Assessment Task – Writing an Accounting Research Proposal
This task is intended to introduce you to the research process that underlies much of the work and theoretical discussions you are participating in this semester. You will need to draw on skills learnt and on your thinking about the information provided in lectures and in the textbook, in the tutorials and through the academic journal articles you have read.
We know that there are different streams in accounting: financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, accounting education etc. You are required to choose an accounting topic and write a research proposal on it.
This task will be completed in a number of parts identified below. Use the headings provided. This question is provided in Word format so that you can use the structure as a starting point.
For the purpose of this exercise, assume your audience includes experienced research academics, a potential postgraduate research supervisor, as well as other first-time research students. Your work should be communicated at the 700-level Masters standard.
The word limit on each part is a
suggestion
only: The overall word limit is 3,000 words, including references, and you will need to strike an appropriate balance. The largest section of your proposal will be the Literature Review (step 4) by far.
1. Background (300 words)
• Identify an area of accounting research that is both important and of interest to you. Explain why it is of interest to you.
2. Motivation and justification (300 words)
• Present a brief argument to justify others’ need for, and the potential usefulness of, research in this area. Whilst you could base this argument on personal experience or opinion, ensure that you also include reasoning based on knowledge gained in your studies and any gaps you have identified in the literature (IE: include references).
3. Research Aim (200 words)
• Now narrow the scope of your study to a more specific context. Briefly describe a specific accounting research problem you would like to explore.
• Identify an over-arching research question derived from your problem statement to be answered.
• Identify specific research questions that would assist your exploration of the research problem and the over-arching research question. Only one question is necessary, but sometimes we must ask a couple of preliminary questions before we have all the information, we need to ask the main question. (It must be possible to answer these questions.)
• Identify a title for your research.
4. Literature Review (1100 words)
• Provide a literature review (at least five relevant academic journal articles*) to support your research question(s) that need to be analysed to address your research problem.
• Explain why each article is relevant to your research, and why the information will contribute to being able to support the research investigation proposed. Be critical in your analysis. {NOTE: this is NOT a summary of the articles but your arguments identifying relevance for your proposed study}.
• Present a brief argument for the adoption of a theory or theories to guide and support your research.
* Overall, throughout this proposal, you should aim for at least 10 references, but some of these might be corporate reports, research books, regulations, case law, etc. Your literature review, however, should include a minimum of five academic journal articles.
5. Research design and method (300 words)
• Explain how the theory/theories emerging from step 4 can guide you in the design of your research.
• What do you need to know to answer your research question(s)? What appropriate research methods would you use (research method)? Survey, content analysis, interviews etc.
• Why are your research methods appropriate in relation to your research question/s?
6.
Expectation on findings (200 words)
• Write a paragraph on what results you might expect. This is a prediction and related to your original motivations for the research.
• Try to relate your expected findings to the theory in your literature review. That is, what have you found in the literature which might explain the results you expect?
7. Contribution (200 words)
• Write a paragraph outlining the contribution of your research.
• What’s new about your research
• So what – why is it important to know the answer to your research question(s)
8. In-text references and a reference list
• Use the Harvard System of referencing.
Note: please paraphrase your arguments, do not directly copy the arguments from research papers or online materials (which may lead to plagiarism and a breach of academic integrity).