Theory VS Theorisation

Theories are developed by researchers that we can use to generalise the world we perceived. They are useful in a way when we apply them to the context that we do search in. The process of explain and understand how theories make sense in one particular setting is called theorisation. During this process, theories can be modified or advanced and finally contribute back to our general understanding of the world and society.  I have selected a paper in the area of my research interest and use them as examples to explain the link between theory and theorisation. The theory used in the papers is borrowed from other discipline rather than accounting. The researchers apply the theory in the corporate governance setting to enhance our understanding about this field.

PERKINS, S. J. & HENDRY, C. 2005. Ordering Top Pay: Interpreting the Signals*. Journal of Management Studies, 42, 1443-1468.

This paper explores the process of how the remuneration plans are being set by the board of directors and in particular, make an effort to investigate what are the factors that might influence their decision-making.

The theory they used is the notion of competitive market from the basic economic theories. It suggests that when there are many buyers and sellers in a market place to make transactions, the price will become a mechanism to adjust the demand and supply, and no single buyer or seller has the power to manipulate the price setting.

Applying this theory in the corporate governance context, there is an executive labour market exists where companies are finding the best-suitable executives for their firms. Therefore, the level of remuneration received by the CEO is, at least partially, affected by the average price in the market. In this sense, the high remuneration received by CEO in some place might be driven by the market mechanism instead of personal opportunistic behaviours.

As you can see, apply this theory in the corporate governance content extend our understanding about this field by introduce a different motive of high CEO pay which have not yet been considered in corporate governance research. The mainstream literature suggests the high CEO compensations are dominated by CEO’s personal interest to influence the board of directors to boost their paycheck. This paper brings out another explanation suggesting board of directors might intentionally offer CEO high pays in order for the CEO to be retained in the company and continue to perform due to the force from executive labour market. This has significant implication to the corporate governance research as it serves as a potential explanation for the current inconsistent empirical findings on CEO pay and bring in richness to the understanding of the pay-setting process. 

Academic Writing – The Voice To Communicate With Other Researchers

Research is not only about what you find, but also how to make your research tribe accept your contribution. To do this, it requires some careful thinking about the way we organise and represent our research, which refers to the using of rhetorical device.

Jacobs (2003) "Class Reproduction in Professional Recruitment: Examining the Accounting Profession" serves as a good example of qualitative paper using this writing style.

Introduction is always a critical part of academic paper, which determines whether the readers are captured by your research and have a desire to continue reading (except the abstract). There are two styles of introduction. The first one is “story-telling” which provides some background and summary of prior literature, and then brings out the objective of the current research. The other way is to just start with the goal of this research and then starts to engage with the prior literature. Jacobs (2003, P569) uses the second style, which in my view is more preferable. By stating “ The paper explores… The focus of this paper is…This paper presents a study of….” in the first several sentences of the paper, this gives readers a clear picture of what this paper is trying to achieve. It seems to be a better way to start an academic paper as most of people who read this paper might already have knowledge in the area of your research. If you use half of a page writing something they have already known, this can bore them and make them stop writing your paper. Capture their attention in the first line of your research paper avoid this potential problem.

After capture readers’ attention, it is important to demonstrate you know the field well to carry out the research you are doing. And this is the second step to buy into your research tribe. Jacob (2003) has done a great job by putting several references every time he mentions prior research’s point of view in the introduction. For example, “ Essentially, how accounting techniques and technologies benefit… to oppress workers and the working class (see Armstrong, 1987; Puxty, 1990; Tinker, 1985)”. Another example is in Davison (2009), which summarise the main findings from previous studies in one sentence along with ten plus references (see P885). These are efficient way to show readers that I know what I’m taking about without wasting too much of your ink.

Finally, it is important to realize that the audiences of our papers are academics who have lots of knowledge and perspectives on certain things. Using some rhetorical device to show some courtesy to your fellow researcher can make it easier for them to interpret your research in the way you lead them to. The first things we need to do this acknowledge other researchers’ work. Jacob (2003, P570) uses “ With the critical literature the question of recruitment to the accounting professional has received some attention.” “There has been some effort…”. Showing your politeness can also be achieved using hedges interpersonal metadiscourse. For instance, Jacob (2003, P570) uses “ In fact gender could be….”.

However, it seems to be a difference in using these interpersonal metadiscourses between qualitative and quantitative studies. It is common for qualitative studies to use hedges interpersonal metadiscourse, whereas quantitative studies tend to use rational markers such as, frankly and note that. My supervisor has told me that I should not use indefinitely words, like “it seems like”, “it might be that” in describing my research (since my research is mainly quantitative). It is because it gives people a sense that you doubt your own research or you don’t believe what you have found. As quantitative research are heavily based on number which should be quite discrete, this might give the readers an negative impression on your research. Therefore, it might be wise to tailor make your research to the style of your target tribe or journal rather than sampling following some general rule of writing style.

Anxiety = Doing It Right? - For First Time Researchers

At the first seminar of Qualitative Research Method, Professor Jacobs said “ If you feel worried, you’re probably doing it right.” It sounds like a joke, but actually contains the truth. As a first time researcher myself, I would like to share some of my opinions on how we should cope with our “never-end” journey.

Building Up Knowledge Base

The first question we should ask ourselves is “what do I need to carry on a research.” As we all enrolled in different programs, we have already developed a research discipline (for example, accounting, information system, management and etc.). Through our undergraduate or even postgraduate studies, we have obtained certain skills, resources and knowledge that are essential to do research. However, these are definitely not enough to be able to carry out research. Therefore, understand there is a tough learning journey ahead, but believe in you have a strong foundation to overcome it are key to this learning process.

Blaxter et al. (2010) summarise these into four points:

1. That you already possess some of the main elements that will contribute to your successfully completing your dissertation or project. When things get tough, don’t forget this.
2. That, in terms of skills and knowledge, you have some learning needs that need addressing in either short or long term.
3. That you have resource needs that need addressing.
4. That there are some areas of skill, knowledge and resources that you are unsure or unclear about and, inconsequence, need to explore further. (P4)

We also need to be aware that this process is cyclical or spiral. We should prepare ourselves for this dynamic development. Hart and Bond (1995) provide a good graph for that.

As Professor Jacobs mentioned: “ We must understand the rules before playing the games.”

Being Mentally Capable

Blaxter et al. (2010) suggest that it is quite normal that there will be many moments when the work ahead appears daunting or tedious or seems to be meaningless. It is important, therefore, to remind yourself from time to time of why you are undertaking, or interested in undertaking, research. Blaxter et al. (2010) also provide some questions that you can ask yourselves when you in doubt of your research.

• What are the personal rewards from completing this study?
• How will the award of the qualification associated with you research enhance your career and employment prospects?
• What new skills will you have acquired?
• Will your research have enabled you to develop new contacts or visit new places?
• Will it have enable you to demonstrate hitherto hidden competences to significant others?
• What kinds of satisfaction will you experience once the last word is written on the last page?
• How will the knowledge you produce contribute to furthering understandings or changing lives? Even for only some little thing?

Another thing will need to always keep in mind is change topics does not means failure or problem. It is very common during a research, especially for PhD thesis. Many of my PhD friends have told me that their topics have become quite different from what they originally thought and a good research need modification and adjustments. Therefore, do not fear changes during the journey as most people have been through what you are going through.

Having A Heart For Innovation

“If we knew what we were doing it wouldn't be research.” - Albert Einstein                

“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody else has seen, and thinking what nobody else has thought.”  - Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi                 

Apart from large knowledge base and mental strength, researchers need to have the courage to explore the unknown, which most people fear to touch or enter. My supervisor has told me that, as a new researcher, it is a good chance to find a research topic that is the ugliest and filthiest, that a lot of experienced researchers refuse to select. It doesn’t mean the topic is not interesting, rather because there are some huge challenges hiding in this topic (e.g. hard to clean up data). All the easy stuffs have been done. We have to start with the hardest.

Let me finish with a quote that I think is very insightful.

“Just as the largest library, badly arranged, is not so useful as a very moderate one that is well arranged, so the greatest amount of knowledge, if not elaborated by our own thoughts, is worth much less than a far smaller volume that has been abundantly and repeatedly thought over.” 

- Schopenhauer, Arthur