Combining qualitative and quantitative methods in environmental accounting research

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods can enhance a study on the environmental reporting decisions made by Malaysian companies using the emergent stakeholder theory. Methodology/approach: The paper provides an illustration of how the descriptive, exploratory and explanatory type of research is entrenched with the objectives of the research and how the combination of quantitative (statistical regression and weighting/mean ranking) and qualitative (archival analysis, qualitative interviews) methods may enhance accounting research not only from results that corroborate. Findings: The three-fold objective of this study, corresponding to its three phases, illustrates that combining qualitative and quantitative methods involves considerations at each phase of the investigation. The research design shows that when the researcher work with different types of data within the same project, the way data is used varies according to the objective and type of each phase (descriptive, explanatory and/or explanatory) of the research project. Each phase may have a particular aim and may address different concerns. However, taken together, the quantitative and qualitative findings may either corroborate, elaborate, complement or even contradict each other. The paper claims that the enhancement of accounting research is not only achieved when the findings from mixed methods corroborate. Rather, it is submitted that the value of combining methods arise from different research outcomes – be it corroborative, elaborative, complementary or even contradictory.