Report on the Voluntary Disclosure

Introduction of the Voluntary Disclosure

                It is important to understand that in every field of studies, the role of research and its relevant methods is critical in so many ways. It is dependent on the nature of the study and the field that which method will be used, and how the research would be carried out. For instance, if research is going to use any quantity and numbers, then the use of qualitative research will be considerable. On the other hand, when research is dealing with descriptive data, then the qualitative research method will be viable to use. It means that when numbers can be used and measured to know about any particular issue, then quantitative research is used, and when things are measured with description and observation, then qualitative research is used (McLeod, 2019).

Understanding the Field of Voluntary Disclosure

                It is a fact that there is a lot of legal information, which is must to be disclosed by companies and individuals. For instance, in the case of companies, they have to disclose various kinds of information to the public and stakeholders, which is necessary as by the Securities & Exchange Commission and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. It is vital to know why companies will come up with voluntary disclosure when it is not needed as per rules and regulations. If a company is having its shares in the market, and investors need more and more pertinent information to make more informed and better decisions. So, voluntary disclosure can be beneficial for them in this regard. They can use this extra information from the company to get a good view of the future and make decisions accordingly. A variety of information can be carried out through voluntary disclosure, and it is the sole choice of the company that which kind of information they want to hide or disclose (Thabit & Raewf, 2016).

 Strength & Limitations of Qualitative Research

    It is quite evident that in order to examine the data in detail the qualitative data is highly necessary for the research purpose. The major strengths of qualitative research are that the research problem can be examined deeply. The interview questions are not limited, and the researchers can change the interview questions according to the need of the study. The research framework can be modified after collection of new information. The data that is gathered through human observation can be more powerful than the quantitative data in some cases. Therefore it can be said that qualitative research is as important as the quantitative research (Baker, 2014).

        Although qualitative research has its strengths, but it also has some key limitations that researchers should be kept in mind while conducting the research. As the research is heavily based on individual skills the personal bias of the researcher can become an issue. Data analysis of huge amount of data is not only a complex task, but also it takes a lot of time. In scientific researches the qualitative data is not given many preferences as scientists usually prefer quantitative data instead of qualitative. The researchers’ presence in the qualitative data collection can influence the response of the respondents (Madrigal & McClain, 2012).

The Role of Qualitative Research in the Field of Voluntary Disclosure

          Every research method is critical to test different hypotheses and assumptions made by the researchers. However, it depends on the nature of the research field as well as the requirements of the research that which kind of method will be used. It is important to understand the behavior and approach of leaders, managers, and top management with regards to voluntary disclosure. Every individual must have a different style and approach to continue with voluntary disclosure. Voluntary disclosure can be critical in so many ways as it can help to make a positive effect on different financial matters such as accounting information and its quality (Kanakriyah, 2016). It is also vital to understand that voluntary disclosure is very much dependent on the corporate governance structure as well because it is important to see the role of corporate leaders, who may have a different approach. One study was conducted to see this relationship between voluntary disclosure and corporate governance structure (Creswell, 2014). To collect data for this research study, both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used, and the survey questionnaire was given to 610 CFOs working in Hong Kong’s listed firms. The study also included financial analysts in the process, and a questionnaire was sent to 535 participants. The results were taken from descriptive and regression analysis, which revealed that if a company has an audit committee, then ratio of voluntary disclosure will be high in such company. Moreover, it was found that if a company has more family members on the board, then voluntary disclosure percentage will be lower (Ho & Wong, 2001)

         It is critical for researchers to know that qualitative research can be crucial to determine various factors and perspectives related to the field of voluntary disclosure. In the financial reporting area, the focus is always given to numbers and figures, which is relevant to quantitative research, but it is vital to understand that qualitative and descriptive data is as important as quantitative data is. Various qualitative researches have shown the great capability to allow researchers to understand how they can do qualitative research in the financial field with regards to voluntary disclosure. The financial field with regards to voluntary disclosure looks complex in nature, but its aspects can be understood with convenience and clarity if proper qualitative data collection methods are used. One good example in this regard is the use of qualitative interviews. These interviews can be taken from a variety of experts in the company who are dealing with important financial data. Their approach and thought process will reveal how they consider voluntary disclosure in their context, and what could be done to encourage voluntary disclosure to give more information to the public and stakeholders (Salterio, Kenno, and McCracken, 2016). Regardless of these strengths, qualitative research has also shown various limitations as well, which needs to be addressed in future research studies.

        It is a fact that qualitative research has contributed a lot in a variety of research fields, and the same is the case with the financial field, where voluntary disclosure is part of the discussion in so many ways. However, the research has shown that qualitative research has not been in an extensive amount, as it has been undervalued in the field of financial management with regards to voluntary disclosure, whereas many more benefits could have been taken from it. It is hard to find a particular reason in this regard, but one can say that financial numbers are one of the reasons that quantitative research is given more value and qualitative research has been undervalued (Baker, 2014). The contributions made by the qualitative research method have been extensive in so many ways, and if researchers would realize its importance with regards to voluntary disclosure, they can get more insights into this topic (Kanakriyah, 2016). The great thing about qualitative research is that it explores more descriptive topics and areas of the voluntary disclosure research, which allows researchers to look at new perspectives with the new design so that measurable and considerable findings are made, which can be great for the future direction of research (Kennedy, 2008).

Potential Contribution of Qualitative methods Toward Future Research

         There are many studies in which qualitative research design can play a significant role and can help the researchers to analyze various issues critically. The qualitative methods have the potential to provide such information which cannot be gathered through quantitative approaches. Therefore it can be said that qualitative approaches alone or with mixed design can contribute significantly to future research. The researches should conduct further studies to examine how qualitative approaches can be used for gathering. (Salterio, Kenno, & McCracken, 2016).

Conclusion of the Voluntary Disclosure

   After looking at various aspects of the research field and analyzing different methods of research, it is found that both qualitative and quantitative research methods have their own importance for every field. In terms of voluntary disclosure, the focus has been given by quantitative research, but qualitative research has also made great contributions. So, it is important for researchers to look at those contributions to consider qualitative research as an important tool for future research with regards to voluntary disclosure.

 References of the Voluntary Disclosure

Baker, R. (2014). Qualitative research in accounting: the North American perspective. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, 11(4), 278-285.

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (illustrated Edition ed.). SAGE.

Erb, K. P. (2018). Time Is Running Out For Taxpayers To Take Advantage Of The Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2018/09/04/time-is-running-out-for-taxpayers-to-take-advantage-of-the-offshore-voluntary-compliance-program/#750ed0302850

Ho, S. S., & Wong, K. S. (2001). A study of the relationship between corporate governance structures and the extent of voluntary disclosure. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing & Taxation, 10, 139–156.

Kanakriyah, R. (2016). Voluntary Disclosure and Its Effect on the Quality of Accounting Information According to Users' Perspective in Jordan. American Journal of Business, Economics, and Management, 4(6), 134-146.

Kennedy, M. M. (2008). Contributions of Qualitative Research to Research on Teacher Qualifications. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(4), 344-367.

Madrigal, D., & McClain, B. (2012). Strengths and Weaknesses of Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/09/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-quantitative-and-qualitative-research.php

McLeod, S. (2019). What’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative research? Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html

Salterio, S., Kenno, S., & McCracken, S. A. (2016). Financial Reporting Qualitative Interview-Based Research: A Primer with an Illustrative Example. SSRN.

Thabit, T. H., & Raewf, M. B. (2016). THE IMPACT OF VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE ON SMEs IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Proceeding 6 International Conference on Global Social Entrepreneurship (Kota Bharu) 2016.