Validity in content analysis-based intellectual capital disclosure research: a critical review

Validity is the cornerstone of research studies adopting content analysis. However, because human judgement plays a significant role in content analysis, ensuring validity requires care and attention – arguably, more so than with other research methods. Researchers have raised concerns over the possible shortcomings in the use of content analysis in intellectual capital disclosure research. Yet the exact weaknesses and the extent to which validity is undermined has not been investigated systematically. Using content analysis itself, we examined how validity is maintained in 103 articles in the field of intellectual capital disclosure that cite content analysis as a research method. We find that a significant proportion of the studies disregard the need for validity. The data generation process often lacks transparency. Unsuitable or inadequate measures are used to quantify disclosures and the results are misinterpreted. Hence, the inferences drawn from the data are often incorrect.