The 3rd annual Qualitative Accounting Research Symposium took place last week at the University of Guelph, a research initiative organized by the college’s Department of Management. The annual symposium brings together researchers and accounting faculty from across the world – including CBE graduate students and faculty - who share an interest in qualitative accounting research from diverse methodological and theoretical perspectives. The symposium provides a high-profile forum for scholars to discuss accounting practice and research issues in a social, political, and economical context of humankind, broadly defined.
This year’s symposium included paper presentations by faculty from the University of Guelph, University of Calgary, Western University, York University, University of Essex, University of Windsor, University of Ottawa, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Waterloo, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, McMaster University, University of Essex, and University of Hawaii.
Paper presentations included:
- “The status of scholarship of teaching and learning in accounting discipline: A multi-case study of academics’ perspectives” – Sanobar Anjum (University of Calgary)
- “The Moral Project of Recognizing International Accountants in the Canadian Accounting Profession” – Joanne C Jones and Kelly Thomson (York University)
- “Biographical research in accounting” – Alan Richardson (University of Windsor)
- “Exploring the Mechanisms of Accountability in Project Management” – Kelly MacDonald (University of Guelph)
- “Open accounts: Tracing the emergence of the ‘open’ discourse in public management” – Leigh Ellen Walsh (University of Ottawa)
- “What are Audit Firms Rewarding? The Case of Tangible Rewards” – Giselle Durand (Wilfrid Laurier University), Krista Fiolleau (University of Waterloo) and Carolyn MacTavish (Wilfrid Laurier University)
- “Competing Claims to Professionalism in South Korea’s CSR Field” – Charles Cho (York University)
- “Accumulation and Conversion of Capital in transnational accountancy” – Marcia Annisette (York University)
- “State of and Governance in Islamic Finance: Sharia Scholars’ Perspectives” – Haider Madani (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals) and S.M. Khalid Nainar (McMaster University)
Attendees of the symposium participated in a lively panel discussion surrounding the theoretical challenges in qualitative accounting research, as well as a keynote presentation from Dr. Teerooven Soobaroyen, from the University of Essex. His presentation explored corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries and the implications of state intervention in a domain that has traditionally been voluntary from a corporate perspective.
"The fourm provides participants with the opportunity to extend their network, including with established scholars and editors of major accounting journals," said Philippe Lassou, assistant professor in the Department of Management. "Participants were also ableto receive feedback on their work-in-progress, and engage in high profile discussions on theoretical, methodological and empirical issues in accounting research and practices."
Looking at text analysis techniques
The symposium included a workshop for attendees, which focused on text analysis for researchers. Textual analysis is a powerful technique that allows researchers to identify words and word patterns across large volumes of documents or passages of text.
“Participants in the workshop learned about the technique and used demonstration software to analyze a sample of 500 misstatement reports,” said Sandra Scott, associate professor in the Department of Management. “Researchers left with another arrow in their quiver of research techniques.”
The symposium ran from Friday, November 30 to Saturday, December 1.
