanations of the erali
zati
patterns. Select new cases to ensure an appropriate coverage Explanation
on
pattern
of
and diversity to determine the sample size of which you
Identification of pattern
collect data until you reach a saturation point (not getting
new information), to explain the patterns (similarities and Observation
differences) by building a theoretical framework.
Quantitative = using numbers
Qualitative = words or images
Inspiration research problem: social debates in newspapers, TV, or other social platforms, own
practical experience issues, literature that already has been publishes on a certain topic (literature
review/meta-analyses), academic peer-reviewed articles in the top journals to identify future
research areas, working papers, textbooks, or conference presentations (practitioner-oriented or
academic).
Research sequence: identify broad idea > select topic/problem in the broad idea > decide research
approach (causal relationship or how/why) > formulate plan for data collection > collect data >
analyze data with analytical techniques (SPSS, thematic/content analysis) > write up/present findings
Positivist approach: identify problem, literature review (new topic and credibility),develop
hypotheses, method (how to study?), collect and describe data, analyse data, write results,
and present de findings
Theory is the conceptual and analytical approach the researcher is going to take to fill that gap
o Literature review: what’s been written about a certain topic in order to highlight a gap. You
perform a literature review to bring out your own contribution and make arguments stronger
What has been done already?; don’t reinvent the wheel
What had not been done?; missing variables, countries, or other sorts of data
What has not been done very well?
o Theory: a set of tentative explanations with which you justify diverse observations (Smith,
2015); argument around what/how exactly you arrive to a certain argument. Theory is not
literature, observations, an opinion, or stating a relation without explanation
Theory is a network of hypotheses or an all-embracing notion that underpins one of
more hypotheses. You can have more than a single theoretical claim, but an
internally consistent set of theoretical claims/explanations. Internal consistency is
vital; not just a bunch of claims, underlying assumption should be aligned
,
, Week 3: Qualitative research; case study research
There are two methodological research approaches:
Positivist view: translating theory into research problems and hypothesis by collecting data
in a highly structured manner with predetermined procedures. Run statistical analysis
(SAS/SPAA) of the resulting (quantitative) data to assess whether the hypothesis is confirmed
or rejected. Making a generalization towards a statistical population
Interpretive view: use theory and complementary studies as a starting point to take a
number of studies and anker the theoretical background about a certain topic, to categorize
and conceptualize the complex and uncharted phenomena of any sort of change. Make a
theoretical generalization towards an interpretation with other perspectives and alternative
explanations of an event or behaviour
The theoretical background should not be taken as a fixed framework which is being
tested, it only provides an explicit basis for an interpretation of particular events
Theory: in the positivist research theory is used to test a hypotheses in a fixed framework and is
tightly coupled with the empirical research and hypotheses, whereas in interpretive research theory
is loosely coupled around the design of the study to interpret propositions or expectations.
Without theory the design of the study and results are blurred. The theory helps in
interpreting the data and explains the results of more need
Qualitative research: approach of studying a real-world phenomena ‘in the field’ in organizations,
through direct contact with organizational participants. Qualitative research intends to examine the
behaviour of actors in the real organizational setting and asks how and why they behave in the way
they do to provide a rich (dept) understanding of the relevant phenomena
Focus on one particular country/organization and look at different aspects of this context
Research questions in case study research: goes beyond the questions of what (identification) and
how (explanation), as to understanding why (motives) certain phenomena is taking place
What is means to be a successful professional in the Big4 today?
How is business analytics used to manage organizational performance?
How do managers of rapidly growing entrepreneurial firms structure/operate formal control?
no research approach is perfect, it has pros and cons
√ Behaviors and events are explained X Length of the study (longitudinal
investigation); >5 years
√ Complex organizational phenomena can X Empirical validity and transferability of
be exemplified and made results are limited; no generalization of
understandable the results to other contexts
Qualitative case study research design: there are different types of qualitative (field) studies, which
depend on the research question and the depth/breath of the sample size
Single case studies; only one unit of analysis (company, function, department) with its
context, to investigate previously unexplored research questions. Can last for several years
Multiple (comparative) case studies; 2-5 units of analysis, with a focus on the comparative
analysis of units in lights of similarities and differences. Investigating an exploratory research
question, using a combination of observations and semi-structured interviews.
Cross-sectional field studies; more than 10 units of analysis to identify the
tendencies of units of analysis (rather than characteristics). Find some
patterns across different companies by combining case research with surveys
(quantitative) and interviews as primary method
Accounting & controlling and research: audits are some kind of research. Academic research teaches
a critical and constructive attitude towards opinions, analyses, and conclusions. (Ball & Brown 1968)
Don’t believe everything or count on it blindly; there is a way to analyze the information
A lot of academic research is not very relevant and difficult to understand in practice, that’s why it
is often ignored and not used in practice
Mainstream accounting research: there are two research approaches, with a different focus. Both
have their advantages and disadvantages:
Positivist approach (quantitative research): aims to generalize the empirical results (around
different countries) by using a load of data (500 questionees), in order to understand the
cause and effect relationship (causal relationship). Quantitative research tries to predict in
advance what is going to be the outcome, using a set approach without flexibility (Theory >
set hypothesis > test data > results)
√ Economical way to collect large amount of data; extracting data from database
√ Clear theoretical focus from the start; you know the theory, explanations, and
hypothesis
√ Allowed greater control over the research process; you know the hypothesis, data,
and control variables
√ Easily comparable data; set numbers, regression analysis
X Inflexible design; no possibility to change during study (front loaded)
X Weak at understanding social processes; difficult and weak
X Often does not cover the meanings people attach to social phenomenon
Interpretive approach (qualitative research): empirical examination of cause and effect by
focusing on deep (limited; 30) interviews to understand the complexity of human behavior.
By qualitative research you try to have an in-dept understanding how or why a certain
change (process/organization) happens, with the flexibility to move around and change
constantly on the data and theory. The reality is socially constructed (personal
understanding/experience; no single reality)
√ Facilitates understanding of how and why
√ Enables researches to be alive to changes that occur during data collection; adjust
interview guides, improve during interviews
√ Good at understanding social processes; human behaviour, changes, processes
√ Complex data; find meanings/opinions of what people are saying to interpret data
X Data collection is time consuming; travel for interviews and contacting people
X Data analysis is complex and challenging; complex and challenging study
X Generally perceived picture to be less credible by non-researchers; people may not
believe or start doubting the outcomes if there are no credible arguments/collection
You cannot quantify something in a qualitative research!
,Types of reasoning: Theory
Deductive (positivist approach): use theory to reach an Hypothesis
observation, by setting up a hypothesis, drawing some random Data Collection
samples from the (representative) population, and present the Findings
findings to check the consistency with the hypothesis. If the Hypotheses -
Revi or not
confirmed
findings are not in line with the hypothesis you need to sion
of
determine to revise the theory the
ory
Inductive (interpretive approach): use observation to reach a The
ore
theory, using some general observations to identify patterns ticl
gen
and discriminant dimensions, and look for explanations of the erali
zati
patterns. Select new cases to ensure an appropriate coverage Explanation
on
pattern
of
and diversity to determine the sample size of which you
Identification of pattern
collect data until you reach a saturation point (not getting
new information), to explain the patterns (similarities and Observation
differences) by building a theoretical framework.
Quantitative = using numbers
Qualitative = words or images
Inspiration research problem: social debates in newspapers, TV, or other social platforms, own
practical experience issues, literature that already has been publishes on a certain topic (literature
review/meta-analyses), academic peer-reviewed articles in the top journals to identify future
research areas, working papers, textbooks, or conference presentations (practitioner-oriented or
academic).
Research sequence: identify broad idea > select topic/problem in the broad idea > decide research
approach (causal relationship or how/why) > formulate plan for data collection > collect data >
analyze data with analytical techniques (SPSS, thematic/content analysis) > write up/present findings
Positivist approach: identify problem, literature review (new topic and credibility),develop
hypotheses, method (how to study?), collect and describe data, analyse data, write results,
and present de findings
Theory is the conceptual and analytical approach the researcher is going to take to fill that gap
o Literature review: what’s been written about a certain topic in order to highlight a gap. You
perform a literature review to bring out your own contribution and make arguments stronger
What has been done already?; don’t reinvent the wheel
What had not been done?; missing variables, countries, or other sorts of data
What has not been done very well?
o Theory: a set of tentative explanations with which you justify diverse observations (Smith,
2015); argument around what/how exactly you arrive to a certain argument. Theory is not
literature, observations, an opinion, or stating a relation without explanation
Theory is a network of hypotheses or an all-embracing notion that underpins one of
more hypotheses. You can have more than a single theoretical claim, but an
internally consistent set of theoretical claims/explanations. Internal consistency is
vital; not just a bunch of claims, underlying assumption should be aligned
,
, Week 3: Qualitative research; case study research
There are two methodological research approaches:
Positivist view: translating theory into research problems and hypothesis by collecting data
in a highly structured manner with predetermined procedures. Run statistical analysis
(SAS/SPAA) of the resulting (quantitative) data to assess whether the hypothesis is confirmed
or rejected. Making a generalization towards a statistical population
Interpretive view: use theory and complementary studies as a starting point to take a
number of studies and anker the theoretical background about a certain topic, to categorize
and conceptualize the complex and uncharted phenomena of any sort of change. Make a
theoretical generalization towards an interpretation with other perspectives and alternative
explanations of an event or behaviour
The theoretical background should not be taken as a fixed framework which is being
tested, it only provides an explicit basis for an interpretation of particular events
Theory: in the positivist research theory is used to test a hypotheses in a fixed framework and is
tightly coupled with the empirical research and hypotheses, whereas in interpretive research theory
is loosely coupled around the design of the study to interpret propositions or expectations.
Without theory the design of the study and results are blurred. The theory helps in
interpreting the data and explains the results of more need
Qualitative research: approach of studying a real-world phenomena ‘in the field’ in organizations,
through direct contact with organizational participants. Qualitative research intends to examine the
behaviour of actors in the real organizational setting and asks how and why they behave in the way
they do to provide a rich (dept) understanding of the relevant phenomena
Focus on one particular country/organization and look at different aspects of this context
Research questions in case study research: goes beyond the questions of what (identification) and
how (explanation), as to understanding why (motives) certain phenomena is taking place
What is means to be a successful professional in the Big4 today?
How is business analytics used to manage organizational performance?
How do managers of rapidly growing entrepreneurial firms structure/operate formal control?
no research approach is perfect, it has pros and cons
√ Behaviors and events are explained X Length of the study (longitudinal
investigation); >5 years
√ Complex organizational phenomena can X Empirical validity and transferability of
be exemplified and made results are limited; no generalization of
understandable the results to other contexts
Qualitative case study research design: there are different types of qualitative (field) studies, which
depend on the research question and the depth/breath of the sample size
Single case studies; only one unit of analysis (company, function, department) with its
context, to investigate previously unexplored research questions. Can last for several years
Multiple (comparative) case studies; 2-5 units of analysis, with a focus on the comparative
analysis of units in lights of similarities and differences. Investigating an exploratory research
question, using a combination of observations and semi-structured interviews.
Cross-sectional field studies; more than 10 units of analysis to identify the
tendencies of units of analysis (rather than characteristics). Find some
patterns across different companies by combining case research with surveys
(quantitative) and interviews as primary method
