2.6 Research Methods
2.6.1 Introduction
This thesis employs qualitative methods for both gathering and making sense of data. Qualitative methods are described as " a number of interpretive techniques directed at describing, translating, analysing, and otherwise inferring the meanings of events or phenomena occurring in the social world" (Covaleski and Dirsmith, 1990, p. 543). These methods are particularly appropriate for studying "how language and meanings evolve and are modified . . . " (Hopper and Powell, 1985, p.
446).
The use of qualitative methods has been especially promoted because of the perceived unsatisfactory way in which natural science methods have been employed in organisational studies (Morgan and Smircich, 1980). These methods are in line with an interpretivist approach which generally entails studying accounting in its organisational context and using case analysis of specific situations in which individuals employ accounting (Boland and Pondy, 1983). The researcher collected data from the FCC through interviews and documents. The data were interpreted employing insights from Michel Foucault's work and the tenets of interpretive sociology. This is an anti-positivist approach in the sense that it eschewed quantification and the search for generalisable laws (cf. Chua, 1986; Morgan and Smircich, 1980). The methods that were employed are explained below.2.6.2 Case Study Method
This study employed a case study to make intelligible the effects of new regimes of practice, markets and SPMS. The focus of this thesis was Fec where markets and practices of SPMS had been adopted and exercised. The study considered the local authority to be the point where the power of economic calculation "installs itself and produces its real effects" (Foucault, 1980d, p. 96). It sought to obtain an insightful view of the adoption and effects of markets and SPMS in a specific local authority in New Zealand by negotiating entry into the
FCC and talking to the staff and elected representatives of this organisation. The researcher also attended some of the regular public meetings organised by the local authority to discuss issues of public concern (see Table 1). He also examined a number of internal documents (see references for list of documents) and canvassed a substantial amount of literature. The collection of data from the case study took place over an extended period of more than three years. The FCC is discussed in detail in chapter four.
Table 2: Schedule of Meetings
Date Nature of Meeting
Meeting to strategise on coming 2004
local government elections, FC
End of 2004 Leisure Centre.
Events, Festivals and Sport
Committee extraordinary meeting,
19 2004 Council Chamber.
The Mayor's presentation of annual
report to the community, Convention
10 November 2003 Centre.
The Mayor's presentation of annual report to the community, Convention
21 November 2002 Centre.
Finance and corporate meeting,
29 October 2002 Council Chamber.
Submission to FCC on classification
of strategic and non-strategic housing
8 2001 in FC, Council Chamber.
The use of case studies in accounting research has been widely adopted in efforts to redress the perceived gap between accounting theory and practice. Various accounting researchers have expressed what Hopwood (1979) described as our limited understanding of practices in organisations and society (e.g., Burchell, Clubb, Hopwood and Hughes, 1980). This paucity of understanding is blamed on the mainstream approach where "surveys give only a very superficial view of management accounting practice" (Scapens,
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eventuate where the survey method is for example used (Foucault, 1980d). Case studies enable in-depth study of few units through field study approaches and facilitate "understanding of the complex interrelationships of a large number of elements in a single system" (Scapens, 1990, p. 269).
The case study approach in accounting has also been recommended because of the complexity of the managerial accounting function. Hopper, Kirkham, Scapens and Turley (1992) for example argue that to understand the issues paramount in managers' minds, there is need for "detailed case studies, possibly with participant observation, concentrating on the processes through which managers and accountants' perception of the information they need are formed" (p. 310). Direct observation of the management accounting and management decision making system is necessary to an understanding of the interface between theory and practice. The study examined ways in which staff deployed strategic processes to direct the conduct of people and processes through interviews which took place mainly in their offices.
This approach was also useful because the study was exploratory in nature and the research question broad and expected to continue evolving (cf. Slagmulder, 1997; Yin, 1984). The way case studies are conducted is dependent on the methodology, thus " . . . research informed by social theory is likely to make rather different uses of case study methods compared to research informed by traditional economic theory" (Scapens, 1990, p. 260). The case study was conducted dependent on the belief, already expressed, that accounting practices are socially constructed and constructing phenomena. There is therefore need to observe and interpret the actions of the principal actors in their work settings, i.e. organisational context if the way these practices are constructed and constructing is to be understood. Case studies "allow us to study accounting as part of a unified social system" (Scapens, 1990, p. 268).
The case study method is considered to be an appropriate approach to the study of power relations (Kearins, 1996). The problem though is there is no consensus on how such case studies should be undertaken or their results interpreted. This researcher is of the view that though organisations may have similarities, they are not the same and the case study should not be used to seek such uniformity. The case study method was used here not to generalise but to provide deep insights into the way accounting is implicated in organisations and society. It enabled understanding of how markets and SPMS regimes of practice have been instantiated and with what effects. Foucault's insights were used to make sense of the actors' interpretation of events and actions and the "sense-content" (Llewellyn, 1993) of those interpretations and actions.