| Subject | 989N1: Research Methods for Accounting and Finance |
Assignment Brief
- The objectives of the course
- to learn how to read published articles in the field
- to learn general skills of writing your dissertation
- to learn how to solve real-life problems in a structural way
- to learn how to conduct an independent research
Introduction
- Outline of the course
- Research process
- Research proposal and literature review
- Inductive research and data collection
- Deductive research and data collection
- Types of data and descriptive statistics
- Basics of hypothesis testing
- Hypothesis testing, a test of association
- Regression analysis
- Meta-Analysis
- Event study in Accounting & Finance
Lecture 1 Research process
- What is research?
- Features of research in Accounting & Finance
- Types of research
- The philosophical issues of research
- From the observed problem to research questions
- The process of conducting research
- Two examples
Lecture 1 Research process
What is research?
To do research is to provide an answer to a question or to find a solution for a practical problem
Management-oriented research vs. academic research
Applied (empirical) research vs. Fundamental (theoretical) research
Quantitative vs. qualitative research
Lecture 1
Research process
- Features of research in Accounting and finance
- Social sciences
- Multidisciplinary
- Theory-led research vs Problem-centered research
- Practitioner research vs Academic research
- Positive vs Interpretive
Lecture 1
Research process
- Types of research
- Reporting: to present what it is
- Descriptive: to summarize what you observed
- Explanatory: to explain the phenomenon (theory)
- Predictive: to predict what will be
Q: think about an example, you can do research at different levels on the same topic
Lecture 1
Research process
Example: explanatory & predictive research
Productivity = Constant + a0*Working arrangement +error
Consumption = Constant + a1*Income + error
From explanatory research to obtain “a”,
From predictive research to forecast the level of consumption next year given the expected income in next year.
Lecture 1
Research process
- The philosophical issues of research
- The assumption about the nature of social reality
(ontological )
- objectivism
- constructivism (subjective)
- The assumption about the nature of knowledge
(epistemological)
- positivism
- interpretivism
Q: What about the conflict between Economics and Management Science?
Q: Is it possible to combine them?
