TY - JOUR
T1 - Using content analysis as a research method to inquire into intellectual capital reporting
AU - Guthrie, J.
AU - Petty, R.
AU - Yongvanich, K.
AU - Ricceri, F.
PY - 2004/6/1
Y1 - 2004/6/1
N2 - Increasingly, researchers in the field of intellectual capital (IC) need to be able to justify the specific research methods they use to collect the empirical data that they examine to support and test opinions regarding the merit of different approaches to managing and reporting IC. Of the various methods available to researchers seeking to understand intellectual capital reporting (ICR), content analysis is the most popular. The aim of this paper is to review the use of content analysis as a research method in understanding ICR and to offer some observations on the practical utility of the method. Further, the paper examines several research method issues relating to the use of content analysis that have been discussed in the social environmental accounting literature, but not as yet in the IC literature, which we believe are relevant to investigations underway in the field of ICR. This paper reports on several developmental issues we have confronted when using content analysis to examine the voluntary disclosure of IC in annual reports by various organisations. The paper also suggests two theoretical foundations for further investigation into the voluntary disclosure of IC by organisations, and suggests why content analysis is well matched to both these theories as a means to collect empirical data to test research propositions.
AB - Increasingly, researchers in the field of intellectual capital (IC) need to be able to justify the specific research methods they use to collect the empirical data that they examine to support and test opinions regarding the merit of different approaches to managing and reporting IC. Of the various methods available to researchers seeking to understand intellectual capital reporting (ICR), content analysis is the most popular. The aim of this paper is to review the use of content analysis as a research method in understanding ICR and to offer some observations on the practical utility of the method. Further, the paper examines several research method issues relating to the use of content analysis that have been discussed in the social environmental accounting literature, but not as yet in the IC literature, which we believe are relevant to investigations underway in the field of ICR. This paper reports on several developmental issues we have confronted when using content analysis to examine the voluntary disclosure of IC in annual reports by various organisations. The paper also suggests two theoretical foundations for further investigation into the voluntary disclosure of IC by organisations, and suggests why content analysis is well matched to both these theories as a means to collect empirical data to test research propositions.
KW - Annual reports
KW - Disclosure
KW - Intellectual capital
KW - Research methods
KW - Stakeholders
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84986076313&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/14691930410533704
DO - 10.1108/14691930410533704
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84986076313
SN - 1469-1930
VL - 5
SP - 282
EP - 293
JO - Journal of Intellectual Capital
JF - Journal of Intellectual Capital
IS - 2
ER -