Phdwiki - User contributions [en]

SAS Coding Help

2014-03-15T15:31:15Z

Greenk: /* Websites to Help */

== Code ==
* [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1015021 How to Gather Data Using a Web Crawler: An Application Using SAS to Search Edgar] - interesting macro that can crawl Edgar reports for data.
* [[Basic Code]]
* [[Statistical Analysis]]
* [[Proc SQL]]
* [[INTNX]]

== Macros ==
* [http://www.psych.yorku.ca/lab/sas/macro.htm The basics of macros]
* [[Media:SAS_Macro_Quintiles.txt|Macro for grouping continuous variable into quintiles]]
* [[Media:WinsorizeMacro.txt|Winsorizing and trimming macro]]

==Replications==
* [[Media:BMNreplicate2.txt|Replication of Beaver, McNichols, Nelson RAS 2007]] "An Alternative Interpretation of the Discontinuity in Earnings Distributions"
* [[Media:DEAbyindustry.txt|A data envelopment analysis program]]
* [[Media:SimERETOperLev2.txt|A simple simulation examining the relation between earnings and returns]] with a lot of assumptions, just for fun
*[[Media:RSST2005_JAE.txt|Replication of Richardson, Sloan, Soliman, and Tuna (JAE 2005)]]
**[[Media:RSST2005_NoLink.xls|Partial output from replication of RSST(JAE 2005)]]

== Websites to Help ==
* [http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/sas/ UCLA SAS help page] - UCLA has a list of resources for SAS coding
** [http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/whatstat/default.htm What statistical test should I use] - In addition to explaining what test to use, page also provides information on how to perform test and interpret results using SAS, STATA, and SPSS software.
** [http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/examples/default.htm UCLA SAS Textbook Examples] - This page includes examples and problems worked in SAS from more than 40 statistics textbooks.
* [http://www.jeffreyhoopes.com/nader/ University of Michigan SAS Site]
* [http://scott.dyreng.googlepages.com/sasprogramsandusefuldata A little code on Scott Dyreng's website].
* [http://javeeh.net/sasintro/intro1.html Introduction to SAS: Index] - Great resource for simple, straight forward explanation.
* [http://www.utexas.edu/cc/docs/stat53.html Factor analysis in SAS]
* [http://www.sconsig.com/sastip.htm SAS Consultant Special Interest Group] - This site offers tips and tricks for using SAS and running SAS macros and utilities.
* [http://wrds-web.wharton.upenn.edu/wrds/support/Accessing%20and%20Manipulating%20the%20Data/_002Unix%20Access/Remote%20Access%20to%20WRDS%20using%20SSH.cfm Instructions on Remote Connection to WRDS Using SSH] - This can be helpful for using large data sets, even if you have SAS on a local machine.

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{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | [[Main Page]] ► [[Research]] ► [[Researching Resources]] ► [[SAS Coding Help]]
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SAS Coding Help

2014-03-15T15:30:07Z

Greenk: /* Websites to Help */

== Code ==
* [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1015021 How to Gather Data Using a Web Crawler: An Application Using SAS to Search Edgar] - interesting macro that can crawl Edgar reports for data.
* [[Basic Code]]
* [[Statistical Analysis]]
* [[Proc SQL]]
* [[INTNX]]

== Macros ==
* [http://www.psych.yorku.ca/lab/sas/macro.htm The basics of macros]
* [[Media:SAS_Macro_Quintiles.txt|Macro for grouping continuous variable into quintiles]]
* [[Media:WinsorizeMacro.txt|Winsorizing and trimming macro]]

==Replications==
* [[Media:BMNreplicate2.txt|Replication of Beaver, McNichols, Nelson RAS 2007]] "An Alternative Interpretation of the Discontinuity in Earnings Distributions"
* [[Media:DEAbyindustry.txt|A data envelopment analysis program]]
* [[Media:SimERETOperLev2.txt|A simple simulation examining the relation between earnings and returns]] with a lot of assumptions, just for fun
*[[Media:RSST2005_JAE.txt|Replication of Richardson, Sloan, Soliman, and Tuna (JAE 2005)]]
**[[Media:RSST2005_NoLink.xls|Partial output from replication of RSST(JAE 2005)]]

== Websites to Help ==
* [http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/sas/ UCLA SAS help page] - UCLA has a list of resources for SAS coding
** [http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/whatstat/default.htm What statistical test should I use] - In addition to explaining what test to use, page also provides information on how to perform test and interpret results using SAS, STATA, and SPSS software.
** [http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/examples/default.htm UCLA SAS Textbook Examples] - This page includes examples and problems worked in SAS from more than 40 statistics textbooks.
* [http://www.jeffreyhoopes.com/nader/ University of Michigan SAS Site]
* [http://scott.dyreng.googlepages.com/sasprogramsandusefuldata A little code on Scott Dyreng's website].
* [http://javeeh.net/sasintro/intro1.html Introduction to SAS: Index] - Great resource for simple, straight forward explanation.
* [http://www.utexas.edu/cc/docs/stat53.html Factor analysis in SAS]
* [http://www.sconsig.com/sastip.htm SAS Consultant Special Interest Group] - This site offers tips and tricks for using SAS and running SAS macros and utilities.
* [http://wrds-web.wharton.upenn.edu/wrds/support/Accessing%20and%20Manipulating%20the%20Data/_002Unix%20Access/Remote%20Access%20to%20WRDS%20using%20SSH.cfm Instructions on Remote Connection to WRDS Using SSH]

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{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
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! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | [[Main Page]] ► [[Research]] ► [[Researching Resources]] ► [[SAS Coding Help]]
|}

What is accounting research?

2014-03-15T15:27:15Z

Greenk: /* Auditing */

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==Introduction==
[[File:Business_Papers.jpg|230 px|left|Any paper that cites a lot of other accounting papers must be accounting research.]]
Accounting research is hard to define because it has shifted over time. As a rough overview, early accounting research (pre-1960s) was mostly normative (i.e., argued for the “correct” accounting treatment, or what should be). With the advent of the Journal of Accounting Research, advances in finance such as the efficient market hypothesis, creation of large data sets and the statistical abilities to analyze them (i.e., computers), and the publication of Ball and Brown’s seminal work in 1968, accounting research moved into positive research (i.e., examining what is rather than what should be). Although this change has had its critics, it has resulted in a significant increase in research output (and many new journals).

A cynical definition of research is: any paper that cites a lot of other accounting papers must be accounting research. This “quick and dirty” definition restricts accounting research to topics and methodologies that are well established in the literature; it is “safe” but somewhat limiting. More rigorously, Oler, Oler, and Skousen (2009) attempt to characterize accounting research by looking at the topics, research methodologies, and citations made by papers published in a set of six top accounting journals (AOS, CAR, JAE, JAR, RAST, and TAR). Their work can be criticized, though, because they do not consider all accounting journals, and because their categorizations of topics (6 of them) and research methodologies (7 of them) are broad. In spite of shortcomings, their paper appears to be the first that attempts to characterize and define accounting research, which they define as follows: “accounting research is research into the effect of economic events on the process of summarizing, analyzing, verifying, and reporting standardized financial information, and on the effects of reported information on economic events.”

Professors typically will choose a subject area and a methodology in which to focus their efforts. Subject areas include the topical areas considered under the umbrella term "accounting." These include information systems, auditing and assurance, corporate governance, financial, forensic, managerial, and tax.

==General Overview of Accounting Research==
“Academic research looks at how accounting affects the world around us and
how the world affects accounting.” [http://gpae.bryant.edu/~gpae/Vol6/Reading_and_Understanding_Academic_Research.pdf ''Teresa P. Gordon and Jason C. Porter'']

Accounting research plays an essential part in creating new knowledge. The hard sciences have produced models of research and testing that can be used and applied over many disciplines including accounting research. Using these models along with evidence such as financial statements, stock prices, surveys, experiments, computer simulations, and mathematical proofs, we can gain a scientific perspective and basis for the following:

*Deciding and implementing new accounting or auditing standards
*Presenting unusual economic transactions in the financial statements
*Learning how new tax laws impact clients and employers
*Discerning how the accounting profession affects the capital markets through academic accounting research

Researchers perform two main types of research, positive and normative.

*Positive research is the branch of academic research in accounting that seeks to explain and predict actual accounting practices.
*Normative research, in contrast, seeks to derive and prescribe "optimal" accounting standards.

[[File:Stairs_up.png|right|300 px|One Step at a Time]]
Researchers use the scientific method to search for cause and effect relationships. By using the scientific method, the researcher has a systematic model that enables documentation of their results. The more specific the researcher is in documenting their methods, the better others will be able to follow and repeat their experiment.

'''Scientific Method:'''

*'''Observation:''' As with most research, accounting research begins with the researcher making an observation, seeing a potential pattern, or wondering how an action or event may affect a future action or event.
*'''Develop theory:''' The researcher then uses these observations to develop a theory or an explanation of might be causing these actions or events.
*'''Background research:''' Once the researcher finds an interest and develops a theory, background research on this theory is important. The background research is to help the researcher discover similar past theories, current and alternative theories, what evidence has been brought forth and tests performed. This research will save the researcher a great deal of time and guide their research to test a new aspect or help resolve areas of disagreement.
*'''Use theory to develop hypothesis:''' After this background research is conducted and existing theories discerned, the researcher will use their theory to create a specific hypothesis. This hypothesis should focus on an untested area or area of disagreement. Additionally, the hypothesis should make a specific prediction about how an action or condition will affect other actions or conditions.
*'''Test if hypothesis is correct:''' With a hypothesis developed, the researcher needs to identify sources of data and design tests to examine the hypothesis. The design of the tests should address the following:
**How well the study captures a cause-and-effect relationship;
**How well the variables used in a study capture the ideas and events in the hypothesis;
**How well the results from a study can be applied to other settings
*'''Examine test results:''' Once the tests have been design, operated and data collected, the next step is to use statistical methods to compare the actual results with the hypothesized results and determine if there is significant evidence to confirm the hypothesis.
*'''Confirm or disconfirm theory:''' After the evidence has been examined and sensitivity analysis ran, the researcher can then confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis and theory the hypothesis was derived from.

==Accounting Research Topical Areas==
[[File:Man_Standing_on_Beach.jpg|right|300 px|Inspiration]]
The following definition of research come from a research paper by [[Coyne, Joshua|Coyne]], [[Summers, Scott|Summers]], [[Williams, Brady|Williams]], and [[Wood, David|Wood]] (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1337755 here]).

===Accounting Information Systems (AIS)===
Studies which address issues related to the systems and the users of systems that collect, store, and generate accounting information. Users are defined broadly to include those involved in collection, storage, or use of accounting information or even the implementation of the system. These systems may be electronic or not. Research streams include, but are not limited to design science, ontological investigations, expert systems, decision aides, support systems, processing assurance, security, controls, system usability, and system performance.

===Auditing===
Studies in which the topical content involves an audit topic. These studies vary widely and include, but are not limited to, the study of the audit environment—external and internal, auditor decision making, auditor independence, the effects of auditing on the financial reporting process, and auditor fees.

*For a summary of audit fee research see Hay, Knechel, and Wong (2006, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=512642 here])
*For a review of archival audit research see DeFond and Zhang (2013 working paper, available [http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/csom_sites/accounting/DeFond%20Paper.pdf here])

===Financial===
Studies that address the topical content of financial accounting, capital markets, and decision making based on financial accounting information.

*For a review of the financial reporting research see Beyer, Cohen, Lys, and Walther (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1483227 here])
*For a review of the capital markets research in accounting see Kothari (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=235798 here])
*For a review of empirical research on accounting choice see Fields, Lys, and Vincent (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=258519 here])

===Managerial===
Studies that examine issues regarding budgeting, compensation, decision-making within an enterprise, incentives, and the allocation of resources within an enterprise.

*For a review of empirical research in Managerial Accounting see Ittner and Larcker (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=235797 here])

===Tax===
Studies that examine issues related to taxpayer decision-making, tax allocations, tax computations, structuring of accounting transactions to meet tax goals, tax incentives, or market reactions to tax disclosures.

*For a review of tax research see Hanlon and Heitzman (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1476561 here]) and Shackelford and Shevlin (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=235796 here])
*For a review of research in accounting of income taxes see Graham, Raedy, and Shackelford (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1312005 here])
*[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=258569 Empirical Tax Research in Accounting: A Discussion, Ed Maydew]
*[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=358580 Taxes and Corporate Finance, John Graham]
*[http://direct.bl.uk/bld/PlaceOrder.do?UIN=073838370&ETOC=RN&from=searchengine Research in Taxation, Terry Shevlin]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JATAXX000029000002000095000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no, The future of tax research: A mostly economics perspective William Gentry]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JATAXX000029000002000087000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=Yes&ref=no The future of tax research: From an accounting professor's perspective, Terry Shevlin]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JATAXX000029000002000107000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no A legal perspective on unanswered questions in taxation research, David Weisbach and George Plesko]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getpdf/servlet/GetPDFServlet?filetype=pdf&id=JATAXX000029000002000085000001&idtype=cvips&prog=normal&bypassSSO=1 The Future of Tax Research: What Are the Unanswered Questions?, John Robinson]
*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%2324619%231985%23999989999%23578778%23FLP%23&_cdi=24619&_pubType=HS&_auth=y&_acct=C000007678&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=8916486&md5=e5a4674ca693f4dcfdcc2fb616f2aa3d Handbook of Public Finance] This is a series that has been going on for a couple decades where they get economists to write reviews about issues in public finance (the sub-field in economics that deals with taxes). Many of the articles can be found for free on SSRN. Go to the newer issues to look at what economists are up to now when they research taxes.
*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B7P63-4FFPH82-T&_user=8916486&_coverDate=01%2F01%2F2002&_rdoc=8&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info%28%23toc%2324619%232002%23999969999%23568881%23FLP%23display%23Volume%29&_cdi=24619&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=16&_acct=C000007678&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=8916486&md5=dae4ee927c35f6bad378b251125d170c Taxation and corporate financial policy, Alan J. Auerbach], a chapter from the Handbook of Public Finance referenced above.

===Other Topical Areas===
Studies that do not fit into one of the other topical areas. The topical areas in these studies vary significantly and include such things as education, methodologies, law, psychology, history, the accounting profession, work environment, etc.

==Accounting Research Methodologies==
[[File:Pen_and_Paper.png|230 px|left|Research]]
A researcher will select a methodology to determine how the research is to be conducted. There are three main methodologies for research in accounting: [[archival]], [[analytical]], and [[experimental]].

One thing to avoid when discussing methodologies is to refer to one of the methods as "empirical" to differentiate from other methods. This is most often done by archival researchers who refer to their research as empirical and not to include experimental research under the "empirical umbrella." Empirical research is research that is verifiable based on observation or experimentation; thus, archival and experimental research are both empirical in nature.

===Analytical===
Researchers who utilize analytical methods base analysis and conclusions on formally modeling theories or substantiated ideas in mathematical terms. These analytical studies use math to predict, explain, or give substance to theory.

*For a recent example of analytical research in accounting, see Gao (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1156407 here])

===Archival===
Researchers who utilize archival methods base analysis and conclusions on objective data collected from repositories of third parties. Also included are studies in which the researchers collected the data and in which the data has objective amounts such as net income, sales, fees, etc.

*For a recent example of archival research in accounting, see Ball and Shivakumar (2008, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1105228 here])

===Experimental===
Researchers who utilize experimental methods base analysis and conclusions on data the researcher gathered by administering treatments to subjects. Usually these studies employed random assignment; however, if the researcher selected different populations in an attempt to “manipulate” a variable, we also included these as experimental in nature (e.g., participants of different experience levels were selected for participation). Experimental research can include analyzing both economic and behavioral factors.

*For a recent example of experimental research in accounting, see Magilke, Mayhew, and Pike (2009, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1097714 here])

===Other Research Methodologies===
Studies that did not fit into one of the other methodological categories. The methodologies in these studies vary significantly and include such things as surveys, case studies, field studies, simulations, persuasive arguments, etc.



==Skills necessary to be a successful researcher==
Although there have been great discoveries made by accident that have changed the great paradigms of knowledge, academic research and the creation of knowledge is not an event left to chance. Academic research comes from mastering of skills that enable the researcher to carry out research processes that will contribute and progress the current accepted knowledge base and industry practices and open up new ideas and areas of research to follow.

Some of the skills necessary to become a successful researcher include the following:

* '''The ability to know and stay abreast of current work within your field of research. '''
:Staying abreast of the research being performed and the publication of such work, is important as you further your own research, discover new questions and problems and contribute to your fellow researchers. Being involved with workshops and peer reviews, as well as working with fellow professors and reading the publications in the peer journals are some ways in which to stay abreast of the current work in the industry. A listing of top journals can be found at [http://byuaccounting.net/tenure/JournalCategories.htm Accounting Journals]
* '''The ability to understand and recognize research problems.'''
:Researchers need not only stay abreast of current research being performed and published, they also need to understand and recognize difficulties in performing their own research or that of research performed by others.
* '''The ability to understand research content.'''
:The ability to read and understand the content of research articles is an important skill for academics and practitioners alike. Teresa P. Gordon and Jason C. Porter have a great list of hints to reading a research paper in their article ''[http://gpae.bryant.edu/~gpae/Vol6/Reading_and_Understanding_Academic_Research.pdf Reading and Understanding Academic Research in Accounting: A Guide for Students]''. Read part of it [[Reading Research Tips|here]].
[[File:Working_Together.jpg|235 px|right|Making Contributions]]
* '''The ability to discover where you can make a contribution, and to be able to evaluate and re-evaluate your contribution.'''
:The ability to discern a topic that will add knowledge to the field and trigger your interests is a great strength. Additionally, being able to evaluate the causality, strength, and validity of your research is important, not only when initially writing it, but to return and re-evaluate later and see if it needs to be edited or expanded.
* '''The ability to master appropriate experimental, mathematical, and computational research skills.'''
:It is necessary to build a strong base of mathematical and statistical tools to be able to draw on and enable you to build experiments that have good construct and internal validity.
* '''The ability to think critically and analytically.'''
:As you perform research, the ability to examine assumptions, assess evidence, discern hidden values, and evaluate the conclusion will be greatly utilized. Additionally, the ability to break a concept or paradigm into its constituent parts and then study the parts and find and evaluate the relationships between those parts is also a skill that will further your research goals.
* '''The ability to formulate plans to meet short-term and long-term goals and time-specific deadlines.'''
* '''The ability to follow good research practices.'''
:Being able to develop experiments or studies that are built on good solid research practices will strengthen the research you do and lend credibility to your work that fellow users can rely on.
* '''The ability to document and report your work.'''
:After the data is gathered and analyzed and conclusions are developed and confirmed, the researcher needs the ability to effectively communicate their work in a paper such as a thesis paper. The documenting of others who have worked in similar areas, contributed to your work, or you have used to further your research is important.
* '''The ability to communicate and defend a coherent argument to interested parties.'''
:Effective communication includes not only written papers, but the ability to address and defend your work in a public setting that includes fellow researchers and practitioners. To take criticism with a view to improve your work and strengthen the field is desirable.
* '''The ability to critically review the worth of your own work and the works of other researchers.'''
:A researcher needs to be able to critically review their own work as well as the work of others and assess the strengths and weaknesses of it. Determine if there is a causal relationship and to assess the various types of validity. See if there is strong enough internal validity – the strength of the controlled experiment. Evaluate the construct validity – is what is being measured actually capture the ideas and events in the hypothesis. Is there good statistical conclusion validity – when everything else is in place, is there strong enough evidence to prove an actual difference. And finally external validity, now that we have proven that this is valid in this situation, how does it transfer to other situations and other subjects. These are a few of the concepts to analyze the strength of your own work as well as the strength of your fellow researchers work.

Information for these key points and further information on research skills can be found at:

[http://mi.eng.cam.ac.uk/~cipolla/phdguide.html ''Guidelines on PhD Research and Supervision''], Professor Roberto Cipolla, University of Cambridge;

[http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloudscape/view/2014 ''Research Skills Required by PhD Students''], Cloudworks;

[http://gpae.bryant.edu/~gpae/Vol6/Reading_and_Understanding_Academic_Research.pdf ''Reading and Understanding Academic Research in Accounting: A Guide for Students''], Teresa P. Gordon and Jason C. Porter, University of Idaho.

==How accounting research can make a difference in the world==

* Affect practice (usually high level decision makers, through textbooks)
* Mentor researchers' thinking who then change world through consulting, professional service, teaching
* Affect standard setters

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What is accounting research?

2014-03-15T15:27:00Z

Greenk: /* Auditing */

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==Introduction==
[[File:Business_Papers.jpg|230 px|left|Any paper that cites a lot of other accounting papers must be accounting research.]]
Accounting research is hard to define because it has shifted over time. As a rough overview, early accounting research (pre-1960s) was mostly normative (i.e., argued for the “correct” accounting treatment, or what should be). With the advent of the Journal of Accounting Research, advances in finance such as the efficient market hypothesis, creation of large data sets and the statistical abilities to analyze them (i.e., computers), and the publication of Ball and Brown’s seminal work in 1968, accounting research moved into positive research (i.e., examining what is rather than what should be). Although this change has had its critics, it has resulted in a significant increase in research output (and many new journals).

A cynical definition of research is: any paper that cites a lot of other accounting papers must be accounting research. This “quick and dirty” definition restricts accounting research to topics and methodologies that are well established in the literature; it is “safe” but somewhat limiting. More rigorously, Oler, Oler, and Skousen (2009) attempt to characterize accounting research by looking at the topics, research methodologies, and citations made by papers published in a set of six top accounting journals (AOS, CAR, JAE, JAR, RAST, and TAR). Their work can be criticized, though, because they do not consider all accounting journals, and because their categorizations of topics (6 of them) and research methodologies (7 of them) are broad. In spite of shortcomings, their paper appears to be the first that attempts to characterize and define accounting research, which they define as follows: “accounting research is research into the effect of economic events on the process of summarizing, analyzing, verifying, and reporting standardized financial information, and on the effects of reported information on economic events.”

Professors typically will choose a subject area and a methodology in which to focus their efforts. Subject areas include the topical areas considered under the umbrella term "accounting." These include information systems, auditing and assurance, corporate governance, financial, forensic, managerial, and tax.

==General Overview of Accounting Research==
“Academic research looks at how accounting affects the world around us and
how the world affects accounting.” [http://gpae.bryant.edu/~gpae/Vol6/Reading_and_Understanding_Academic_Research.pdf ''Teresa P. Gordon and Jason C. Porter'']

Accounting research plays an essential part in creating new knowledge. The hard sciences have produced models of research and testing that can be used and applied over many disciplines including accounting research. Using these models along with evidence such as financial statements, stock prices, surveys, experiments, computer simulations, and mathematical proofs, we can gain a scientific perspective and basis for the following:

*Deciding and implementing new accounting or auditing standards
*Presenting unusual economic transactions in the financial statements
*Learning how new tax laws impact clients and employers
*Discerning how the accounting profession affects the capital markets through academic accounting research

Researchers perform two main types of research, positive and normative.

*Positive research is the branch of academic research in accounting that seeks to explain and predict actual accounting practices.
*Normative research, in contrast, seeks to derive and prescribe "optimal" accounting standards.

[[File:Stairs_up.png|right|300 px|One Step at a Time]]
Researchers use the scientific method to search for cause and effect relationships. By using the scientific method, the researcher has a systematic model that enables documentation of their results. The more specific the researcher is in documenting their methods, the better others will be able to follow and repeat their experiment.

'''Scientific Method:'''

*'''Observation:''' As with most research, accounting research begins with the researcher making an observation, seeing a potential pattern, or wondering how an action or event may affect a future action or event.
*'''Develop theory:''' The researcher then uses these observations to develop a theory or an explanation of might be causing these actions or events.
*'''Background research:''' Once the researcher finds an interest and develops a theory, background research on this theory is important. The background research is to help the researcher discover similar past theories, current and alternative theories, what evidence has been brought forth and tests performed. This research will save the researcher a great deal of time and guide their research to test a new aspect or help resolve areas of disagreement.
*'''Use theory to develop hypothesis:''' After this background research is conducted and existing theories discerned, the researcher will use their theory to create a specific hypothesis. This hypothesis should focus on an untested area or area of disagreement. Additionally, the hypothesis should make a specific prediction about how an action or condition will affect other actions or conditions.
*'''Test if hypothesis is correct:''' With a hypothesis developed, the researcher needs to identify sources of data and design tests to examine the hypothesis. The design of the tests should address the following:
**How well the study captures a cause-and-effect relationship;
**How well the variables used in a study capture the ideas and events in the hypothesis;
**How well the results from a study can be applied to other settings
*'''Examine test results:''' Once the tests have been design, operated and data collected, the next step is to use statistical methods to compare the actual results with the hypothesized results and determine if there is significant evidence to confirm the hypothesis.
*'''Confirm or disconfirm theory:''' After the evidence has been examined and sensitivity analysis ran, the researcher can then confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis and theory the hypothesis was derived from.

==Accounting Research Topical Areas==
[[File:Man_Standing_on_Beach.jpg|right|300 px|Inspiration]]
The following definition of research come from a research paper by [[Coyne, Joshua|Coyne]], [[Summers, Scott|Summers]], [[Williams, Brady|Williams]], and [[Wood, David|Wood]] (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1337755 here]).

===Accounting Information Systems (AIS)===
Studies which address issues related to the systems and the users of systems that collect, store, and generate accounting information. Users are defined broadly to include those involved in collection, storage, or use of accounting information or even the implementation of the system. These systems may be electronic or not. Research streams include, but are not limited to design science, ontological investigations, expert systems, decision aides, support systems, processing assurance, security, controls, system usability, and system performance.

===Auditing===
Studies in which the topical content involves an audit topic. These studies vary widely and include, but are not limited to, the study of the audit environment—external and internal, auditor decision making, auditor independence, the effects of auditing on the financial reporting process, and auditor fees.

*For a summary of audit fee research see Hay, Knechel, and Wong (2006, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=512642 here])
*For a review of archival audit research see DeFond and Zhang (2013working paper, available [http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/csom_sites/accounting/DeFond%20Paper.pdf here])

===Financial===
Studies that address the topical content of financial accounting, capital markets, and decision making based on financial accounting information.

*For a review of the financial reporting research see Beyer, Cohen, Lys, and Walther (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1483227 here])
*For a review of the capital markets research in accounting see Kothari (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=235798 here])
*For a review of empirical research on accounting choice see Fields, Lys, and Vincent (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=258519 here])

===Managerial===
Studies that examine issues regarding budgeting, compensation, decision-making within an enterprise, incentives, and the allocation of resources within an enterprise.

*For a review of empirical research in Managerial Accounting see Ittner and Larcker (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=235797 here])

===Tax===
Studies that examine issues related to taxpayer decision-making, tax allocations, tax computations, structuring of accounting transactions to meet tax goals, tax incentives, or market reactions to tax disclosures.

*For a review of tax research see Hanlon and Heitzman (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1476561 here]) and Shackelford and Shevlin (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=235796 here])
*For a review of research in accounting of income taxes see Graham, Raedy, and Shackelford (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1312005 here])
*[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=258569 Empirical Tax Research in Accounting: A Discussion, Ed Maydew]
*[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=358580 Taxes and Corporate Finance, John Graham]
*[http://direct.bl.uk/bld/PlaceOrder.do?UIN=073838370&ETOC=RN&from=searchengine Research in Taxation, Terry Shevlin]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JATAXX000029000002000095000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no, The future of tax research: A mostly economics perspective William Gentry]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JATAXX000029000002000087000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=Yes&ref=no The future of tax research: From an accounting professor's perspective, Terry Shevlin]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JATAXX000029000002000107000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no A legal perspective on unanswered questions in taxation research, David Weisbach and George Plesko]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getpdf/servlet/GetPDFServlet?filetype=pdf&id=JATAXX000029000002000085000001&idtype=cvips&prog=normal&bypassSSO=1 The Future of Tax Research: What Are the Unanswered Questions?, John Robinson]
*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%2324619%231985%23999989999%23578778%23FLP%23&_cdi=24619&_pubType=HS&_auth=y&_acct=C000007678&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=8916486&md5=e5a4674ca693f4dcfdcc2fb616f2aa3d Handbook of Public Finance] This is a series that has been going on for a couple decades where they get economists to write reviews about issues in public finance (the sub-field in economics that deals with taxes). Many of the articles can be found for free on SSRN. Go to the newer issues to look at what economists are up to now when they research taxes.
*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B7P63-4FFPH82-T&_user=8916486&_coverDate=01%2F01%2F2002&_rdoc=8&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info%28%23toc%2324619%232002%23999969999%23568881%23FLP%23display%23Volume%29&_cdi=24619&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=16&_acct=C000007678&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=8916486&md5=dae4ee927c35f6bad378b251125d170c Taxation and corporate financial policy, Alan J. Auerbach], a chapter from the Handbook of Public Finance referenced above.

===Other Topical Areas===
Studies that do not fit into one of the other topical areas. The topical areas in these studies vary significantly and include such things as education, methodologies, law, psychology, history, the accounting profession, work environment, etc.

==Accounting Research Methodologies==
[[File:Pen_and_Paper.png|230 px|left|Research]]
A researcher will select a methodology to determine how the research is to be conducted. There are three main methodologies for research in accounting: [[archival]], [[analytical]], and [[experimental]].

One thing to avoid when discussing methodologies is to refer to one of the methods as "empirical" to differentiate from other methods. This is most often done by archival researchers who refer to their research as empirical and not to include experimental research under the "empirical umbrella." Empirical research is research that is verifiable based on observation or experimentation; thus, archival and experimental research are both empirical in nature.

===Analytical===
Researchers who utilize analytical methods base analysis and conclusions on formally modeling theories or substantiated ideas in mathematical terms. These analytical studies use math to predict, explain, or give substance to theory.

*For a recent example of analytical research in accounting, see Gao (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1156407 here])

===Archival===
Researchers who utilize archival methods base analysis and conclusions on objective data collected from repositories of third parties. Also included are studies in which the researchers collected the data and in which the data has objective amounts such as net income, sales, fees, etc.

*For a recent example of archival research in accounting, see Ball and Shivakumar (2008, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1105228 here])

===Experimental===
Researchers who utilize experimental methods base analysis and conclusions on data the researcher gathered by administering treatments to subjects. Usually these studies employed random assignment; however, if the researcher selected different populations in an attempt to “manipulate” a variable, we also included these as experimental in nature (e.g., participants of different experience levels were selected for participation). Experimental research can include analyzing both economic and behavioral factors.

*For a recent example of experimental research in accounting, see Magilke, Mayhew, and Pike (2009, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1097714 here])

===Other Research Methodologies===
Studies that did not fit into one of the other methodological categories. The methodologies in these studies vary significantly and include such things as surveys, case studies, field studies, simulations, persuasive arguments, etc.



==Skills necessary to be a successful researcher==
Although there have been great discoveries made by accident that have changed the great paradigms of knowledge, academic research and the creation of knowledge is not an event left to chance. Academic research comes from mastering of skills that enable the researcher to carry out research processes that will contribute and progress the current accepted knowledge base and industry practices and open up new ideas and areas of research to follow.

Some of the skills necessary to become a successful researcher include the following:

* '''The ability to know and stay abreast of current work within your field of research. '''
:Staying abreast of the research being performed and the publication of such work, is important as you further your own research, discover new questions and problems and contribute to your fellow researchers. Being involved with workshops and peer reviews, as well as working with fellow professors and reading the publications in the peer journals are some ways in which to stay abreast of the current work in the industry. A listing of top journals can be found at [http://byuaccounting.net/tenure/JournalCategories.htm Accounting Journals]
* '''The ability to understand and recognize research problems.'''
:Researchers need not only stay abreast of current research being performed and published, they also need to understand and recognize difficulties in performing their own research or that of research performed by others.
* '''The ability to understand research content.'''
:The ability to read and understand the content of research articles is an important skill for academics and practitioners alike. Teresa P. Gordon and Jason C. Porter have a great list of hints to reading a research paper in their article ''[http://gpae.bryant.edu/~gpae/Vol6/Reading_and_Understanding_Academic_Research.pdf Reading and Understanding Academic Research in Accounting: A Guide for Students]''. Read part of it [[Reading Research Tips|here]].
[[File:Working_Together.jpg|235 px|right|Making Contributions]]
* '''The ability to discover where you can make a contribution, and to be able to evaluate and re-evaluate your contribution.'''
:The ability to discern a topic that will add knowledge to the field and trigger your interests is a great strength. Additionally, being able to evaluate the causality, strength, and validity of your research is important, not only when initially writing it, but to return and re-evaluate later and see if it needs to be edited or expanded.
* '''The ability to master appropriate experimental, mathematical, and computational research skills.'''
:It is necessary to build a strong base of mathematical and statistical tools to be able to draw on and enable you to build experiments that have good construct and internal validity.
* '''The ability to think critically and analytically.'''
:As you perform research, the ability to examine assumptions, assess evidence, discern hidden values, and evaluate the conclusion will be greatly utilized. Additionally, the ability to break a concept or paradigm into its constituent parts and then study the parts and find and evaluate the relationships between those parts is also a skill that will further your research goals.
* '''The ability to formulate plans to meet short-term and long-term goals and time-specific deadlines.'''
* '''The ability to follow good research practices.'''
:Being able to develop experiments or studies that are built on good solid research practices will strengthen the research you do and lend credibility to your work that fellow users can rely on.
* '''The ability to document and report your work.'''
:After the data is gathered and analyzed and conclusions are developed and confirmed, the researcher needs the ability to effectively communicate their work in a paper such as a thesis paper. The documenting of others who have worked in similar areas, contributed to your work, or you have used to further your research is important.
* '''The ability to communicate and defend a coherent argument to interested parties.'''
:Effective communication includes not only written papers, but the ability to address and defend your work in a public setting that includes fellow researchers and practitioners. To take criticism with a view to improve your work and strengthen the field is desirable.
* '''The ability to critically review the worth of your own work and the works of other researchers.'''
:A researcher needs to be able to critically review their own work as well as the work of others and assess the strengths and weaknesses of it. Determine if there is a causal relationship and to assess the various types of validity. See if there is strong enough internal validity – the strength of the controlled experiment. Evaluate the construct validity – is what is being measured actually capture the ideas and events in the hypothesis. Is there good statistical conclusion validity – when everything else is in place, is there strong enough evidence to prove an actual difference. And finally external validity, now that we have proven that this is valid in this situation, how does it transfer to other situations and other subjects. These are a few of the concepts to analyze the strength of your own work as well as the strength of your fellow researchers work.

Information for these key points and further information on research skills can be found at:

[http://mi.eng.cam.ac.uk/~cipolla/phdguide.html ''Guidelines on PhD Research and Supervision''], Professor Roberto Cipolla, University of Cambridge;

[http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloudscape/view/2014 ''Research Skills Required by PhD Students''], Cloudworks;

[http://gpae.bryant.edu/~gpae/Vol6/Reading_and_Understanding_Academic_Research.pdf ''Reading and Understanding Academic Research in Accounting: A Guide for Students''], Teresa P. Gordon and Jason C. Porter, University of Idaho.

==How accounting research can make a difference in the world==

* Affect practice (usually high level decision makers, through textbooks)
* Mentor researchers' thinking who then change world through consulting, professional service, teaching
* Affect standard setters

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What is accounting research?

2014-03-15T15:25:56Z

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==Introduction==
[[File:Business_Papers.jpg|230 px|left|Any paper that cites a lot of other accounting papers must be accounting research.]]
Accounting research is hard to define because it has shifted over time. As a rough overview, early accounting research (pre-1960s) was mostly normative (i.e., argued for the “correct” accounting treatment, or what should be). With the advent of the Journal of Accounting Research, advances in finance such as the efficient market hypothesis, creation of large data sets and the statistical abilities to analyze them (i.e., computers), and the publication of Ball and Brown’s seminal work in 1968, accounting research moved into positive research (i.e., examining what is rather than what should be). Although this change has had its critics, it has resulted in a significant increase in research output (and many new journals).

A cynical definition of research is: any paper that cites a lot of other accounting papers must be accounting research. This “quick and dirty” definition restricts accounting research to topics and methodologies that are well established in the literature; it is “safe” but somewhat limiting. More rigorously, Oler, Oler, and Skousen (2009) attempt to characterize accounting research by looking at the topics, research methodologies, and citations made by papers published in a set of six top accounting journals (AOS, CAR, JAE, JAR, RAST, and TAR). Their work can be criticized, though, because they do not consider all accounting journals, and because their categorizations of topics (6 of them) and research methodologies (7 of them) are broad. In spite of shortcomings, their paper appears to be the first that attempts to characterize and define accounting research, which they define as follows: “accounting research is research into the effect of economic events on the process of summarizing, analyzing, verifying, and reporting standardized financial information, and on the effects of reported information on economic events.”

Professors typically will choose a subject area and a methodology in which to focus their efforts. Subject areas include the topical areas considered under the umbrella term "accounting." These include information systems, auditing and assurance, corporate governance, financial, forensic, managerial, and tax.

==General Overview of Accounting Research==
“Academic research looks at how accounting affects the world around us and
how the world affects accounting.” [http://gpae.bryant.edu/~gpae/Vol6/Reading_and_Understanding_Academic_Research.pdf ''Teresa P. Gordon and Jason C. Porter'']

Accounting research plays an essential part in creating new knowledge. The hard sciences have produced models of research and testing that can be used and applied over many disciplines including accounting research. Using these models along with evidence such as financial statements, stock prices, surveys, experiments, computer simulations, and mathematical proofs, we can gain a scientific perspective and basis for the following:

*Deciding and implementing new accounting or auditing standards
*Presenting unusual economic transactions in the financial statements
*Learning how new tax laws impact clients and employers
*Discerning how the accounting profession affects the capital markets through academic accounting research

Researchers perform two main types of research, positive and normative.

*Positive research is the branch of academic research in accounting that seeks to explain and predict actual accounting practices.
*Normative research, in contrast, seeks to derive and prescribe "optimal" accounting standards.

[[File:Stairs_up.png|right|300 px|One Step at a Time]]
Researchers use the scientific method to search for cause and effect relationships. By using the scientific method, the researcher has a systematic model that enables documentation of their results. The more specific the researcher is in documenting their methods, the better others will be able to follow and repeat their experiment.

'''Scientific Method:'''

*'''Observation:''' As with most research, accounting research begins with the researcher making an observation, seeing a potential pattern, or wondering how an action or event may affect a future action or event.
*'''Develop theory:''' The researcher then uses these observations to develop a theory or an explanation of might be causing these actions or events.
*'''Background research:''' Once the researcher finds an interest and develops a theory, background research on this theory is important. The background research is to help the researcher discover similar past theories, current and alternative theories, what evidence has been brought forth and tests performed. This research will save the researcher a great deal of time and guide their research to test a new aspect or help resolve areas of disagreement.
*'''Use theory to develop hypothesis:''' After this background research is conducted and existing theories discerned, the researcher will use their theory to create a specific hypothesis. This hypothesis should focus on an untested area or area of disagreement. Additionally, the hypothesis should make a specific prediction about how an action or condition will affect other actions or conditions.
*'''Test if hypothesis is correct:''' With a hypothesis developed, the researcher needs to identify sources of data and design tests to examine the hypothesis. The design of the tests should address the following:
**How well the study captures a cause-and-effect relationship;
**How well the variables used in a study capture the ideas and events in the hypothesis;
**How well the results from a study can be applied to other settings
*'''Examine test results:''' Once the tests have been design, operated and data collected, the next step is to use statistical methods to compare the actual results with the hypothesized results and determine if there is significant evidence to confirm the hypothesis.
*'''Confirm or disconfirm theory:''' After the evidence has been examined and sensitivity analysis ran, the researcher can then confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis and theory the hypothesis was derived from.

==Accounting Research Topical Areas==
[[File:Man_Standing_on_Beach.jpg|right|300 px|Inspiration]]
The following definition of research come from a research paper by [[Coyne, Joshua|Coyne]], [[Summers, Scott|Summers]], [[Williams, Brady|Williams]], and [[Wood, David|Wood]] (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1337755 here]).

===Accounting Information Systems (AIS)===
Studies which address issues related to the systems and the users of systems that collect, store, and generate accounting information. Users are defined broadly to include those involved in collection, storage, or use of accounting information or even the implementation of the system. These systems may be electronic or not. Research streams include, but are not limited to design science, ontological investigations, expert systems, decision aides, support systems, processing assurance, security, controls, system usability, and system performance.

===Auditing===
Studies in which the topical content involves an audit topic. These studies vary widely and include, but are not limited to, the study of the audit environment—external and internal, auditor decision making, auditor independence, the effects of auditing on the financial reporting process, and auditor fees.

*For a summary of audit fee research see Hay, Knechel, and Wong (2006, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=512642 here])
*For a working paper review of archival audit research see DeFond and Zhang (2013, available [http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/csom_sites/accounting/DeFond%20Paper.pdf here])

===Financial===
Studies that address the topical content of financial accounting, capital markets, and decision making based on financial accounting information.

*For a review of the financial reporting research see Beyer, Cohen, Lys, and Walther (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1483227 here])
*For a review of the capital markets research in accounting see Kothari (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=235798 here])
*For a review of empirical research on accounting choice see Fields, Lys, and Vincent (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=258519 here])

===Managerial===
Studies that examine issues regarding budgeting, compensation, decision-making within an enterprise, incentives, and the allocation of resources within an enterprise.

*For a review of empirical research in Managerial Accounting see Ittner and Larcker (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=235797 here])

===Tax===
Studies that examine issues related to taxpayer decision-making, tax allocations, tax computations, structuring of accounting transactions to meet tax goals, tax incentives, or market reactions to tax disclosures.

*For a review of tax research see Hanlon and Heitzman (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1476561 here]) and Shackelford and Shevlin (2001, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=235796 here])
*For a review of research in accounting of income taxes see Graham, Raedy, and Shackelford (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1312005 here])
*[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=258569 Empirical Tax Research in Accounting: A Discussion, Ed Maydew]
*[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=358580 Taxes and Corporate Finance, John Graham]
*[http://direct.bl.uk/bld/PlaceOrder.do?UIN=073838370&ETOC=RN&from=searchengine Research in Taxation, Terry Shevlin]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JATAXX000029000002000095000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no, The future of tax research: A mostly economics perspective William Gentry]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JATAXX000029000002000087000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=Yes&ref=no The future of tax research: From an accounting professor's perspective, Terry Shevlin]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JATAXX000029000002000107000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no A legal perspective on unanswered questions in taxation research, David Weisbach and George Plesko]
*[http://scitation.aip.org/getpdf/servlet/GetPDFServlet?filetype=pdf&id=JATAXX000029000002000085000001&idtype=cvips&prog=normal&bypassSSO=1 The Future of Tax Research: What Are the Unanswered Questions?, John Robinson]
*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%2324619%231985%23999989999%23578778%23FLP%23&_cdi=24619&_pubType=HS&_auth=y&_acct=C000007678&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=8916486&md5=e5a4674ca693f4dcfdcc2fb616f2aa3d Handbook of Public Finance] This is a series that has been going on for a couple decades where they get economists to write reviews about issues in public finance (the sub-field in economics that deals with taxes). Many of the articles can be found for free on SSRN. Go to the newer issues to look at what economists are up to now when they research taxes.
*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B7P63-4FFPH82-T&_user=8916486&_coverDate=01%2F01%2F2002&_rdoc=8&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info%28%23toc%2324619%232002%23999969999%23568881%23FLP%23display%23Volume%29&_cdi=24619&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=16&_acct=C000007678&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=8916486&md5=dae4ee927c35f6bad378b251125d170c Taxation and corporate financial policy, Alan J. Auerbach], a chapter from the Handbook of Public Finance referenced above.

===Other Topical Areas===
Studies that do not fit into one of the other topical areas. The topical areas in these studies vary significantly and include such things as education, methodologies, law, psychology, history, the accounting profession, work environment, etc.

==Accounting Research Methodologies==
[[File:Pen_and_Paper.png|230 px|left|Research]]
A researcher will select a methodology to determine how the research is to be conducted. There are three main methodologies for research in accounting: [[archival]], [[analytical]], and [[experimental]].

One thing to avoid when discussing methodologies is to refer to one of the methods as "empirical" to differentiate from other methods. This is most often done by archival researchers who refer to their research as empirical and not to include experimental research under the "empirical umbrella." Empirical research is research that is verifiable based on observation or experimentation; thus, archival and experimental research are both empirical in nature.

===Analytical===
Researchers who utilize analytical methods base analysis and conclusions on formally modeling theories or substantiated ideas in mathematical terms. These analytical studies use math to predict, explain, or give substance to theory.

*For a recent example of analytical research in accounting, see Gao (2010, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1156407 here])

===Archival===
Researchers who utilize archival methods base analysis and conclusions on objective data collected from repositories of third parties. Also included are studies in which the researchers collected the data and in which the data has objective amounts such as net income, sales, fees, etc.

*For a recent example of archival research in accounting, see Ball and Shivakumar (2008, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1105228 here])

===Experimental===
Researchers who utilize experimental methods base analysis and conclusions on data the researcher gathered by administering treatments to subjects. Usually these studies employed random assignment; however, if the researcher selected different populations in an attempt to “manipulate” a variable, we also included these as experimental in nature (e.g., participants of different experience levels were selected for participation). Experimental research can include analyzing both economic and behavioral factors.

*For a recent example of experimental research in accounting, see Magilke, Mayhew, and Pike (2009, available [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1097714 here])

===Other Research Methodologies===
Studies that did not fit into one of the other methodological categories. The methodologies in these studies vary significantly and include such things as surveys, case studies, field studies, simulations, persuasive arguments, etc.



==Skills necessary to be a successful researcher==
Although there have been great discoveries made by accident that have changed the great paradigms of knowledge, academic research and the creation of knowledge is not an event left to chance. Academic research comes from mastering of skills that enable the researcher to carry out research processes that will contribute and progress the current accepted knowledge base and industry practices and open up new ideas and areas of research to follow.

Some of the skills necessary to become a successful researcher include the following:

* '''The ability to know and stay abreast of current work within your field of research. '''
:Staying abreast of the research being performed and the publication of such work, is important as you further your own research, discover new questions and problems and contribute to your fellow researchers. Being involved with workshops and peer reviews, as well as working with fellow professors and reading the publications in the peer journals are some ways in which to stay abreast of the current work in the industry. A listing of top journals can be found at [http://byuaccounting.net/tenure/JournalCategories.htm Accounting Journals]
* '''The ability to understand and recognize research problems.'''
:Researchers need not only stay abreast of current research being performed and published, they also need to understand and recognize difficulties in performing their own research or that of research performed by others.
* '''The ability to understand research content.'''
:The ability to read and understand the content of research articles is an important skill for academics and practitioners alike. Teresa P. Gordon and Jason C. Porter have a great list of hints to reading a research paper in their article ''[http://gpae.bryant.edu/~gpae/Vol6/Reading_and_Understanding_Academic_Research.pdf Reading and Understanding Academic Research in Accounting: A Guide for Students]''. Read part of it [[Reading Research Tips|here]].
[[File:Working_Together.jpg|235 px|right|Making Contributions]]
* '''The ability to discover where you can make a contribution, and to be able to evaluate and re-evaluate your contribution.'''
:The ability to discern a topic that will add knowledge to the field and trigger your interests is a great strength. Additionally, being able to evaluate the causality, strength, and validity of your research is important, not only when initially writing it, but to return and re-evaluate later and see if it needs to be edited or expanded.
* '''The ability to master appropriate experimental, mathematical, and computational research skills.'''
:It is necessary to build a strong base of mathematical and statistical tools to be able to draw on and enable you to build experiments that have good construct and internal validity.
* '''The ability to think critically and analytically.'''
:As you perform research, the ability to examine assumptions, assess evidence, discern hidden values, and evaluate the conclusion will be greatly utilized. Additionally, the ability to break a concept or paradigm into its constituent parts and then study the parts and find and evaluate the relationships between those parts is also a skill that will further your research goals.
* '''The ability to formulate plans to meet short-term and long-term goals and time-specific deadlines.'''
* '''The ability to follow good research practices.'''
:Being able to develop experiments or studies that are built on good solid research practices will strengthen the research you do and lend credibility to your work that fellow users can rely on.
* '''The ability to document and report your work.'''
:After the data is gathered and analyzed and conclusions are developed and confirmed, the researcher needs the ability to effectively communicate their work in a paper such as a thesis paper. The documenting of others who have worked in similar areas, contributed to your work, or you have used to further your research is important.
* '''The ability to communicate and defend a coherent argument to interested parties.'''
:Effective communication includes not only written papers, but the ability to address and defend your work in a public setting that includes fellow researchers and practitioners. To take criticism with a view to improve your work and strengthen the field is desirable.
* '''The ability to critically review the worth of your own work and the works of other researchers.'''
:A researcher needs to be able to critically review their own work as well as the work of others and assess the strengths and weaknesses of it. Determine if there is a causal relationship and to assess the various types of validity. See if there is strong enough internal validity – the strength of the controlled experiment. Evaluate the construct validity – is what is being measured actually capture the ideas and events in the hypothesis. Is there good statistical conclusion validity – when everything else is in place, is there strong enough evidence to prove an actual difference. And finally external validity, now that we have proven that this is valid in this situation, how does it transfer to other situations and other subjects. These are a few of the concepts to analyze the strength of your own work as well as the strength of your fellow researchers work.

Information for these key points and further information on research skills can be found at:

[http://mi.eng.cam.ac.uk/~cipolla/phdguide.html ''Guidelines on PhD Research and Supervision''], Professor Roberto Cipolla, University of Cambridge;

[http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloudscape/view/2014 ''Research Skills Required by PhD Students''], Cloudworks;

[http://gpae.bryant.edu/~gpae/Vol6/Reading_and_Understanding_Academic_Research.pdf ''Reading and Understanding Academic Research in Accounting: A Guide for Students''], Teresa P. Gordon and Jason C. Porter, University of Idaho.

==How accounting research can make a difference in the world==

* Affect practice (usually high level decision makers, through textbooks)
* Mentor researchers' thinking who then change world through consulting, professional service, teaching
* Affect standard setters

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What classes should I take?

2009-03-12T01:37:12Z

Greenk: /* Archival Skill Sets */

What is most important for a Ph.D. student to know before entering a Ph.D. program depends to a degree on the [[Research Interests|type of research]] that the student wants to conduct. The three "tracts" of research can be separated based on whether the student is interested in conducting [[analytical]], [[archival]], or [[experimental]] research.

===[[Analytical]] Skill Sets===
Students that are successfull in analytical fields often have engineering, math, or physics undergraduate degrees. If one is to master analytical accounting research, advanced mathematical skills are necessary. Good classes to take would be Econ 382 (Price Theory) and Econ 478 (Game Theory). Any of the 500 level Econ classes would also help. A potential analyst should consider pursing either a minor or a in economics and might consider spending some extra time to get a double major in economics.

===[[Archival]] Skill Sets===
Future archival researchers should consider taking Econ 588 rather than Stat 512. Additionally, it would be beneficial to take Stat 441 and 442, which are similar to 588 but are more in depth. The prerequisite for Stat 441 is Math 214 (Multivariable Calculus), so you will need to plan ahead if you need to take more math to get prepared. More math is also preferred. Linear Algebra is probably more important than Multivariable Calculus if one has to choose.

There are two linear algebra courses offered at BYU: Math 343 and Math 302 (which spends only half of the semester on linear algebra). Math 343 is a more theoretical course and as such is a rigorous course in mathematics. Students are expected not only to master computations, but also to demonstrate their understanding of linear algebra by creating abstract proofs. Developing proficiency in critical thinking and logical inference is a major goal of Math 343. Math 302 is Mathematics for Engineering I and covers multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and numerical methods. It is also known as applied linear algebra. The prerequisite for Math 343 is Math 112 or 119 and it is a 3 credit class. The prerequisite for Math 302 is Math 113 and it is a 4 credit class.

I took Math 343 after I had taken Econ 378, 388, and 588 (the statistical economics courses) and found that the first third of the class was somewhat of a review. Taking Math 343 before those courses could be an advantage. In either case, I still think it is beneficial to take a rigorous math course that requires doing a lot of proofs. The last part of the course gets into some of the foundations for OLS regression.

If you are worried about your math skills as you prepare to take the pre-Ph.D. classes, the engineering school offers a math refresher course, Eng T 295R. It is designed for engineering majors who took calculus before their missions and need to get back up to speed after having been away from school for a while. It is a review of basic techniques of algebra, trigonometry, differential calculus, integral calculus, and series and sequences. Calculus becomes important in the economics courses required for the prep track.

===[[Experimental]] Skill Sets===
One of the most important skills to develop as an experimentalist is research design. The strength of experimental methodology is internal validity. Experimentalists should rarely, if ever, sacrifice internal validity to achieve other types of validity; thus, being able to design high quality experiments is very important. To develop this skill, a Ph.D. prep student would benefit from a detailed study of Cook and Campbell, an experimental design class (Stat 431), and attempting to design an experiment and then seeking feedback from an experimentalist.

Experimental research is not as popular in accounting as archival research. An experimentalist may wish to take Stat 512 instead of Econ 588. Stat 512 goes over topics that are more relevant to experiments, such as experimental design and MANOVA whereas Econ 588 is more aimed at archival research methods. Since experiments are not the dominant paradigm in accounting research, experimentalists should be conversant in archival research methodologies. Because of this, an experimentalist may wish to take Econ 588 to develop these skills and to make life easier in your Ph.D. program (when you are likely to take similar classes).

The readings seminar provides a great opportunity to discuss the design and experiment in experimental papers. Especially when the author leads to the class discussion, take the opportunity to discuss the instrument they used and ask questions about their design choices. Even looking at the instrument from someone’s experiment provides a lot of insight as to what goes into a good design.

Since there are not lot of classes related to experimental research at BYU, take the time to read some books. As mentioned earlier, Shadish, Cook and Campbell is a book you should take very seriously when you take it with Doug. Read it again towards the end of the program as well because you will appreciate it even more after taking the other classes.

Sarah Bonner has a book, “Judgment and Decision Making in Accounting” that provides a good framework for the literature. Use the first couple chapters to get an understating of the framework and then the latter chapters provide a good review of the literature if you have an area of interest and want to know what papers to read.

An overall heads up for all of the methodologies, the Econ Probability and Stats course at BYU is a good fundamental class. Many of the things you learn in that course, especially the math, will be considered review material and surpassed quickly in a PhD Probability and Stats course. Also, the Wackerly book used for that class, Mathematical Statistics, is probably worth keeping as a resource.

==Short Description of Classes==
===Required Courses===
The following are courses required for the Ph.D. Prep Track:

====PhD Prep Specific====
*'''Acc 516''' This class goes over the basics of the theory of science and research methodology. The class will also offer an introduction to accounting literature. The class requires a lot of reading.
*'''Acc 517''' This class teaches the basics of SAS, a statistical software package commonly used in accounting research. While the class is only one credit, be prepared to dedicate a large block of time to it each week.
*'''Acc 591R''' This is a readings class. The curriculum varies each semester so students are required to take it every semester that they are not enrolled in Acc 516 or Acc 517. Generally the class requires students to read, discuss, and present on accounting literature.

====Statistics====
* '''Stat 511''' This class is a refresher course on basic statistics, most of which was learned in Stat 221. However, there are a few topics that will be relatively new.
* '''Stat 512''' This class continues where 511 left off. It goes into more detail with different types of tests and corrections. Topics include MANOVA, experimental design, logit regressions, and autocorrelation corrections. It is recommended that one take this class for preparation in performing experimental research.

====Economics====
* '''Econ 378''' This course goes into the basic mathematics behind the statistics learned in Stat 221. The course does require calculus, but don't worry too much if you are rusty. The first day of class usually includes a review of Calculus that can bring a student up to speed.
* '''Econ 380''' This is a microeconomics course. Essentially you take the concepts learned about in Econ 110 and learn the math behind it. Similar to Econ 378, this class requires Calculus and it also generally has a Calculus refresher the first day of class.
* '''Econ 381''' This class goes over Macroeconomics. This class focuses on models that explain the economy and some basics of economic governance. While the class claims to require Calculus, generally very little (in some cases none) is required.
* '''Econ 388''' Econometrics is a difficult class for most students. The class covers the linear algebra behind regression analysis. While you are not required to take linear algebra before taking this class, it will give you a competitive advantage.
* '''Econ 588''' This class picks up from where Econ 388 left off, covering more advanced econometric topics. Again, this is a challenging class for most students. It is recommended that you take this class if you plan on doing archival research.

===Recommended Courses===
The following are courses recommended for those considering research in a certain methodology:

====Archival Research====
* '''Stat 124''' SAS Certification 1. If you want to beef up your SAS skills before entering a PhD program, consider getting SAS certified. Stat 124 and Stat 324 are a block classes on SAS that will prepare you to become SAS certified.
* '''Stat 212''' Statistical Computing 1.
* '''Stat 324''' Advanced SAS Programming Certification. See Stat 124 description.
* '''Stat 412''' Statistical Computing 2.
* '''Math 214''' Calculus of Several Variables. This class covers topics such as partial differentiation, the Jacobian Matrix, and integral theorems of vector calculus.
* '''Math 343''' Elementary Linear Algebra. This class covers basic matrix algebra. Topics include linear systems, vectors and vector spaces, linear transformations, determinants, inner product spaces, eigenvalues, and eigenvectors.
* '''Econ 382''' Intermediate Price Theory 2. This class follows up on what was learned in Econ 380. Topics covered include Welfare Theory, imperfect information, imperfect competition (in more depth), uncertainty, externalities, and public goods.

====Experimental Research====
* '''Stat 321''' Elements of Mathematical Statistics. This class looks at probability, random variables, frequency distributions, estimation and tests of hypotheses from a theoretical stand point.
* '''Stat 435''' Nonparametric Statistical Models. This class goes over permutation tests, rank-based models, analysis of contingency tables, bootstrap methods, and curve fitting.
* '''Econ 382''' Intermediate Price Theory 2. See description above.
* '''Econ 478''' Game Theory and Economics. This class applies game theory to the study of interactions between people and organizations. It looks at topics such as imperfect competition, insurance markets and bargaining. Strong math skills are recommended.

==Other Course Suggestions==
Here are some other tips on [[Course Requirements for the Ph.D. Prep Track at BYU|course requirements]] for the Ph.D. Prep Track. Also, here are several [[Suggestions from past Ph.D. Prep Track students about classes at BYU|suggestions from past students]] on classes at BYU.

Here are several minor options for Prep Track Students:
* [[Undergraduate Economics Minor]]
* [[Undergraduate Accounting and Economics Dual Major]]
* [[Graduate Statistics Minor]]

Accounting Program Rankings

2009-01-30T18:38:24Z

Greenk:

'''Accounting Doctoral Programs Rankings'''

Ranking different institutions is difficult. In order to do so, one must determine what characteristics are desirable in an institution. There have been many different rankings based on many different things, and the purpose of this ranking is to combine all the rankings in order to demonstrate what program excels at all the different parameters defined in rankings, and not merely on one narrowly constructed characteristic. These rankings combine 5 different rankings (one for two different years) in order to get a list of the top programs, using such parameters of perceived quality of the institution by other academics, faculty productivity in the accounting and business journals, recent graduate research productivity, and quality of job placement upon graduation. These rankings take the top 25 schools in each ranking system. Then, every school on this list that was not included in the ranking is given a ranking of 26. In the end, these rankings subtract a schools added rankings from 156, and the school with the lowest score wins. These rankings use the following rankings:

'''''Public Accounting Report Annual Surveys from Years 2005 and 2006:''''' The trade journal The Public Accounting Report surveys faculty members and accounting firms, and these are the results of the survey. By including two years of data, this parameter is doubly weights, and, given the value of being highly regarded in the field, this seems reasonable.

'''''Number of Publications in Top Three Accounting Journals by Faculty:''''' This is from a database put together by the University of Texas at Dallas, and measures the number of faculty publications in the top three accounting journal from 1990 to 2007. It weights the publications for multiple authorship, and for the number of faculty at the school.

'''''Number of Publications in all major business journals by Faculty:''''' While accounting publications are important, most accounting faculty would be pleased with a hit in the Journal of Finance, for example. Thus, the overall productivity of a university in all business publications is important. This is from the same UT at Dallas database, but includes all major business publications.

'''''Larry Brown Productivity of Recent Graduates:''''' While productive faculty are important, one important measure of a PhD program is the productivity of the graduates of the program. Larry Brown ranks programs based on the number of publications of graduates of the institution in the top three accounting journals 5 years after graduation. This number involves graduates from 1995-1999.

'''''Placement Rankings from Stammerjohan and Hall (2001):''''' (Journal of Accounting Education
Volume 20, Issue 1, Winter 2002, Pages 1-27 ) This ranking considers placement from 1978 to 1997 from PhD programs in accounting. Institutions are ranked based on the quality of where their graduates go directly after graduation. The quality of the institutions where graduates go is gages based on US News and World Report: America's Best Colleges (1997).

As mentioned, rankings are a difficult construct, and there are certainly limitations to this methodology. Perhaps the most important is that some programs change over time, and as some of these rankings are based on how programs performed a decade ago, what was a very good program may have lost a lot of good faculty, and have subsequently become not as desirable (or vica versa).

The standard deviations of the 6 (the 5 distinct rankings, with one having two years) different rankings are reported. Notice that the schools with smaller standard deviations are more consistently ranked in that same spot throughout the different rankings, thus, while MIT shines on some rankings, its poor performance on others lands it at number 17, but with a high standard deviation.

To see the spreadsheet where I did all this (which includes all the rankings uncompiled, as well as schools that did not make the top 25), [http://phdprep.byu.edu/index.php?title=Image:Rankings_PhDprograms.xls Click here].

<TABLE FRAME=VOID CELLSPACING=0 COLS=3 RULES=NONE BORDER=0>

<TR>
<TD WIDTH=57 HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER>Rank</TD>
<TD WIDTH=71 ALIGN=CENTER>SD</TD>
<TD WIDTH=309 ALIGN=LEFT>University</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="1" SDNUM="1033;">1</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="2.78687399547713" SDNUM="1033;">2.79</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Chicago]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="2" SDNUM="1033;">2</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="3.68781778291715" SDNUM="1033;">3.69</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>Wharton School of the [[University of Pennsylvania]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="3" SDNUM="1033;">3</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="3.32665998663324" SDNUM="1033;">3.33</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Stanford University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="4" SDNUM="1033;">4</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="4.63680924774785" SDNUM="1033;">4.64</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Michigan]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="5" SDNUM="1033;">5</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.4233751915118" SDNUM="1033;">9.42</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Texas - Austin]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="6" SDNUM="1033;">6</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="6.06630035524124" SDNUM="1033;">6.07</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of North Carolina]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="7" SDNUM="1033;">7</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="8.16496580927726" SDNUM="1033;">8.16</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Northwestern University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="8" SDNUM="1033;">8</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="5.2820450584977" SDNUM="1033;">5.28</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Washington - Seattle]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9" SDNUM="1033;">9</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="7.67897562612792" SDNUM="1033;">7.68</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Harvard University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="10" SDNUM="1033;">10</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.38971068066885" SDNUM="1033;">9.39</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Cornell University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="11" SDNUM="1033;">11</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="7.92464510246358" SDNUM="1033;">7.92</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Southern California]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="12" SDNUM="1033;">12</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="8.82420912414629" SDNUM="1033;">8.82</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Illinois]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="13" SDNUM="1033;">13</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="11.0950439386241" SDNUM="1033;">11.1</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Rochester]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="13" SDNUM="1033;">13</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="7.79102047231298" SDNUM="1033;">7.79</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Iowa]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="15" SDNUM="1033;">15</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.52190457139047" SDNUM="1033;">9.52</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Indiana University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="15" SDNUM="1033;">15</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="5.7850381733111" SDNUM="1033;">5.79</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Michigan State University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="17" SDNUM="1033;">17</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.93478736561583" SDNUM="1033;">9.93</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="18" SDNUM="1033;">18</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="10.1275202624664" SDNUM="1033;">10.13</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[New York University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="19" SDNUM="1033;">19</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="4.03319558993445" SDNUM="1033;">4.03</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Penn State]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="20" SDNUM="1033;">20</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.07009739014233" SDNUM="1033;">9.07</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of California - Berkeley]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="21" SDNUM="1033;">21</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="8" SDNUM="1033;">8</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Columbia University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="22" SDNUM="1033;">22</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="5.68037557443754" SDNUM="1033;">5.68</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[The Ohio State University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="23" SDNUM="1033;">23</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.20326029187483" SDNUM="1033;">9.2</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Duke University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="24" SDNUM="1033;">24</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="6.05530070819498" SDNUM="1033;">6.06</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Arizona]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="25" SDNUM="1033;">25</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="5.70672118354022" SDNUM="1033;">5.71</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Minnesota]] at Twin Cities </TD>
</TR>

</TABLE>

Another ranking is available at http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/areas/accounting/productivity.htm

'''Location of Top Ph.D. Programs'''
For those of you who are interested in locations of the top Ph.D. programs in accounting, this map shows their rough locations. The top 9 are numbered in bigger stars and the rest are represented by smaller stars.

[[Image:PhD top 25 school locations.jpg]],

Accounting Program Rankings

2009-01-30T18:36:56Z

Greenk:

Accounting Program Rankings

2009-01-30T18:36:10Z

Greenk: