Crossing the Line: Transitioning from Auditor to Researcher

Abstract

What does a very active and successful auditor/accountant do when she is about to retire with adequate means but inadequate interest in traveling or golfing? She might decide to expand her adjunct work as instructor at the local university as suggested by Lyons, Kysilka, and Pawlas (1999). To complement her professional knowledge of accounting and auditing, she might decide to take a few courses in adult education to enhance her skills and confidence in delivery. And that is just how this journey began for me. The University of Alaska Anchorage course on principles of human resource development seemed like a natural first step; not only because the time slot fit my full-time work schedule, but I was familiar with the subject matter from having studied the topic while working on my Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration 20 years earlier. I also had kept up with changes in that field through classes offered at my workplace. The course offered through the adult education program would surely just present a different perspective. Surely. A different perspective was introduced the first evening, along with a different language, different principles, and different principals. What is critical thinking? I wondered, Does it have to do with being adversarial or with following critical path theory? What are constructivism and progressivism? Who are Bloom, Dewey, Freire, Cunningham, and Knowles? I was certainly not about to ask; and the course texts didn't have glossaries! Somewhat anxiously, I jotted down terms and names to find out about before the next class. In 1996, Google did not help with terms and names particular to the field of adult education; nor could I locate a dictionary for students of adult education. I began tentatively to inquire of my classmates, but found that they didn't know much more than I did. So we began to take turns asking the professor whenever a name or term came up repeatedly; and she obligingly briefed us and referred us to the library. That was how we came to realize that there isn't a designated section in the library for books on adult education--they're spread all over the place, according to various subject matter with which they deal! The matter of new meanings for familiar terms, new terms, and new names continued to vex me in my subsequent course on the history and philosophy of adult education. Although the text explained many of these terms and introduced the theory-builders, it had no glossary. But, someone who was really interested and had the time and inclination could use the index to find bits and pieces about any topic or individual. Despite having always enjoyed analytical work, I had never participated in a formal research course prior to the one education research class in the M.Ed. program. The emphasis of that course was on quantitative research. It suited me well with my accounting and auditing background because I had taken a statistics class in which sampling was of central importance. For the final course project, I used a survey form to gather information on whether the participants held bachelor's degrees in education or had other backgrounds. The form also solicited their understanding of certain terminology as used in adult education. Then I used a Student's t test to determine whether there was a difference between the two groups' understanding of the terminology. Results of the supported my original hypothesis that there would be a difference. The results, which were both statistically and practically significant, supported my subsequent thesis work. My thesis involved what I had termed a literature-based study of terminology used in the field of Adult Education. Lacking formal education in research methods other than the one course on quantitative methods, I contrived this name for my project, and none of my committee objected or indicated that it was not a valid name or methodology. Driven by an urgency to complete the project in a timely manner, I focused on doing the rather than taking time out to independently learn proper research techniques for the project. …