Arena Of Qualitative Reserching - Article

Accountancy Journal – 5th Volume, December 2007 (Research Experienced – 1998)

Arena of qualitative researching: evidence from a small entrepreneurial business K.H.U.D. Nandana Kumara Senior Lecturer in Management Accountancy Head – Department of Accountancy Faculty of Business Studies and Finance Wayamba University of Sri Lanka Abstract Provides a detailed description of the qualitative research process experienced by the author when undertaking M.Sc. Management research. Recognizing that there are few articles to guide the qualitative small firm researcher, it is the intention to provide a detailed account of the process involved when undertaking qualitative small firm research. From a discussion of the factors that convinced the author of the appropriateness of a qualitative approach, to a consideration of the outcomes generated, this paper guides the reader through the process of qualitative data collection and inductive analysis experienced by the author. In so doing, it demonstrates the value of using such an approach when undertaking small firms research. Article type: Qualitative/Proportional/Evaluation Keywords: Smallness, Management Control, Small Entrepreneurial Business

Introduction Small and Medium size Entrepreneurial Businesses are today widely spreading throughout the world, but it is now recognized that small firm research is at too "young" a stage in its development to benefit from a positivist research approach that encourages the use of quantitative methods of scientific inquiry (Aldrich, 1992; Bygrave, 1989; Churchill and Lewis, 1986; Sexton, 1986). Consequently, a review of recent small Entrepreneurial Businesses literature reveals researchers' emerging preference for phenomenological approaches to small Entrepreneurial Businesses studies that employ qualitative methods of collecting and analyzing empirical data. While depth-interviews, participant observation and conversation, for example, have become popular tools for collecting data rich in detail about small Entrepreneurial Businesses (Holliday, 1992), few researchers provide detailed accounts of the qualitative research process. Particularly, there is a scarcity of literature available to offer advice on the inductive analysis of qualitative data. While this gap in small Entrepreneurial Business firm literature can, in part, be explained by the emergent, iterative nature of the qualitative research process (Bechoffer, 1974; Gill and Johnson, 1991), it is important that qualitative researchers make explicit the process involved in their collection and analysis of data. By failing to do so, small firm researchers employing qualitative methods do little to encourage theory development or progress current knowledge and understanding about small firms.

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The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed description of the qualitative research process experienced by the author when undertaking M.Sc. Management research. Specifically, it is intended that the contents of this paper will be of particular benefit to small Entrepreneurial Business firm researchers considering, for the first time, the use of a qualitative research methodology. From a discussion of those factors which convinced the author of the appropriateness of a qualitative research approach, to the need for a flexible research design, this paper will provide a detailed description of the process and decisions involved in an example of qualitative small firm research. Moreover, by commenting on the research outcomes that emerged, this paper demonstrates the value of the qualitative approach adopted for this small firm study. Before describing the substantive research problem addressed, it is useful to consider the nature of small Entrepreneurial Business firms research and the implications this has for the research approaches and methods best suited to their scientific study. Relative to other fields, small Entrepreneurial Business firms have only recently become an area of academic interest. Churchill and Lewis (1986, p. 335) argue that as small firms research "is a field in which the underlying concepts have not been adequately defined", the primary concern of researchers should be theory development, not theory testing. Similarly, Bygrave (1989, p. 23) contends that the emerging nature of small Entrepreneurial Business firms research demands that a qualitative approach that encourages the development of practical and theoretical understanding and the generation of new and alternative theories and concepts is appropriate. Specifically, he argues that "at the beginnings of a paradigm, inspired induction (or more likely enlightened speculations) applied to exploratory, empirical research may be more useful than deductive reasoning from them". Continuing, he recommends that the "emphasis in an emerging paradigm should be on empirical observations with exploratory, or preferably grounded research, rather than testing hypotheses deduced from flimsy terms". Churchill and Lewis (1986) go further and warn that without existing theories grounded in empirical observations, the use of hypo-deductive approaches to understanding small Entrepreneurial Business firms will restrict the generation of knowledge about their processes, activities and outcomes. Also impacting upon the selection of an appropriate research paradigm from which to approach their scientific inquiry are the research "subjects" involved in small firms. As small Entrepreneurial Business firm research involves the study of human action and behavior, it is essentially concerned with the nature of reality in the social world. In contrast to the natural world, the human "subjects" of the social world possess the ability to think for themselves, comprehend their own behaviour and have an opinion about the social world of which they are a part (Bryman, 1988; Gill and Johnson, 1991; Laing, 1967; Schutz, 1967). Consequently, the study of small Entrepreneurial Business firms cannot be approached from the exterior standpoint demanded by the positivist approach (Gill and Johnson, 1991). Instead, researchers need to adopt an approach that allows them to "get close" to participants, penetrate their internal logic and interpret their subjective understanding of reality. Moreover, as the social world cannot be reduced to isolated variables, it must be observed in its totality. Specific to small firms research, Churchill and Lewis (1986, p. 384) argue that the reduction of the process of creating, developing and growing small Entrepreneurial Business firms to individually measurable variables, "unfortunately ignore(s) real problems in order to fit neat

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packages". Others agree that by stripping small firm problems of the context within which they occur naturally, the findings produced by positivist approaches are generalized only to the extent that the conditions under which data are collected exist in the social world (cf. Aldrich, 1992; Borch and Arthur, 1995; Brown and Butler, 1995). The young and emergent nature of small Entrepreneurial Business firms, combined with the unique characteristics of the human participants involved in their research suggest that a qualitative approach which allows small firms to be viewed in their entirety and permits researchers to get close to participants, penetrate their realities and interpret their perceptions, is appropriate. Responding to this, qualitative research designs and methods of data collection and analysis have become increasingly popular with small Entrepreneurial Business firm researchers. Despite this, few small Entrepreneurial Business firm researchers have sought to provide detailed descriptions of the processes by which qualitative data are collected, analyzed and interpreted. Because of this gap in the small firm research literature, this paper now introduces the substantive research problem before detailing the flexible research design and the process of collecting and analyzing qualitative data.

The research problem The substantive topic selected by the researcher was the Management Control Practice in an Entrepreneurial Business: Longitudinal Case Study. In selecting a research paradigm from which to approach and design this study, both the nature of the substantive research problem and the aims and objectives of the research were considered. Nature of the substantive topic This study attempts to review and understand management and accounting control systems in practice in an uncertain context. A number of studies have addressed the issue (Lowe and Machin, 1983 and A.J. Berry et al 1985). However, there is little studies carried out extend these discussions and beyond the Western context. The present study investigates the nature of management control systems of a food manufacturing company named Multi Food Products Limited (MFPL) in Sri Lanka. The study focuses on the areas of financial and production control systems, marketing strategies, man - power planning and organizational structure in particular. It is intended to understand the ways in which “control” operated in the company and to explore explanations of why the system of control worked in the ways that they appeared to do. The nature of small Entrepreneurial Business firms in general and the implications that this has for the research approach adopted have been considered above. Specific to the substantive topic selected, the qualitative paradigm was identified as appropriate. One reason for this is that the study of the impact which management controls have on the development of small Entrepreneurial Business firms involves exploring relationships shared between overlapping social phenomena. The fluctuating structure and emerging composition of social networks (Mitchell, 1969, 1973) together with the complexities inherent in social relationships and the context-specific processes typical of social networks (Dubini and Aldrich, 1991; Mitchell, 1969, 1973), dictated that an approach that considered the substantive problem in its entirety was appropriate. A second reason is that the qualitative 3

paradigm recommends that researchers observe human behavior and action as it occurs in "mundane" everyday life (Schutz, 1967). Aims and objectives of the research The aims and objectives of any research project are largely determined by how much is already known about the topic selected. Consequently, the extent to which existing knowledge and understanding can be used to develop hypotheses which can be confirmed or refuted must be considered (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991; Patton, 1987). Before establishing the aims and objectives of the substantive research problem, a comprehensive review of existing literature pertaining to small Entrepreneurial Business firms' management and accounting controls was undertaken. This established that while much is known about the structural dimensions of such controls, little is known or understood about the international dimensions which controls also possess (Mitchell, 1969, 1973). One of the reasons suggested for this paucity of knowledge is that the study of interactional network dimensions involves a research approach different from that which has traditionally been used in small Entrepreneurial Business firm network research (Aldrich et al., 1989; Blackburn et al., 1990; Curran et al., 1993; Curran and Blackburn, 1992; Dubini and Aldrich, 1991; Joyce et al., 1995; Ramachandran et al., 1993). Aldrich et al. (1989), for example, recommend that if an understanding of the processes and dynamics involved in small firm management and accounting controls is to be generated, a research approach which guides the use of qualitative methods of data collection and analysis must be adopted. Similarly, Curran et al. (1993, pp. 1-2) assert that "studies of small business networks and networking have employed relatively simple conceptualizations of `network' and correspondingly simple research designs". They recommend that "different research strategies to the mainly variable centered, `counting' approaches employed in most network research involving small firms" should be designed within the guidance of a qualitative paradigm. Specifically they advise that if a deeper understanding of small firm networks is to be generated, "a more qualitative approach will be required than that which has previously been utilized". They argue that this is because the contents and outcomes of small firms' involvement in social networks can only are understood in terms of what their participants identify these networks as containing. Consideration then of what is currently known and understood about small firm networks suggested that a positivist approach has encouraged a concentration on their structural dimensions, to the neglect of their interaction of dimensions. Specific to the research problem, consideration of previous research revealed that existing knowledge and understanding about small firm networks was too scant to permit the proposition of hypothetical statements about the impact which social networks have upon the development of small Entrepreneurial Business firms. Because of this, the research was guided by the aim of: Exploring the impact that the accounting and management controls in which small Entrepreneurial Business firms are embedded have upon their development.

Series of objectives emerge

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The aims and objectives of any research project are largely determined by how much is already known about the topic selected. Consequently, the extent to which existing knowledge and understanding can be used to develop hypotheses, which can be confirmed or refuted, must be considered (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991; Patton, 1987). Before establishing the aims and objectives of the substantive research problem, a comprehensive review of existing literature pertaining to firm’s management control was undertaken. Therefore, after careful consideration of research problem, the following objectives of this study are determined. 1. 2. 3.

To examine the current state of the company’s management control system To identify the, constraints and limitations of applying orthodox models when establishing management control system in an uncertain context To explain the gap between real control practices and the orthodox models.

Consideration then of the substantive topic and the exploratory nature of the research identified a qualitative research approach which allowed the researcher to view the research problem in its entirety, get close to participants, penetrate their realities and interpret their perception as appropriate.

Research design Exploratory study can be employed in this type of qualitative researching paradigms. Having selected a qualitative research paradigm to guide the exploratory study of the impact which management and accounting controls have on the development of small Entrepreneurial Business firms, a flexible research design which would allow findings to "unfold, cascade and emerge" (Lincoln and Guba, 1986, p. 210) was developed. Characteristic of exploratory research conducted within a qualitative paradigm, the methodology was designed to allow the researcher to build rich descriptions of the context within which case-firms' networks were developed, created and maintained which "fitted and worked" participants' perspectives (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). As such, the design used to guide the collection and analysis of data had to be flexible enough to permit the researcher to uncover and explore issues which emerged as interesting and potentially capable of understanding the substantive research problem. However, as it is "impossible to embark upon research without some idea of what one is looking for" (Wolcott, 1994, p.157), decisions regarding the unit of analysis and the methods used to collect qualitative data were taken prior to the researcher's entry into the field. Birds Eye on to Unit of study As this research was interested in the impact which management and accounting controls have upon the development of small Entrepreneurial Business firm, small food manufacturing concern was selected as the case firm and a grounded definition of "smallness" was used (Curran et al., 1993). Patton (1987, p. 51) asserts that the key factor in selecting and making decisions about the appropriate unit of analysis is to decide "what unit it is that you want to be able to say something about". By 5

investigating the ways in which those involved: the CEO and Managers of case-firms, their employees and other stakeholders in the food manufacturing industry conceived of firm size, it was established that "small" food manufacturing firms employ no more than fifty staff including owners, and are independently owned and managed. In considering those firms to be involved it was decided that convenience and purposive rather than random sampling would be an effective way of selecting case-firms "rich" in data pertinent to understanding the research problem (Marshall and Rossman, 1995). While the logic of probabilistic sampling lies in "selecting a truly random and representative sample which will permit confident generalisations from the sample to a larger population" (Patton, 1987, p. 51), the logic of convenience sampling is suited to research with different aims. Its power lies in the selection of cases "rich" in information about the substantive research problem. As such, convenience sampling was suited to developing a comprehensive understanding of the impact which management and accounting controls have on the development of small Entrepreneurial Business firms. To ensure that participating case-firms would be rich in data about the management and accounting control in which they were embedded, criterion sampling tactics were used (Patton, 1987). It was decided that the following set of pre-determined criteria would help the researcher, when in the field, make objective decisions about the firms she approached, so ensuring that a purposive sample of case-firms participated: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

case-firm acquired the largest market share within short period of time; case-firm has link with the researcher; case-firm satisfied the grounded definition of a "smallness"; case-firm were located within daily traveling distance of the researcher; case-firm had been trading for a minimum of 6 years; case-firm produces instent food items is in connection with the social responsible manner;

The lengthy and detailed study of data-rich cases involved in convenience sampling has implications for the number of participating cases. Specifically, convenience sampling demands that if the researcher is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the research problem, the number of cases involved must be significantly less than when using probabilistic sampling (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991). When using convenience sampling, the number of participating cases is not determined in advance of the researcher's entry to the field (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994). Instead, as the research progresses and inductive analysis of data identifies common themes and patterns with the potential for understanding the research problem, the number of participating cases is determined by the extent to which the collection of data from an additional case will contribute to that understanding. Glaser and Strauss (1967) recommend that when the themes and issues in which the researcher is interested become "saturated", meaning that no new data are being found from the participation of additional case-firm, no further cases should be approached and the process of data collection should come to an end. Particular to this study, saturation of the common themes and patterns occurred when five small graphic design agencies had become involved in the study.

Justification of the sample

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The use of a sample of this size was justified by the logic of convenience sampling. As a sampling strategy that permits the researcher to spend lengthy periods of time with individual cases, convenience sampling encourages the collection of data rich in detail about the substantive research problem. Consequently, the criteria used to assess the findings generated differ from those applied when using probabilistic sampling (Lincoln and Guba, 1986; Yin, 1994). While the value of the latter is judged by the degree to which they can be generalized to the wider population, the value of the understanding which emerges from the detailed study of a convenience sample of small firm is properly determined by the degree to which it "fits, contribution, responses and works" with the perspectives of participants (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). Methodology The subjective epistemology of the qualitative research paradigm views social reality as constructed by humans and maintains that if it is to be understood, the researcher cannot remain distant from and uninvolved in the social phenomenon in which they are interested. The researcher's decision to use him self as the "instrument" for collecting data was influenced by the qualitative research approach adopted and the exploratory nature of the research. Instead, they must adopt a role, such as "researcher as instrument for data collection", which allows them to get close enough to social subjects to be able to discover, interpret and understand participants' perspectives of social reality. For this reason, the researcher decided that by collecting the data him self, he would be able to meet the aims and objectives of the research and develop a grounded understanding of small firm management control practices. The selection of methods that the "researcher as instrument" used to collect data was also influenced by the qualitative approach and exploratory nature of the research question. Research conducted within the qualitative paradigm is characterized by its commitment to collecting data from the context in which social phenomena naturally occur and to generating an understanding which is grounded in the perspectives of research participants (Bryman, 1988; Lofland, 1971; Marshall and Rossman, 1995; Miles and Huberman, 1994). This means that the methods used in qualitative research must allow the researcher to enter into the social world in which they are interested and to have an empathetic understanding of participants' experiences of the social phenomenon under investigation. The collection of social data, then, is best conducted in the environment in which social phenomena naturally occur and the methods used must be open and attentive to the internal logic of participants. Consequently, it was decided that data would be collected from participants in their natural environments. Specifically, data were collected on the participants' work premises and, outside of working hours, at neutral places of convenience suggested by participants. It was also important that the researcher did not impose his external logic on the behaviors that he was investigating. (Aldrich and Zimmer, 1986; Aldrich et al., 1989; Birley, 1985; Birley et al., 1990). Instead, methods that allowed data to be collected from participants in their working environments, captured data rich in detail about the research problem and gave the researcher the flexibility to explore issues raised by participants were selected. Data were collected during depth, unstructured and semi-structured interviews with owners and staff and also during conversations and participant observation. The method by which data were collected dictated the way in which they were recorded. While depth interviews were recorded on tape for

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later transcription, data collected during observations and conversations were not recorded until the researcher had left the field and his notes were written-up.

Data analysis The process of analyzing the data collected for this study was characterized by the fact that it began as soon as the researcher started collecting data, it was ongoing and it was inductive. As soon as the researcher began the process of collecting data, he simultaneously engaged in analyzing and interpreting the perspectives of those he was talking with and observing. This early and ongoing analysis was necessary for a number of reasons. By overlapping the phases of data collection and analysis, the researcher was able to "adjust his observation strategies, shifting some emphasis towards those experiences which bore upon the development of his understanding, and generally, to exercise control over his emerging ideas by virtually simultaneously `checking' or `testing' these ideas" (Marshall and Rossman, 1995, p. 103) with the collection of further data. Also, this concurrency of data collection and analysis suited the fluctuating and emergent nature of the management and accounting controls being explored. On a practical level, the "sheer massive volumes of information" (Patton, 1987, p. 297), generated by the qualitative methods used, demanded that analysis was not delayed until the completion of the collection of primary data. As the aim of the research was to generate a comprehensive understanding of the research problem, "rather than forcing the data within logic-deductively derived assumptions and categories" (Jones, 1985, p. 25), it was important that data were inductively analyzed. By organizing and structuring data according to the issues and topics which participants identified as being important to understanding small firm networks, a grounded understanding which "derived from the concepts and categories which social actors used to interpret and understand their worlds" (Jones, 1985, p. 25) was acquired. The inductive analysis of data was guided by the literature on grounded theory (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991; Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Lofland, 1971; Marshall and Rossman, 1995; Strauss and Corbin, 1990). This literature recommends that the inductive analysis of qualitative data involves: the reading and re-reading of transcripts and field notes (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991); the use of codes to bring order, structure and meaning to raw data (Strauss and Corbin, 1990); the constant comparison of the codes and categories which emerge with subsequent data collected and also with concepts suggested by the literature (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) and, the search for relationships among emerging categories of data (Marshall and Rossman, 1995). There are, however, no "formulas or cookbook recipes" (Yin, 1994, p.102) to advise on the "correct" or "best" way of inductively analyzing qualitative data. Specific to qualitative studies of the small firm, when reporting on the outcomes of their work, few researchers detail the exact procedures and scheduling of activities involved in their inductive analysis of qualitative data. Analysis on-site-at visit This first phase in inductive analysis occurred while in the field. The early collection of data was guided by the researcher's pre-understanding (Gummesson, 1991) of small food manufacturing company and the aim of "exploring the impact that the management and accounting controls in which small firm is embedded have upon their development". At this stage, depth interviews were kept open to the collection of interesting responses and perspectives around which further data collection could 8

focus. The tape recording of interviews allowed the researcher to make written as well as mental notes of any analysis he made during interviews. This also permitted him to identify particular responses to probe further during that interview or at a later date. Running the data open-and putting into proper way Immediately after depth interviews and observations were transcribed and recorded, any analysis made was typed onto the transcript or written into the field notes. This second stage in inductive analysis involved reading and re-reading the transcripts and field notes made so far. This served two related purposes. The first was to familiarize the researcher with the data (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991) and the second was to start the process of structuring and organizing the data into meaningful units. The familiarity created by reading and re-reading transcripts and field notes heightened the researcher's awareness of the "patterns, themes and categories" (Patton, 1987, p. 150) of meanings existing in the data and focused her attention on these. The purpose of running the data open at this stage in analysis was to take the data apart and then piece them together in a number of ways, each of which was potentially important to understanding the research problem (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). By making several copies of the transcripts and field notes collected so far, the researcher attached "open" codes, to those sections containing data which appeared to be important for understanding the impact which management and accounting controls have on the development of small firms. These sections were then pulled together into meaningful units, around which the collection of further data was planned to establish whether these units were in fact important to understanding the research problem. In this way, some chunks of data were coded in a variety of ways, others were discarded on the grounds that they were not relevant to the study and, as a whole, the data collected so far were reduced to a more manageable level. A second activity carried out at this stage was the writing of memos. These written notes were referred to at later stages of analysis to remind the researcher of the reasons why certain chunks of data were coded in particular ways and pulled together into organized, meaningful units. These memos additionally reminded the researcher of the logic of the interpretations that she had made at this early stage in his analysis. Focusing inductive analysis The method of analysis used during this stage is called the "constant comparative method" (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). This method involved the researcher repeating the process of reading and re-reading transcripts and field notes and constantly comparing the data collected during this phase with sections labeled with open codes during previous analysis. By systematically comparing the similarities and differences between sections of coded data, some codes were disregarded as irrelevant to the study, others were expanded upon and additional codes emerged. Coded sections were then pulled together into different categories or "families" of codes. Included in each category were "slices of data" (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) exhibiting an "internal homogeneity" which held them together in a meaningful way (Patton, 1987). As the categories used exhibited "external heterogeneity", they provided a structure to the sections of coded data meaningful to understanding small firm management and accounting control. This process of focused data collection and constant comparison of coded sections of data continued until coded sections became saturated, that is, no new patterns or themes emerged. At this stage, analysis moved from open codes to 9

focus on "core" codes and categories of codes central to understanding the substantive topic, around which deeper analysis and interpretation concentrated. Analyzing in the sense of Deep Having grouped homogeneous slices of data into core categories and organized coded data into a meaningful structure, the analysis was deepened by interpreting the relationships between core categories and seeking to explain why these relationships existed. By interpreting the structure that had emerged and re-evaluating relationships between categories of data, a cohesive integration of categories, which provided an understanding of small firm management and accounting controls which "fitted" and "worked" with the data, emerged from this deeper analysis. In interpreting, reevaluating and conceptualizing relationships between categories of data, the constant comparative method of analysis was used once again. During this stage, the researcher engaged in the prolonged and systematic search for similarities and differences between the slices of data contained within different categories and between core categories and concepts and theories existing in the literature. The purpose of these comparisons was to understand the meaning and nature of these relationships and resulted in some categories being disregarded on the grounds that, when analyzed more closely, they did not fit and work with the understanding that was emerging. This systematic comparison of categories with relevant concepts in the small firm management and accounting control literature was important for two reasons. (1) First, comparisons between existing concepts and theories with the relationships that had emerged between categories of empirical data were useful in re-evaluating the reasons why these relationships existed. (2)Second, comparisons with the concepts and theories used in relevant small firm management and accounting control literature revealed the extent to which the understanding of small firms which emerged from this in-depth, qualitative study had contributed to current knowledge and understanding of the substantive area. Presentation of findings This final stage concerned presenting the findings that emerged from the process described above to each of the owner-managers participating in the study. These were conveyed to owner-managers in the form of a case-study report. The purpose of presenting findings to owner-managers was threefold. First, to ensure that the understanding that had emerged from the analysis so far was a valid representation of the perspectives of participants, it was necessary to present this understanding to them. In this way, research findings were given "social validity" (Adam and Schvaneveldt, 1985), that is, owner-managers confirmed that the understanding of small firm networks presented to them was plausible as it was a reflection of the perceptions which they had about small firm management and accounting controls. Related to this, by presenting his understanding of the research problem to each of the participating owner-managers, the researcher received feedback and, in view of any comments made, was able to re-evaluate his understanding if necessary. By creating a situation in which research findings could be discussed with each of the ownermanagers, the researcher was able to ensure that he had correctly identified 10

meaningful and insightful themes in the data and that the relationships between categories and the understanding which had emerged were valid. The third reason was that, as the researcher had promised each of the owner-managers involved a copy of research findings, it was important that she maintained relationships with respondents and fulfilled his promise. Discussions held with participants at this stage established that the researcher had been successful in acquiring an understanding of the impact which social networks have on the development of small firms which was representative of the perspectives of participants. Subsequently, the researcher was able to produce a thesis which provides a valid understanding of the research problem which it addresses (Shaw, 1997).

Research outcomes This study aimed at understanding a particular management control practices in a specific context operating in an uncertain context. The fundamental questions being posed were: (i) how do organizations initiate accounting and control systems? (ii) how do such systems evolve over time? (iii) what roles do they play in an organizational crisis? and (iv) how do organizational actions become disconnected from such systems? These questions are meant for ‘telling a story’ (Ramstad, 1986) about a kind of management control system in which accounting controls play a major role. To pursue this exercise, accounting has been viewed as social and institutional practice, (Hopwood, and Miller, 1996). This implicates that though accounting, at its surface, is seen as a technical activity, it has to be processed in a social and organizational context in which real accounting naturally emerge with unexpected outcomes. These outcomes are quite different from what is seen from a technical perspective (Hopper and Powell, 1985). The story that has been told in the name of a dissertation is for justifying this reality about accounting and management control practices. To demonstrate the value of the approach and methods described, it is useful to provide some brief insights into the research outcomes which emerged. The context in this regard has been defined as uncertain. Contingency-like management theories (Woodward, 1965, Gordon and Miller, 1976, Khandawalla, 1975) have viewed ‘contexts’ as a set of contingent factors such as environment, technology, and culture. They have failed to understand that these ‘factors’ are a part of the organization itself as social and organizational arrangements are always coming together through unlimited interactions as a complex web of socio-political and cultural phenomena. Contingency theorists have mistakenly understood these factors as separately quantifiable variables for measuring and establishing statistical relationships. The present study has realized that this is a game played with artificial data. Keeping this ontological position in the mind, I went on to take a post-positivistic epistemology for exploring the social and organizational reality on management and accounting controls. Several implications emerge from our experience with qualitative methods beyond those discussed in the preceding chapters. To begin with for exploring the emergent view that accounting is complicit in the social construction of reality, one can find there are a number of interpretive approaches that offer a strong potential for providing different insights into the interrelationships among accounting, organizations and society. These approaches help one pursue the phenomenon of interest, even though some compel awareness that their application joins the researcher as researcher and as subject party to the social construction and 11

the alteration of a social reality. I think that one should employ a number of differing perspectives, possibly in dialectic tension with one another. I also believe that it is premature either to dismiss any perspectives or to advance any single approach as clearly superior (compare Willmott, 1983; Chua, 1986a, b). Moreover, researchers engaged in doing as opposed to talking about field work (Argyris, 1977); tend to be silent about their underlying assumptions. As Willmott (1983) suggested, empiricists may only be informed by rather than be contained within the various perspectives. Thus, I highly recommend doing qualitative field research, regardless of its type, over merely talking about field research. In accordance with the preceding discussions, and in some contrast to the previous accounting discourse (Tomkings & Groves, 1983; Willmott, 1983; Chua, 1986a, 1986b), I found it problematic to adopt a specific ontological stance a priory and then conduct an empirical study. I believe that the ontological and epistemological assumptions with which a researcher can function effectively emerge from, or at least interact with the act of doing research. Here, though, the implication that qualitative research involves fewer ontological commitments is by no means certain. The philosophy of science literature usefully warns the researcher of the differing and shifting forces that influence research so that field workers should reflect on their work and come to terms with their emerging assumptions (see, for examples, Campbell, 1970, 1984, 1986b). Perhaps most importantly, we have found the researcher, the phenomena studied, the context in which they are studied, and the research approach in use, to be intimately intertwined- this in marked contrast with the more orthodox scientific position that they are dictated. I believe that this condition should not be tacitly ignored, nor overtly suppressed, nor be thought of as being solvable by some new research design modification. It inheres in the conduct of research, and a researcher must recognize his or her own potentially active role in the research setting and continually selfreflect upon it (perhaps surprisingly, see Friedman, 1953, p. 40; Einstein & Infeld, 1983, p. 6). In part, we have tried to do this by double–looping ourselves, and seeing ourselves as at least temporary members of the social context being studied. It is important to make the warning here, that constructive reflexivity is very delicately balance with crippling self – doubt. Based on my reading of the literature and my applications of qualitative research methods, it appears that interpretive techniques use similar data collection methods; thus, underlying assumptions may come to dominate the thinking of the researcher primarily at the analysis stage of research. Ironically, a survey of the literature on qualitative methods (Sieber, 1973; Miles, 1994) reveals that relatively little guidance exists on conducting analyses and interpreting data. Thus, I believe that substantial work is needed in this area by accounting researchers that is directed at establishing a social system of belief change (Campbell, 1986b), wherein a socially constructed concept of scientific validity is developed with respect to the product of analysis and interpretation (Campbell, 1986b). Consequently, currently lacking such research protocols, dialectic tension and reflexivity appear to offer meaningful approaches to data analysis. These approaches encouraged us to use and contrast several concepts – for example, qualitative vs. quantitative data, traditional vs. emergent theories, and superiors vs. subordinates – as

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a way of exploring different facets of accounting in organization and society. I recommend this general approach to future field researchers. I do not, however, recommend or condone efforts to routinize or program such approaches to analysis. I also recommend that researchers of different philosophical presumptions undertake field studies; we believe that a dialectic tension among researchers has an excellent potential for forecasting innovation. Despite my attempts to study what subjects say, what they say they do, and what they do, qualitative field research is predominantly driven by words. This focus on words is, of course, in addition to a focus on numbers in accounting research. I recommend that researchers concentrate their efforts on studying the role of rhetoric in the research act, in the organizational contexts studied, and in communicating the results of the research to subjects and through the review process, to the academic community (Whyte, 1986; McCloskey, 1983). The forgoing implications lead me to conclude that use of accounting in organizations and society may be conceived of as a conventional process, and the interpretive research act may be treated similarly. Thus, rhetorical analysis should be one element of the interpretive approach. Donnellon reasoned that one can usefully apply a rhetorical or linguistic analysis to the study of contemporary organizations for these five reasons: (1) organizational actors use words to make inferences about the goals being pursued; (2) they make these inferences with reference to the organizational context in which they occur, the social context, the interact ional context, and previous interactions; (3) besides making inferences about goals, actors (CEO in this case) also make inferences about the people with whom they are dealing; (4) communication behaviour is multi-functional, and observes of what occurs in the interaction should recognize that outcomes other than the strict transference of information generally occur when people interact; and (5) conventional behaviour in organizations helps serve the technical function, and it also produces interpersonal and symbolic effects that can influence the substance of the interaction (1987, pp. 4243). Thus, a concern for rhetoric and language is consistent with many aspects of the emergent perspective and with the aphorism used in virtually all elementary accounting courses: ‘Accounting is the language of businesses’.

Benefits and limitations of the research The adoption of any research approach and the use of all methods of collecting and analyzing data necessarily involve "trade-offs" (Patton, 1987). While the research outcomes generated have been only very briefly described, the understanding of the contents of management and accounting controls and the impact which these had on the development of case-firms, which has been presented, demonstrate the value of the qualitative approach used. Specifically, the findings presented demonstrate that the adoption of a qualitative approach and selection of the researcher as "instrument" for data collection and analysis enabled the researcher to get "close" to participants and develop with them trusting relationships which allowed her to penetrate their realities and uncover issues of relevance to understanding the substantive research problem. However, in common then with any research project, this study was constrained by the methods chosen. These constraints can be identified in two main areas. First, the

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grounded understanding of small firm management and accounting practices in which this research was interested required that raw data were the experiences and perceptions of those involved in these practices. In collecting such data, it is possible that despite the sampling strategy and tactics employed, respondents were not always truthful. Second, the extent to which the findings to emerge from this research can be generalized to the wider population of small firms is constrained. As the aim of this research was to generate a substantive understanding rather than to test the validity and reliability of a hypothesis deduced from previous research, the findings to emerge from this study cannot be generalized to the wider population of small firms.

Conclusions This paper has sought to contribute to current understanding about the small firm qualitative research process. In particular, it has provided a detailed account of the inductive analysis of qualitative data collected during the researcher's M.Sc. study which sought to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the impact which management and accounting controls have on the development of small manufacturing firm. Reasons for adopting a qualitative paradigm have been described in detail as has the flexible research design used to guide the selection of a convenience sample of case-firms and collection of qualitative data. Particular attention has been drawn to the iterative and emergent nature of the research process and, as a guide to small firm researchers unfamiliar with the simultaneous collection and inductive analysis of qualitative data, a detailed account of this process has been provided. References Adam, G.R., Schvaneveldt, J.D., 1985, “Understanding Research Methods”, Longman, New York, NY. Aldrich, H.E., 1992, "Methods in our madness? Trends in entrepreneurship research", Sexton, D.L., Kasarda, J.D., The State of the Art of Entrepreneurship Research, PWS, Kent, Boston, 292-313. Aldrich, H., Zimmer, C., 1986, "Entrepreneurship through social networks", Sexton, D.L., Wilson, R.W., The Art and Science of Entrepreneurship, Ballinger, Boston College, 154-67. Aldrich, H., Reese, P.R., Dubini, P., 1989, "Women on verge of a breakthrough: networking among entrepreneurs in the United States and Italy", Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 1, 339-56. Argyris, C. (1977), “Organizational Learning and Management Information Systems”, Accounting Organisation and Society, pp.113-129. Bechhoffer, F., 1974, "Current approaches to empirical research", Rex, J., Approaches to Sociology, Routledge, London. Berry, A.J. & Otley, D.T., “The aggregation of Estimates in Hierarchical Organisations”, Journal of Management Studies (May 1975), pp. 175 -193 Birley, S., 1985, "The role of networks in the entrepreneurial process", Journal of Business Venturing, 1, 107-17. Birley, S., Cromie, S., Myers, A., 1990, "Entrepreneurial networks: their emergence in Ireland and overseas", International Small Business Journal, 9, 4, 29-41. Blackburn, R.A., Curran, J., Jarvis, R., 1990, "Small firms and local networks: some theoretical and conceptual explorations", paper presented at the 13th National Small Firms Policy and Research Conference, Harrogate. Borch, O.J., Arthur, M.B., 1995, "Strategic networks among small firms: implications for strategy research methodology", Journal of Management Studies, 32, 4, 18-32. Brown, B., Butler, J.E., 1995, "Competitors as allies: a study of the entrepreneurial networks in the US wine industry", Journal of Small Business Management, 33, 3, 57-66. Bryman, A. (Ed.), 1988, Doing Research in Organisations, Routledge, London.

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