3.4 CHOICE OF CASE STUDY AND SCOPE
OF THE SURVEY
As explained above, we are doing a comparative study across
national boundaries, thus a multiple case study approach has been used. To make
our conclusion more reliable, we have chosen countries in the European
community with different cultural backgrounds. Banks, as our case studies, are
from Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Although our sample is very small
for the population within which we are working, our intention is just to
illustrate the problems. Our results aim at giving a picture of the situation,
and probably promoting further research.
3.5 CHOICE OF BANKS
We resolved to choose banks whose financial statements are
available on the net, and which are published in English. These banks should
also be large in size in their respective countries. Three factors have been
used to measure size; these are: the number of employees, turnover, and income.
It is not necessary to discuss size in detail. The banks in the figure below
meet these criteria. It is worth mentioning that some banks of comparable size
have been left out of the study not because they fail to meet the criteria, but
because we intended to reduce the sample size. Consequently, in the population
of banks with comparable size, we made a random sample.
Sweden Germany
United Kingdom
-- SEB Bank --Deutsche Bank
--Barclays Bank
--FöreningsSpar. --Dresdner Bank
--HSBC Holdings
FIGURE 5: SCOPE OF THE SURVEY (A PRESENTATION OF
SAMPLE)
3.5
DATA AND INFORMATION COLLECTION
In this study, we have used secondary data as the only source
of information. We would have used the primary data, especially interview to
illustrate further. The existence of time and cost has limited our findings to
the use of secondary data. However, this have not very much, affected our
results. (See validity) Our secondary data has been collected from annual
reports, journals and magazines, as well as textbooks.
3.6
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this part of the thesis, we conduct an extensive search of
various articles, literature, databases, and other secondary data, which
carries meaningful information on the topic. The prestigious School of
Economics and Commercial Law library has been our major source of information,
as an extensive search of various databases carrying meaningful information on
the topic and topics within its sphere.
3.7
VALIDITY
Validity tells us whether an item measures what it is supposed
to measure or describe. Historically, countries with different cultures have
often had different approaches to accounting standards preparation. To make our
study valid, we have chosen case studies from different cultural backgrounds in
order to be able to make an effective comparative analysis.
For an illustration of differences in international accounting
practices, secondary data (especially information from annual reports)
constitutes a more appropriate data source. Validity can be attained when only
the secondary data is analyzed. We are not saying that the primary data would
be useless; rather the use of secondary data would add more meaning to the
results.
However, it is important to note that interviews give room for
normative information, which is not significant in this economic situation. If
we had used primary data, instead of getting information on what companies
actually do (as published in annual reports), we would have received
information on what companies ought to or are supposed to be doing. Interviews
could have been indispensable only in the case of explaining what may turn out
to be ambiguous or difficult information to understand in the financial
statements. Since ambiguity is minimal, we are very convinced that the
secondary data used provides us with enough of a basis to accomplish the purpose of this
research.
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