Accounting Theory Semester1 2023
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Small Group Discovery (SGD) Research Project Instructions Part 1
This document contains an introduction to the SGD project, background information,
instructions for STEP 1 and guidance, including references, to help you on your SGD journey.
Learning outcomes
By engaging in the SGD project, you should:
Develop research skills
How to plan a research project
Be able to access and use professional databases
Be able to organise and analyse data
Be able to prepare workings, tables etc. to support your analysis
Develop teamwork skills
Develop oral, online and written communication skills
Develop knowledge and technical skills, including locating and analysing information in
financial statements
Increase your awareness of the implications of contemporary developments in
accounting regulation and corporate reporting practice
Introduction
For purposes of this project, assume your SGD group is a team of researchers engaged by the
Board of Directors of Australia Corporation Ltd (ACL)1
. The Board of Directors seeks to
evaluate ACL’s strategies by:
1) analysing aspects of the industry in which it operates, and
2) comparing ACL’s practices against those of other large companies that operate in the
same industry. Accordingly, the Board needs information on large Australian listed
companies in relation to:
a) financial reporting practices
b) corporate governance
c) sustainability reporting and
d) engagement with, or policies, actions or plans in relation to First
Nations/Indigenous/Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples (such as Reconciliation
Action Plans).
Each SGD group should select ONE of the following three industries or industry groups as
defined by the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) to complete the SGD project:
Oil, gas and consumable fuels industry, within the Energy industry group and Energy
sector
Metals and mining industry, within the Materials industry group and Materials sector
Consumer discretionary distribution and retail industry group within the Consumer
discretionary
sector
1 Australia Corporation Ltd is a fictitious company made up for the purposes of this project.
Accounting Theory Semester1 2023
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Required
Step 1 Planning a research study
A. Formulate research questions; this will guide the scope of your investigation.
This project allows your group to make some choices about what you will research. Thus, you
formulate some aspects of your research questions. You are not investigating all industries,
so first you will need to narrow down the scope of your investigation by deciding which
industry or Industry Group your SGD group will investigate (from the list on page 1). Then,
your group should develop your own research question to describe an aspect of the selected
industry or industry group (refer to item 1 under the heading, Introduction, on page 2).
You do not need to develop research questions for the second group of items (namely,
financial reporting practices, corporate governance, sustainability reporting and engagement
with, or policies, actions or plans in relation to First Nations/Indigenous/Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Island peoples). Specific questions on those items will be provided in SGD Research
Project Instructions Part 2.
How to develop a research question
If your research question is too narrow, it might provide little useful information about the
industry. For example, a question such as ‘What was the average growth in sales revenue in
2022 of listed Australian airlines that operate flights to Tokyo ’ is too narrow to have potential
to provide insights into the industry because it is, in effect, specific to one airline (Qantas).
Conversely, if your research question is too broad the collection and organisation of
information to answer it can become overwhelming, and you would not be able to complete
the research within the time frame. For example, “Describe growth in the industry over the
past five years” may be too broad. Consider how you might narrow down the question.
Describe drivers of growth in the industry since 2010
Describe drivers of growth in the industry from 2020 to 2022.