The chapter of methodology provides a detailed account of different functional areas; tasks and methods that have been incorporated to conduct the research on Development of Accrual accounting in the oil industry and arrive at a conclusion.  The chapter is distributed in the different sub-sections and sheds light on important areas such as Philosophy of Research, Design of the research, Data collection and Data analysis procedures.

Research Philosophy

Constituting an integral part of the research process, the philosophy of the research tends to explain the nature and development of the knowledge. The extent of the knowledge is also defined in the philosophy. There are various approaches of research philosophies namely

Positivism-This is a philosophy that encourages the use of scientific methods and techniques.

Pragmatism-This approach, on the other hand, focuses on action-based research. It emphasizes on multiple realities and suggests that no one interpretation could explain the realities of a phenomenon.

Interpretivism-It defines that a phenomenon could be explained and elaborated in different ways, and the action plans define the relevancy of the concept.

Research Approach

The research work is a model on the inductive approach.  In this approach, observations are of use to primarily identify and research the patterns. In the next phase, development of theories, and the hypothesis define the patterns. One of the most powerful features of inductive research is its capacity to change the direction of the research (Flick, 2015; Saunders et al., 2019). Empowering the researcher, the inductive approach encourages the adopting a different approach if the alternative method is more reliable and suitable.

Research Design

The exploratory design approach has been used in the current study. Conclusive evidence is not emphasized upon in the design, rather, it encourages to explore the topics from different angles (Kumar, 2019). As the research stream progresses and the researcher is able to obtain new facts, figures and data, he could enhance, improve and further develop the research effort. The current study is on basis of a qualitative research methodology and secondary data. The selection of these methodologies is based on a number of reasons.

Data Collection

The data required to conduct the analysis was based on financial and qualitative information of the Chevron Corporation. The information was retrieved from the financial statements of the company included in the published Annual reports. Financial databases from the reliable and credible sources containing information on the share price were also accessed to gather historical share price of the company.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

The first inclusion criteria focused on the cut off period. This was set as 1991 and any source older than this was avoided. The second parameter focused on incorporating information from both accounting and oil sector. The parameter was set so that diverse information on the operational and financial performance of the oil companies could be obtained. The third inclusion criteria focused on including only official information that has specifically been provided by the Corporation in focus (Chevron).

 Data Analysis

The data obtained through different databases and official reports analysis was through adopting a thematic approach. The first step in the thematic analysis is the familiarization of the data. This is achievable by reading and understanding the data in a careful manner. A single topic goes through investigation from different perspectives and by different sources.

Research Ethics

The first research ethics  was complete adherence to the guidelines and policies of the University of Essex. Secondly, the sources and material used in the study were effectively recognized. Further, there was ensurance that credit to contributors to the study had been provided in an appropriate manner. It was also ensured that data which is publicly accessible information has been incorporated in the study.

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