Paper development in qualitative accounting research: bringing social contexts to life
Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management
ISSN: 1176-6093
Article publication date: 15 November 2021
Issue publication date: 1 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Expanding on an invited talk at the 1st Paper Development Workshop of the Qualitative Management Accounting Research Group, the purpose of this study is to offer some suggestions for developing qualitative accounting papers. Emphasis is put on the potential of qualitative research to situate evocative accounts of the organisational functionings of accounting in their wider social contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
To think about paper development as an exercise in communicating worthwhile findings to the readership by interweaving the researcher’s impressions of the field, recorded field material and different social theories to create qualitative accounting scholarship.
Findings
Qualitative accounting papers can, through the use of different theories, show the embedding of the organisational in the social. Development of qualitative accounting papers is an achievement that emerges in the process of writing.
Practical implications
Outlines five summary recommendations for paper development.
Originality/value
Reflects on paper development designed to create qualitative accounting research.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to the organisers of the 1st Paper Development Workshop of the Qualitative Management Accounting Research Group for an invitation to give an online keynote in November 2020. The text of that address formed the basis for this essay. I gratefully acknowledge the feedback from participants at the workshop. Special thanks to Lukas Goretzki for suggesting a printed version and offering helpful comments on earlier versions.
Citation
Ahrens, T. (2022), "Paper development in qualitative accounting research: bringing social contexts to life", Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRAM-03-2021-0044
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited