Social Accounting Practices, Capacities and Connections Within Rural Society as a Two Thai Villages - Essay Example

? of Essex BE950 Research Evaluation Projects work II Due: 10/05 Natinee Thanajaro Research Social Accounting Practices,Capacities and Connections within Rural Society: A Case Study of Two Thai Villages Theoretical Framework Before undertaking any research, a theoretical framework should be presented as the foundation that provides a base and support for that particular research (Sevilla et al., 1992). A theoretical framework is a “set of interrelated constructs (concepts), definitions, and propositions that presents a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables.” (Sevilla et al., 1992) In this research study, the main framework is to describe social accounting practices in Thai rural society. The main focus is to find out how this rural culture develops and constrains its own calculative practices. Miller defines calculative practices as “technologies of government.” (Rose and Miller, 1992; Miller, 2004) As a matter of fact, Miller (2004) revealed in his article that calculative practices are not only about calculating costs in industries and services, but also act as a universal set of tools in organizations that link responsibility and calculation (Miller, 2001). Calculative practice has the benefit of translating various and complicated processes into sets of financial figures. (Miller, 2001) The theoretical framework of this research will give a brief idea of how villagers adopt and constrain their accounting systems. Although they might adopt these systems from their ancestors, this research will take a closer look at the way they adopt and preserve these systems in their own ways. Additionally, in the sense of bookkeeping and how they keep the records such as for profits and debts, this research will study how each villager behaves in their own roles for their families and for their villages. According to Walker and Llewellyn (2000), there are few researchers that explore household accounting because the home is not considered to be as strong of a contribution to academic study. (Walker and Llewellyn, 2000) However, the home is the basic foundation for any economy. In 2000, Walker and Llewellyn attempted to open a new field in home accounting techniques. They proposed the way to study home accounting is through observing budgeting because it is a plan and a method to control spending, saving, and investing. (Walker and Llewellyn, 200) The study of accounting is referred to as the art of living, where accounting acts as the important role in domestic management. This research will explore the domestic accounting practices of rural villagers in Thailand by interviewing them about their budgeting and their money management. In addition, this research explores the labour division within families and society. In each society, people have many roles, from a businessman to a father. This research will explore how these villagers divide their labour and roles among themselves. The framework gives the research its scope and stresses the essence of what the research can contribute. It gives an explanation to readers of how Thai villagers manage their accounting system, which leads to an understanding of the roles and inequalities in Thai society. Literature Review Social accounting Vollmer (2003) cited Miller (1990) who defined accounting as “a process of attributing financial value and rationales to a wide range of social practices, thereby according them a specific visibility, calculability, and operational utility.” In his article, he tried to explain the connection between a sociology and accounting. Additionally, Burchell (1980) also attempt to build the same connection. According to Vollmer’s article, there is a gap in the scientific literature concerning calculative practices from a sociological point of view. (Vollmer, 2003) Jayasinghe and Thomas (2008) stated there are reasons for the absence of social accounting. One reason explained by Jayasinghe (2006) is that this kind of social accounting is in the form of oral accounting where there are no formal written forms of it. (Jayasinghe and Thomas, 2008) Another reason is the relationship between literacy and accounting. It cannot be denied, though, that small communities also develop their own accounting systems. There are very few studies exploring how these people can manage these accounting systems. (Jayasinghe and Thomas, 2008) Since accounting is considered an influence for organizations and society, most calculative practices focus on the urban organization, yet gaps in research still persist. Only a few researches have tried to explore the rural area in terms of accounting systems. Therefore this gap has lead to this research. No matter if they are in urban or rural areas, calculative practices are involved in people’s daily lives. Dating back to 17th century, accounting has always been a part of everyday life to most people. (Boden, 1999) Boden described this idea in her article about self-employed business in the UK. Self-employed occupation has been growing in numbers in recent years. Normally, in large organizations and corporations, there are requirements and systems that are set up for accounting departments which determine their standard and accuracy in process. However, it is different for indigenous accounting functions. Jayasinghe and Thomas have highlighted these types of accounting practices in a rural community of Sri Lanka, where the community has shaped their own accounting system. The study of Jayasinghe and Wichramasinghe (2007) described the calculative practices in a small community in Sri Lanka. This community used the MOP framework, which associates the relation of production and relation in production. This article also captured modes of calculation in Sri Lanka’s Fisherman community. With other existing literature on social accounting like the article introduced by Jayasinghe and Thomas (2008) and Walker and Llewelly (2000), these articles have shown a new perspective of the structure of the home, or social accounting, in the way that capitalist accounting does not practice. Regarded as micro-level social accounting practices (Jayasinghe and Thomas, 2008), there are calls for more research into these types of accounting practices. Jayasinghe and Thomas (2008) gave some examples of researchers who are in this field of accounting. Boden (1990) studied the self-employed accounting and the importance of accounting practice in everyday life. (Jayasinghe and Thomas, 2008) Similarly, Miller (2004) attempted to close the gap between accounting and social practice because accounting is more than a simple rational mechanism. From this literature, it can be assumed that social accounting is becoming a more advanced field. Social accounting provides the understanding of rural people through their own accounting systems. In order to link social accounting to Thailand, it is useful to know some of the background of Thailand, which will be discussed in the next part. Thailand in rural area’s case study Generally, Thailand’s economic position depends on the agricultural sector. In recent decades, the growth in the industrial sector has expanded into exporting food supplies to many countries around the world. (Poapongsakorn, Ruhs and Tangjitwisuth, 1998) Although the industrial sector is growing, the agricultural sector still acts as the foundation of the economic system of the nation. The phenomenon of the growing industry caused Thailand to shift the trend of the agricultural sector to the industrial sector. Poverty subsequently rose in rural areas because of the low agricultural productivity. Because of this, Thailand faced difficulties in exporting supplies, especially rice, to the world market. (Poapongsakorn, Ruhs and Tangjitwisuth, 1998) In rural areas, people remain tied to the agricultural system as their main source of living. Many problems have appeared because of this, such as shortages of water, lack of labours, and agricultural policies. Although there are government interventions to help the poor, poverty is still an issue that persists as a major crisis for many people in rural areas of Thailand. Many people in Thailand continue to receive wages from the traditional, agricultural system. Although the concern of a shortage of labour was raised, villagers had to share their expense in labour workers, as well as the input of purchasing pesticides and fertilizers. (Siamwalla, 1996) The way they conduct their lives is still in the traditional way. Most of them operate domestic businesses within the community in which they live. The way they practice their accounting is in a less complicated manner compared with people of the urbanized Bangkok area, where they have a standardized system of western tradition. This research will contribute to readers who are interested in this field of study. Although social accounting is not the major field in accounting, as Miller (2001) mentioned, accounting is no longer about numbers. It is a method that shapes society. Research Questions Generating research question is similar to the process of generating research ideas. Research question can develop over time, whether it takes days, weeks or months. (Andrews, 2003) The important aspect of formulating the question is developing it scientifically and systematically. (Andrews, 2003) It is important for the researcher to ensure that research questions are feasible and the researcher is able to gain access to necessary data. In order to generate questions, researchers need to attempt to contribute to new insights on their topic. (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009) This research focuses on social accounting, specifically in which this practice emphasizes the way people shape their calculative practices due to their social positions and societal influence. Therefore, this question can be generated into these three questions: - How do the indigenous accounting systems of the rural agricultural villages of Thailand function and develop? - How do these calculative practices support or constrain the capacities and connections of local people and organizations? -  How and why does the rural society reproduce and preserve their traditional calculative practices? Epistemological Assumptions Research has objectives that set the focus and priorities of the researcher. Subsequently, the researcher has to address how the research will contribute to a field of study. An epistemological position indicates the researchers’ perspectives on his or her issue. (Thomas, 2004) Ontological and epistemological assumptions are closely related. (Thomas, 2004) Ontology is concerned with the idea of reality. It indicates how researchers see the world. On the other hand, epistemology is concerned with how the research contributes to the body of knowledge. (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009) Epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge that attempts to understand what is it that the researcher wants to know. (Hackley, 2003) There are different views of epistemological assumptions, but I will only explain the assumption that this research will be concerned with. This research will be conducted using the interpretive method. Due to the depth and richness of information, interpretivists see that there is no definite law that can describe theories. (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009) Interpretivism attempts to understand humans as social actors. The way interpretivists sees the world is by metaphorically describing humans as the actors on stage. In this way, the researcher interprets how actors act in their roles. An interpretivism position is suitable with this research because it seeks the village’s point of view. This research tries to understand how villagers adopt and develop their own accounting systems and their own perceptions of using these systems. Data of this research will be qualitative and will be rich and deep insight into villager’s perspectives. According to Hackley (2003) the characteristics of intrepretivism is not only the rich description but also reflectivity. This feature allows the researcher to be aware of the fact that interpretivism reflects as the third person. Interpretivism focuses on meanings and facts. In this style, it is not necessary for researchers to agree with the way villagers behave and develop accounting systems. The important thing is to interpret the meaning of people’s language, behavior and social practices. (Hackley, 2003) This research tries to reflect on how and why people behave the way they do. In other words, it is about understanding the importance of other people and how they manage their lives. (Hackeley, 2003) In this philosophical stance, this research can be undertaken as the representation of those people in rural areas of Thailand. It interprets those people in the way researchers see the world. It is well suited for this research that interprets people’s unique accounting styles. Methodology According to Ethridge (2004), methodology is defined by Runes (1983) in his Dictionary of Philosophy as “the systemic analysis and organization of the rational and experimental principles and processes which must guide a scientific inquiry. Also called scientific method.” Thus, methodology is a generic term exemplified in the specific method of each science. There are many definitions that were given by many authors. Still, most of them defined methodology as the techniques or method that the researcher applies in the way of doing research. However, some people are confused between research methods and research methodology. In order to clarify these terms, research method will be considered techniques or processes that researchers use to find results; while methodology refers to explaining how to conduct research. Methodology is the important aspect for any research because it gives the direction of how research is going to be conducted. This research methodology is qualitative. There will be in person and telephone interviews with rural Thai villagers. This research will explain in rich details the nature of the calculative practices of two Thai villages. The interviews provide an opportunity to search for insight into how people calculate their business activities in their unique accounting systems. The interviews will cover topics such as how people live their lives in terms of occupation, and what kinds of roles they divide for other members in their families. Then the interview will lead to their perspective of economy in the village. The use of interviews with daily observations will give an explanation of how and why these villagers adopt their own systems of calculative practices. Although there will be a difficulty in approaching rural villagers, contacting the head or leader of the village will be useful in terms of gaining access to data. This interview will cover approximately 10-12 villagers for two villages in agricultural rural areas of Thailand. In each village, people have a variety ways they make their living in the agricultural sector, such as farming, fishing, raising livestock, and others. The difference between qualitative and quantitative data is how the data is represented. Qualitative data presents data in words with details, while quantitative data is derrived from numbers. Additionally, qualitative data has no standardized data and it requires the use of conceptualization. (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009) On the contrary, quantitative data presents in numerical theme and use of statistic and diagrams. (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009) This research is more suitable in using qualitative research because it requires no numbers and statistics, it only needs explanations and expressions for actors’ behaviours. Ethical Considerations Some people consider collecting data and analyzing results as the most important part of their research, yet undertaking good research requires the researcher to also consider the ethics of their study, because these ethics have an effect on the process of data collection. (Crowther and Lancaster, 2008) No matter if it is primary or secondary data, a researcher always needs to collect data. Ethical misconduct has risen dramatically in the past decade. (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009) It is common for most universities to obtain formal Research Ethics Committee approval before beginning research. (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009) In the beginning of their data collection process, researchers might encounter a problem of accessing data from companies or organizations. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009) stated that researchers might face rejections from gatekeepers or brokers who control the access to their organizations data. In order to solve this problem, researcher need to set up a plan in order to build credibility and convince organizations that their research will contribute a significant benefit to them. When a researcher gains the access to the data that he or she needs, there are key issues that a researcher has to keep in mind. Since this research will be conducted as qualitative research, it is important to be aware of ethical issues. Qualitative research has a high possibility to encounter these issue due to the style of close and personal interaction that makes it difficult for researchers to find unbiased methods of sharing their collected data. (Thomas, Nelson and Silverman, 2011) This research involves with close contact with rural Thai villagers. It requires time and trust in order to gain beneficial data. According to Thomas, Nelson and Silverman (2011) researchers need to consider participants’ privacy, confidentiality, and anonymousness when collecting data. Also, because of the nature of this study, there is a high potential for ethical issues during data collection. Before accessing data, it is essential not to put too much pressure on participants to commit to interviews. To ensure that participants agree to give provide data, a consent form might be needed. This research seeks to find data that might be sensitive to villagers’ privacy. The amount of useful data collected will depend on how much data the researcher can access during interviews and how much of that data appears to be reliable. Once the researcher gains access to villagers, it is the right of participants to withdraw participation. Since withdrawal rates can be a problem, the researcher will need to respect participants’ decision in this matter. (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009) During the interviewing, it is appropriate to inform villagers that they have the right to decline any questions and that data will be stored anonymously. Since this research is also being conducted with an observation technique, this research has the potential for disrupting villagers’ private lives. It is not ethical for researchers to spy on villager’s activities. All data from the data analysis, as well as observations and interviews with villagers, should be accurate and kept confidential. Although this research does not relate to major organizations or corporations that require privacy, it is ethical and moral to treat interview subjects respectfully. As previously mentioned, this research requires only qualitative data. In this way, the relationship between the researcher and the participant is more informal, which should make data collection easier. Time Plan Timescales and time plans help researchers to plan and organize their research before they conduct it. According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009) some researchers find it more useful to produce a schedule into a Gantt Chart. It gives researchers a clear representation of the task or activities in a research project. The table below represents the timetable for this research. Acitivity Week 1 Week 2 Week3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week15 Week 16 Week 17 Read literature                                   Finalize objective                                   Draft literature review                                   Read methodology literature                                   Devise research approach                                   Draft research strategy                                   Develop plan for interview                                   Revise interview                                   conduct interview                                   Enter data                                   Analyse data                                   Draft findings                                   Update literature                                   Finish unfinished parts                                   Submit first draft                                   Revise and review feedback                                   Revise                                   Print and bind                                   Submit                                   References Andrews, R., 2003. Research Questions. Cornwall: MPG. Boden, R., 1999. Figure it out yourself: financial reporting, accountability, and the self-employed. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. Vol. 10, Issue 1, pp. 37-62. Burchell et al., 1980. The Roles of Accounting in Organizations and society. Accounting, organizations and society. Vol. 5, Issue1, pp.5-27. Crowther, D. and Lancaster, G., 2008. Research methods: a concise introduction to research in management and business consultancy. Oxford: First. Ethridge, D.E., 2004. Research methodology in applied economics. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell. Miller, P. (2001). Governing by Numbers : Why Calculative Practices Matter. SOCIAL RESEARCH, 68(2), 379–396. Hackley, C.E., 2003. Doing Research Projects in Marketing Management and Consumer Research. London: Routledge. Poapongsakorn, N., Ruhs, M. and Tangjitwisuth, S., 1998. Problems and Outlook of Agriculture in Thailand. TDRI Quarterly review. Vol.13 No.2, pp. 3-14. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill A., Research Methods for Business Students. 5th ed. Essex: First. Sevilla et al., 1992. Research methods. Quezon: Rex. Siamwalla, A., 1996. Thai Agriculture: From Engine of Growth to sunset status. TDRI Quarterly Review Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 3-10. Thomas, A.B., 2004. Research Skills for Management Studies. London: First. Thomas, J., Nelson, J. and Silverman, S., 2011. Research Methods in Physical Activity. 6th ed. Champaign: Thomson-Shore. Vollmer, H.,2003. Bookkeeping, Accounting, Calculative Practice: the Sociological suspense of Calculation. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 3, pp. 353-381. Walker, S.P. and Llewellyn, S. 2000. "Accounting at home: some interdisciplinary perspectives", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 13 Iss: 4, pp.425 – 449. Read More