Points to Consider When Self-Assessing Your Empirical Accounting Research

Document Type : Review Paper

Author

Ph.D. Student of Accounting, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

We provide a list of Points to Consider (PTCs) to help researchers self-assess whether they have addressed certain common issues that arise frequently in accounting seminars and in reviewers’ and editors’ comments on papers submitted to journals. Anticipating and addressing such issues can help accounting researchers, especially doctoral students and junior faculty members, convert an initial empirical accounting research idea into a thoughtful and carefully designed study. Doing this also allows outside readers to provide more beneficial feedback rather than commenting on the common issues that could have been dealt with in advance. The list consists of five sections: Research Question; Theory; Contribution; Research Design and Analysis; and Interpretation of Results and Conclusions. In each section, we include critical items that are common and offer suggestions for how to address them. The text elaborates on some of the more challenging items, such as how to increase a study’s contribution, and provides examples of how such issues have been effectively addressed in previous accounting studies.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Ahrens, T. , and C. S. Chapman. 2006. Doing qualitative field research in management accounting: Positioning data to contribute to theory. Accounting, Organizations and Society 31 (8): 819-841.
Anderson, S. W. , and A. M. Lillis. 2011. Corporate frugality: Theory, measurement and practice. Contemporary Accounting Research 28 (4): 1349-1387.
Ashbaugh-Skaife, H. , D. W. Collins, W. R. Kinney, and R. LaFond. 2009. The effect of SOX internal control deficiencies on firm risk and cost of equity. Journal of Accounting Research 47 (1): 1-43.
Bamber, L. S. , J. X. Jiang, and I. Y. Wang. 2010. What’s my style? The influence of top managers on voluntary corporate financial disclosure. The Accounting Review 85 (4): 1131-62.
Barton, J. & Mercer, M. (2005). To blame or not to blame: Analysts reactions to explanations of poor management performance. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 39 (3) , 509-533.
Bernard, V. L. , and J. K. Thomas. 1990. Evidence that stock prices do not fully reflect the implications of current earnings for future earnings. Journal of Accounting and Economics 13 (4): 305-40.
Beyer, B. , D. Herrmann, G. K. Meek, and E. T. Rapley. 2010. What it means to be an accounting professor: A concise career guide for doctoral students in accounting. Issues in Accounting Education 25 (2): 227-244.
Bouwens, J. , and L. van Lent. 2007. Assessing the performance of business unit managers. Journal of Accounting Research 45 (4): 667-697.
Coletti, A. , K. L. Sedatole, and K. L. Towry. 2005. The effect of control systems on trust and cooperation in collaborative environments. The Accounting Review 80 (2): 477-500.
Dalton, D. W. , N. L. Harp, D. K. Oler, S. K. Widener. 2016. Managing the review process in accounting research: Advice from authors and editors. Issues in Accounting Education31 (2): 235-252.
Dechow, P. M. , W. Ge, and C. Schrand. 2010. Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences. Journal of Accounting and Economics 50 (2/3): 344-401.
Dichev, I. , J. Graham, C. Harvey, and S. Rajgopal. 2013. Earnings quality: Evidence from the field. Journal of Accounting and Economics 56 (2-3): 1-33.
Dillman, D. 1978. Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method (New York, NY: Wiley).
Dillman, D. 1999. Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method (New York, NY: Wiley).
Evans, J , Feng, M , Hoffman, V B. , Moser, D V. and Van der Stede, W A. 2015. Points to Consider When Self-Assessing Your Empirical Accounting Research. Contemporary Accounting Research32 (3): 1162-1192.
Fang, V. W. , T. H. Noe, and S. Tice. 2009. Stock market liquidity and firm value. Journal of Financial Economics 94 (1): 150-69.
Field, L. , M. Lowry, and S. Shu. 2005. Does disclosure deter or trigger litigation? Journal of Accounting and Economics 39 (3): 487-507.
Fowler, F. J. 2009. Survey Research Methods. 4th edition (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage).
Francis, J. , and K. Schipper. 1999. Have financial statements lost their relevance? Journal of Accounting Research 37 (2): 319-52.
Francis, J. , D. Philbrick, and K. Schipper. 1994. Shareholder litigation and corporate disclosures. Journal of Accounting Research 32 (2): 137-64.
Frederick, D. M. , and R. Libby. 1986. Expertise and auditors’ judgments of conjunctive events. Journal of Accounting Research 24 (2): 270-90.
Fullerton, R. R, F. A. Kennedy, and S. K. Widener. 2013. Management accounting practices and control in a lean manufacturing environment. Accounting, Organizations and Society 38 (1): 50-71.
Graham, J. , Harvey, C. R. , Rajgopal, S. , 2005. The economic implications of corporate financial reporting. Journal of Accounting and Economics 40, 3–73
Kasznik, R. and B. Lev. 1995. To warn or not to warn: Management disclosures in the face of an earnings surprise. The Accounting Review 70 (1): 113-34.
Lennox, C. S. , J. R. Francis, and Z. Wang. 2012. Selection models in accounting research. The Accounting Review 87 (2): 589-616.
Luft, J. , and M. D. Shields. 2003. Mapping management accounting: Graphics and guidelines for theory-consistent empirical research. Accounting, Organizations and Society 28 (2-3): 169-249.
Merchant, K. A. , and W. A. Van der Stede. 2006. Field-based research in accounting: Accomplishments and prospects. Behavioral Research in Accounting 18: 117-134.
Oler, D. K. and W. R. Pasewark. 2016. How to review a paper. Issues in Accounting Education. 31 (2): 219-234.
Onwuegbuzie, A. J. , Hwang, E. , Frels, R. K. , & Slate, J. R. (2011). Editorial: Evidence-based guidelines for avoiding reference list errors in manuscripts submitted to journals for review for publication. Research in the Schools, 18, i xli.
Reffett, A. B. 2010. Can identifying and investigating fraud risks increase auditors’ liability? The Accounting Review 85 (6): 2145-67.
Tucker, J. W. 2007. Is openness penalized? Stock returns around earnings warnings. The Accounting Review 82 (4): 1055-87.
Tucker, J. W. 2010. Selection bias and econometric remedies in accounting and finance research. Journal of Accounting Literature 29: 31-57.
Van der Stede, W. A. , M. Young, and C. Chen. 2005. Assessing the quality of evidence in empirical management accounting research: The case of survey studies. Accounting, Organizations and Society 30 (7-8): 655-84.
Yin, R. K. 2003. Case Study Research, Design, and Methods. 3rd edition. Newbury Park, CA: Sage