Qualitative Accounting Research Research Articles

Investment centre manager's multiperiod fairness perceptions and intertemporal dependency

AbstractThis paper explores the motivation of investment centre managers when their investment centre's performance is affected by decisions made by their predecessor. Through a qualitative case study of a Japanese manufacturer, the effectiveness of conventional remedies for motivational issues and further motivational issues caused by the same remedies, as identified in the extant literature, are examined. The field data underscore managers' multiperiod as opposed to period‐by‐period fairness perceptions as key to preventing the further motivational issues. This paper also demonstrates the potential usefulness of the vignette technique as a data collection method in qualitative accounting research.

Protocol Analysis Data Collection Technique Implemented for Artificial Intelligence Design

This article suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) can automate protocol analysis, a form of data analysis in cognitive psychology for inferring the information processes used by individuals from their verbal behavior while solving a problem. We propose a framework to employ think-aloud protocols (TaP) and thematic analysis in qualitative accounting research. Specifically, we use the TaP methodology to explore the impact of legal conflict and the lack of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) knowledge on implementing these accounting standards in a developing country (i.e., Iraq). The article analyzes 32 semi-structured in-depth phone interviews with external auditors, preparers, the capital market, national professional accounting and auditing associations, and academics. The results indicate that the lack of an AI framework, IFRS knowledge, and legislation conflict may adversely interact with standard implementation. This article explores how protocol analysis can benefit from AI support and provide design features. Protocol analysis can provide opportunities for future article, design, and action.

Using photographs in qualitative accounting research

Purpose: When the “linguistic turn” is replaced by the “visual turn”, there is a natural need for social scientists to embrace the new reality and incorporate visuals in their research. As a result, the importance of visual research, which centers on the use of visual sources, is growing. This paper provides an overview of how visual materials and related methodological approaches can be used in qualitative management and accounting research. Methodology/approach: We begin by reviewing the literature on the research methods, drawing from many disciplines such as sociology, organizational learning, management, and accounting. Next, we analyze three cases – already published papers in accounting – to illustrate how photography can be used in qualitative accounting research. Findings: There is a growing literature on visual research methods. Researchers have used visual materials as primary and secondary data and multiple methodological approaches. Visual methods can also be used in accounting research. Originality/value: This paper provides an overview of emerging methodological approaches that use visual materials and discusses how they can be incorporated into qualitative accounting research. Research limitations: Drawing a simple line between the various approaches presented in this paper is difficult as researchers can use visual material in unique ways throughout the research process. Therefore, the presented methodological categorizations can only help to better understand emerging visual research.

The potential, usefulness and challenges of using qualitative interviews to study accountants’ behaviors

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore the potential and usefulness of qualitative research in studying accountants’ behaviors, specifically utilizing individual semistructured interviews and focus group interviews. The paper also indicates challenges to overcome when conducting research using those research techniques. Methodology/approach: The article is based on an analysis of the literature on qualitative research in behavioral accounting, but also on the authors’ experiences of conducting qualitative interviews with members of this professional group. Findings: The advantages of qualitative interviews are pointed out, including an opportunity to observe respondents’ reactions and obtain information related to their attitudes, motivations and needs. Potential challenges were identified relating to interviewing accountants, including those that arise from the researcher’s skills or participant selection process. The proposed areas where interviews could be particularly useful include professional judgments of accountants, their ethical dilemmas, the application of new technologies, or the impact of accounting systems on organizations. Practical implications: The paper encourages researchers to explore accounting behaviors through qualitative interviews (direct implications), especially in the areas mentioned. It inspires them to seek other research topics using these techniques, which, in the long run, may help improve accountants’ qualifications and shape the identity of this professional group (further implications).

When ethnography meets scientific aspiration: a comparative exploration of ethnography in anthropology and accounting

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing methodological discussions surrounding the adoption of ethnographic approaches in accounting by undertaking a comparative analysis of ethnography in anthropology and ethnography in qualitative accounting research. By doing so, it abductively speculates on the factors influencing the distinct characteristics of ethnography in accounting and explores their implications. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a comparative approach, organizing the comparison using Van Maanen’s (2011a, 2011b) framework of field-, head- and text-work phases in ethnography. Furthermore, it draws on the author’s experience as a qualitative researcher who has conducted ethnographic research for more than a decade across the disciplines of anthropology and accounting, as well as for non-academic organizations, to provide illustrative examples for the comparison. Findings This paper finds that ethnography in accounting, when compared to its counterpart in anthropology, demonstrates a stronger inclination towards scientific aspirations. This is evidenced by its prevalence of realist tales, a high emphasis on “methodological rigour”, a focus on high-level theorization and other similar characteristics. Furthermore, the scientific aspiration and hegemony of the positivist paradigm in accounting research, when leading to a change of the evaluation criteria of non-positivist research, generate an impoverishment of interpretive and ethnographic research in accounting. Originality/value This paper provides critical insights from a comparative perspective, highlighting the marginalized position of ethnography in accounting research. By understanding the mechanisms of marginalization, the paper commits to reflexivity and advocates for meaningful changes within the field.

How accounting research understands performativity: effects and processes of a multi-faceted notion

PurposeThis paper aims to review the literature on the use of the notion of performativity and its related concepts in accounting research. The literature uses the term performativity in almost diametrically different ways, yet most papers assume that the meaning of the term is self-evident. We build on recent reviews of the notion of performativity and explicate the implicit tensions in the accounting literature, discovering a need to clarify how the accounting literature has explored the processes – how accounting becomes performative – and effects – what is performed – of accounting performativity. The paper develops suggestions for future theoretical and empirical research.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have searched in six leading accounting journals (Accounting, Organizations and Society, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Management Accounting Research, Critical Perspectives on Accounting and Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management) for the terms “performativity” and/or “performative” and/or “performable”. This yielded 289 results from which we distilled a core sample of 92 papers which substantially draw on the concept and explicate their use of the term.FindingsThe authors find that the accounting literature has paid almost equal attention to the conforming and amplifying effects of performativity but has mostly explored how conditions of performativity are built. Less attention has been paid to how accounting generates multiple worlds and how differences in these worlds are coordinated by accounting. Building institutions and searching for accounting incompleteness have been developed as the two main processes where accounting is made performative.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper develops avenues for future research, highlighting the potential for a deeper understanding of how the notion of performativity can be used. We do not advocate homogenizing the literature, instead exploring its fruitful tensions to discover a renewed interest in how accounting is constitutive of existing and/or new worlds. We illustrate this potential by reflecting on the debates about accounting incompleteness and the boundaries of accounting. The authors also suggest the potentials for concepts of performativity in studying emerging phenomena such as big data and sustainability and revisiting the ethics of using accounting as a social and organizational practice.Originality/valueThe literature review explicates differences in the use of the term performativity, which usually remain implicit in the literature. The study develops a framework that attends to both the processes – problematizing the conditions for performativity or not – and effects – conforming and amplifying – of performativity accounting studies have drawn upon, which clarifies how the accounting literature has mobilized the notion of performativity and the contributions the accounting literature has added. Further, the authors extend Vosselman’s (2022) review both in scope and nuance.

Non-financial reporting and corporate governance: a conceptual framework

PurposeThis paper aims to develop a conceptual framework informed by a literature review. This framework aims to deepen and broaden the understanding of the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and non-financial reporting (NFR) through qualitative research approaches.Design/methodology/approachA review of corporate governance and NFR literature and existing research frameworks leads to the development of a conceptual framework to encourage future qualitative accounting research on the corporate governance mechanisms for NFR.FindingsFew studies consider the complex interrelationships between NFR and corporate governance mechanisms. Quantitative studies using secondary data sources dominate accounting research on the topic. Of the small number of qualitative studies, many are theoretical and offer little new knowledge about the effectiveness of corporate governance mechanisms in practice. The research framework, developed from a literature review and consideration of multiple qualitative approaches, proposes numerous avenues for future research.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is based on a scoping review of the literature using peer-reviewed journal papers. Other researchers may have identified additional literature for inclusion, including grey literature.Practical implicationsMore qualitative research into NFR and corporate governance mechanisms may help to guide practitioners seeking to incorporate sustainability into their governance practices.Social implicationsThe critical relationship between NRF and corporate governance is under-explored in research yet has significant consequences for organisations pursuing sustainability.Originality/valueThe authors develop a conceptual framework for qualitative accounting research on NFR and corporate governance, addressing key outstanding questions in this area and considering different theoretical perspectives when approaching this critical topic. Although there is scope for further research in general in this promising area, including quantitative reviews and discursive studies, qualitative research would be of particular value. The authors also outline multiple directions for nurturing academic debate.

Literature reviews of qualitative accounting research: challenges and opportunities

PurposeThis paper aims to identify specific challenges and opportunities when crafting literature reviews of qualitative accounting research. In addition, it offers potential remedies to frequent challenges when conducting such reviews.Design/methodology/approachThis piece is based on recent methodological advice on conducting literature reviews and my own experience when conducting and publishing reviews that primarily cover qualitative accounting research.FindingsThe author chart three typical advantages and three typical use cases of literature reviews of qualitative accounting research, as well as the typical process steps and outputs of such reviews. Along with these process steps, The author identifies three overarching specific challenges when conducting such reviews and discusses potential remedies. Overall, this paper suggests that literature reviews of qualitative accounting research feature idiosyncratic challenges but offer specific opportunities at the same time.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to offer advice on the specific challenges and opportunities when conducting literature reviews of qualitative accounting research.

Methodological Paper What counts as “good” qualitative accounting research? Researchers' perspectives on assessing and proving research quality

PurposeThis study explores the everyday experiences of researchers in assessing their own and others' research, highlighting what “good” qualitative accounting research is from their perspectives.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on interviews with accounting scholars from the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Australia, with diverse ethnic background and methodological preferences.FindingsInterviewees pointed to a plurality of practical, and to some extent tacit, ways in which they demonstrate and assess the quality of research, concerning “contribution”, “consistency” and “confidence”, with generalizability being seen as more controversial and difficult to attain. In general, interviewees highlighted the underlying ambiguity on what constitutes good research in the qualitative accounting community, contrasting it to the perceived stronger clarity to be found in the quantitative accounting community. This was seen as potentially strengthening the positions of “gatekeepers” in the accounting communities, and encouraging conformance and “signaling” behaviors, at the risk of hampering innovation.Originality/valueThe main critical issues affecting qualitative research quality highlighted by interviewees concern the engagement with the world of practice, and with theory and literature, the importance of accounting for the analysis of qualitative data and for the messiness of the underlying process, and the implicit search for compliance with editors' and community's expectations and conventions. These findings suggest the need to continue debating how to assess the quality of qualitative research in everyday activities, and reflect on how to promote acceptance and openness to pluralism, in scientific communities, as well as in data collection, analysis, in the theorizing, and in connecting epistemology and methodology.

Whereof one cannot speak … a comment on Vollmer (2019)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual reflection based on the author’s personal research experience, reading of the literature and contact with the academic education of emerging scholars. Design/methodology/approach In this reflection on the paper “Accounting for tacit coordination: The passing of accounts and the broader case for accounting theory” (Vollmer, 2019), the author argues that the silences of the qualitative empirical management accounting research process may preclude research from understanding the silences of accounting practitioners and shape the trajectory of the discipline as a whole. Findings The author presents a slightly exaggerated depiction of the qualitative empirical management accounting research process. From this, the author infers what impedes empirically studying unorthodox phenomena such as the silences of accounting practitioners. Originality/value The author offers a critical perspective on the author’s own research process, using accounting silences as way of reflecting on the potential and limitations of empirical research. Finally, the author makes tentative suggestions for opening up the standard research process.

Qualitative research on financial accounting – an emerging field

PurposeThe purpose of this Editorial is to reflect on the potentials and challenges of qualitative research in financial accounting and introduce the four papers included in this Special Issue.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw on and discuss extant literature and the papers included in the Special Issue to develop our assessment of the current state of the field of qualitative financial accounting research and possible future paths ahead.FindingsThe authors observe that qualitative research on financial accounting is still an emerging field with substantial further research potential.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors outline future potentials for qualitative accounting research.Originality/valueThis Editorial contributes to studies on the state of academic research in (financial) accounting.

The performativity of accounting: advancing a Posthumanist understanding

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it seeks to articulate a framework for different conceptions of accounting’s performativity. Second, it aims to advance a Baradian posthumanist understanding of accounting’s performativity.Design/methodology/approachThe paper traces different foundational conceptions of performativity and then articulates and substantiates different conceptions of accounting’s performativity. It advances one of these conceptions by producing a Baradian posthumanist understanding of accounting’s performativity.FindingsSeven conceptions of performative accountings are articulated: accounting as a (counter)performative illocution; accounting as a performative perlocution; accounting as a self-fulfilling prophecy; accounting as an overflowing frame; accounting as a controlled relational agency; accounting as a mediator; and accounting as an exclusionary practice. It is argued how a posthumanist understanding of accounting as an exclusionary practice turns accounting from a world-knowing practice into a world-making practice. As such, it should be called to account.Research limitations/implicationsPosthumanist qualitative accounting research that conceives of accounting as an exclusionary practice focuses on how accounting is a material-discursive practice that intra-acts with other practices, and on how there is a power-performativity in the intra-actions that locally and temporarily (re)produces meaningful positions for subjects and objects and the boundaries between them.Practical implicationsA posthumanist understanding teaches practitioners to be attentive to and accountable for the exclusions that come with accounting or, more generally, with measurement. Accounting raises ethical concerns.Originality/valueThis paper articulates different conceptions of accounting’s performativity and makes the case for empirical non-anthropocentric examinations of accounting as an exclusionary practice.

Paper development in qualitative accounting research: bringing social contexts to life

PurposeExpanding on an invited talk at the 1st Paper Development Workshop of the Qualitative Management Accounting Research Group, the purpose of this study is to offer some suggestions for developing qualitative accounting papers. Emphasis is put on the potential of qualitative research to situate evocative accounts of the organisational functionings of accounting in their wider social contexts.Design/methodology/approachTo think about paper development as an exercise in communicating worthwhile findings to the readership by interweaving the researcher’s impressions of the field, recorded field material and different social theories to create qualitative accounting scholarship.FindingsQualitative accounting papers can, through the use of different theories, show the embedding of the organisational in the social. Development of qualitative accounting papers is an achievement that emerges in the process of writing.Practical implicationsOutlines five summary recommendations for paper development.Originality/valueReflects on paper development designed to create qualitative accounting research.

Qualitative research interviews using online video technology – challenges and opportunities

Purpose This study aims to examine the methodological and method-related challenges and opportunities arising from the use of video interviews in qualitative accounting research, focussed on collecting contextual data and visual cues, enriching communication quality and building and maintaining rapport with interviewees. Design/methodology/approach Prior literature and the authors’ experiences using video technologies for research, including conducting interviews, inform this research. This study uses a transactional conceptual refinement of information richness theory and channel expansion theory to critically analyse the challenges and opportunities of using video technology to conduct qualitative research interviews. Findings The ability, need for and significance of collecting contextual data depend on the researchers’ ontological and epistemological assumptions, and are, therefore, influenced by their research design choices. Video technology enables researchers to view research settings by video. In addition, whilst group/panel interviews have their advantages, it is often difficult to get everyone together in person, something video technology can potentially overcome. The feasibility and the quality of video interviews can be improved if both interview participants are experienced with using video technology, as well as with judicious investment in good quality video technology and through testing and practice. We also discuss how rapport building with interviewees can be facilitated by overcoming the video’s sense of disconnect and enhancing interviewees’ willingness to engage. Originality/value The study builds on the limited prior literature and considers the challenges and opportunities related to methodology and method when conducting video-based qualitative interviews in accounting research. Broadly, qualitative researchers will find the paper useful in considering the use of video interviews and in making research design choices appropriate for video interviews.

Qualitative accounting research in the time of COVID-19 – changes, challenges and opportunities

Purpose COVID-19 restrictions have severely impacted access to the traditional data and data sources used by qualitative researchers. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the corresponding challenges and opportunities of conducting qualitative research in accounting. Design/methodology/approach This study highlights the opportunities opened up by the way the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting qualitative accounting research, discussing the most common qualitative accounting research methods, practices and techniques used during the different phases of research. Findings The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping some of the traditional research methods, practices and techniques in qualitative accounting research. Particularly, academic researchers who are reluctant to use the new technologies need to adapt their research approach, deal with the new challenges and exploit the opportunities to conduct research in a COVID-19 environment. Some changes in research methods, practices and techniques will affect accounting research in the long term. Research limitations/implications This paper could be a valuable resource for qualitative accounting researchers. Originality/value This paper is one of the first to focus on the changes, challenges and opportunities for conducting qualitative accounting research in a COVID-19 setting. As such, this paper could be a valuable resource for different types of qualitative accounting researchers, specifically the discussion of ways to deal with the changes and challenges, as well as the opportunities, as summarised in the table.

On theoretical engorgement and the myth of fair value accounting in China: a reply

PurposeThis article is a reply to “On theoretical engorgement and the myth of fair value accounting in China” Nobes (2019) from the authors of “Adaptability to fair value accounting in an emerging economy: A case study of China's IRFS convergence” (Peng and Bewley, 2010) and “The Winding Road to Fair Value Accounting in China: A Social Movement Analysis” (Bewley et al., 2018).Design/methodology/approachThis article engages directly with the arguments of the criticism.FindingsThis article argues that the author of the commentary misunderstands the purpose, content and findings of both papers. By providing only a narrowly focused technical analysis of the new Chinese accounting standards, the author fails to see that their qualitative research approach reveals important, complex social and political factors at play in China's attempts to adopt modern international accounting principles. The commentary expresses a view that accounting is a neutral technology that needs only to be clearly defined and enumerated to be correctly implemented, whereas this research takes a much broader and deeper perspective. The authors seek to understand how China was able to successfully adopt fair value accounting standards in 2006, whereas an earlier attempt to introduce fair value in 1998 had led to abuse of fair value measurements and the eventual repeal of fair value regulations in 2001.Practical implicationsThis article helps clarify the purpose of qualitative accounting research, the role of theory in such research and the usefulness of theory in describing and explaining empirical case facts related to changes in accounting standards, particularly in an international context.Originality/valueThis article contributes to a better appreciation of qualitative accounting research.

Qualitative Accounting Research in the Time of COVID-19 - Changes, Challenges and Opportunities

Purpose – COVID-19 restrictions have severely impacted access to the traditional data and data sources used by qualitative researchers. This paper discusses the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the corresponding challenges and opportunities of conducting qualitative research in accounting. Design/methodology/approach – This study highlights the opportunities opened up by the way the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting qualitative accounting research, discussing the most common qualitative accounting research methods, practices and techniques used during the different phases of research.Findings – The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping some of the traditional research methods, practices and techniques in qualitative accounting research. Particularly, academic researchers who are reluctant to use the new technologies need to adapt their research approach, deal with the new challenges, and exploit the opportunities to conduct research in a COVID-19 environment. Some changes in research methods, practices and techniques will affect accounting research in the long term.Originality/value – This paper is one of the first to focus on the changes, challenges and opportunities for conducting qualitative accounting research in a COVID-19 setting. As such, this paper could be a valuable resource for different types of qualitative accounting researchers, specifically the discussion of ways to deal with the changes and challenges, as well as the opportunities, as summarised in the table.

Methodological Insights Jumping through hoops: publishing interview-based management accounting research

PurposeThis reflection is aimed primarily at doctoral students, early career researchers and more experienced accounting researchers seeking to undertake interview-based academic accounting research. It is specifically designed to identify and confront some common obstacles to publishing interview-based management accounting research.Design/methodology/approachThis reflection is autoethnographic in the sense that it is based primarily on my publication experience, observations and reflections as an author/co-author and also as a reviewer and editor/editorial board member in submitting, reviewing and evaluating interview-based management accounting research. It therefore adopts a form of participant observation in approach in which the author seeks to provide to readers a sense of “being there” insofar as addressing the barriers to publishing interview-based management accounting research.FindingsWhilst the insights that interview-based accounting research can offer are well established, there remain practical obstacles in publishing this form of research. These obstacles – portrayed in this paper as “hoops” through which authors must jump – largely reduce to challenges in convincing the reader of the credibility and authenticity of their approach and demonstrating the trustworthiness and dependability of the findings and conclusions reached.Research limitations/implicationsThe academic and practical issues raised in this commentary will assist emerging scholars in anticipating and dealing with the challenges they face in submitting these types of studies to academic accounting journals.Originality/valueThis paper is a critical analysis and reflection of the process of publishing interview-based accounting research. Rather than attempting to replicate the many excellent commentaries on this topic, it is designed to be of practical use to emerging scholars in the design, delivery and presentation of qualitative interview-based accounting research with a particular aim of navigating the submission and review process.

Using quotations from non-English interviews in accounting research

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the current practice of reporting on translation issues in qualitative, interdisciplinary accounting research. Based on an analysis of the methodological consideration of the translation of quotations from non-English interviews and additional interviews with experienced researchers, the authors aim to develop recommendations for the reporting on such translation procedures in future accounting research relying on interviews not conducted in English.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on papers published in four highly ranked interdisciplinary accounting journals: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ), Accounting, Organizations and Society (AOS), Critical Perspectives on Accounting (CPA) and Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management (QRAM). The subjects of the analysis are publications of non-English-speaking researchers who conducted non-English interviews and therefore were confronted with translation issues when attempting to get published in these English-language journals. Additionally, to gain deeper insights into reporting decisions on language and translation issues, the authors conducted interviews with experienced researchers in the field of qualitative, interdisciplinary accounting research whose mother tongue is not English. The authors combine these empirical insights with current developments in translation studies.FindingsAs suggested by translation studies, translation is an act of sense making and reconstruction of meaning, and therefore is a complex task that needs to be carried out with caution. However, the findings suggest that in current interdisciplinary, qualitative accounting research, the reporting of language and translation issues, especially with regards to the translation of quotations from interview data, have so far received only limited attention. The authors therefore call for more awareness of and sensibility toward dealing with language and translation issues, which should be reflected in more transparent reporting on translation processes to support the credibility and authenticity of qualitative accounting studies based on non-English interviews.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is limited to the reporting on the methodological consideration of translating quotations from non-English interviews in papers published in AAAJ, AOS, CPA and QRAM between 2004 and 2015. For future accounting research that relies on such interviews, the authors call for more transparency and provide specific recommendations. This in turn should strengthen the awareness that language and translation are factors to be considered and reported.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to develop recommendations for the reporting of translation processes in accounting research studies, which are based on interviews not led in the English language.

The disillusion of calculative practices in academia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight and compare insights from research conducted in different disciplines on the effects of the use of calculative practices in academia. It also acts as an introduction to the special issue on “governing by numbers: audit culture and contemporary tales of universities’ accountability”. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews the findings and reflections provided in academic literature on the various types of consequences stemming from the diffusion of the “audit culture” in academia. In so doing, it draws upon insights from previous literature in education, management and accounting, and other papers included in this special issue of Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management. Findings The literature review shows that a growing number of studies are focussing on the hybridization of universities, not only in terms of calculative practices (e.g. performance indicators) but also in relation to individual actors (e.g. academics and managers) who may have divergent values, and thus, act according to multiple logics (business and academic logics). It highlights many areas in which further robust academic research is needed to guide policy and practice developments in universities. Research limitations/implications This paper provides academics, regulators and decision-makers with relevant insights into the critical issues of using calculative practices in academia. Despite the negative effects have been observed in various disciplines, there is an evident perpetuation in the use of those practices. Originality/value This paper contributes to the ongoing debates on the disillusion of calculative practices in academia. Yet, positive changes can be achieved within the complex settings of “hybrid” universities when the apparent class division between academics and managers is bridged.