Ways to formulate an Accounting and Finance topic

Ways to formulate an Accounting and Finance topic in Independent study:

1. Study academic journals to practice intelligent copying;

2. Formulate a research theme as follows:
a. An evaluation of influencing factors on ___________. (e.g. capital structure, dividend policy, etc) for the __________ sector(s) (e.g. manufacturing, retail sectors, etc)
b. An evaluation of how _________ (e.g. interest rate, exchange rate movement, capital structure) 
affects the financial performance of companies in the ________ industries.
c. An evaluation of how the gender composition of board of directors affect _______  [dividend payout ratio or capital structure] of companies in the __________ industries.
d. A comparison of how ______  (e.g. capital structure) influences ______ (e.g. earning per share) between the manufacturing and banking sectors in Hong Kong.

The chosen topic chiefly reflects the research philosophy of positivism (a related video on research philosophy).


3. Options to consider in the formulation of topics:  
a. company profiles (e.g. family business, large-cap/ small cap companies, established companies, young companies) 
b. board of directors profile, 
c. economic factors, (e.g. interest rate, inflation rate, GDP growth rate, exchange rate movement, commodity price movements)
d. financial ratios (e.g., gearing ratios, liquidity ratios)
e. industry sectors (e.g. banking, property development, etc) , 
f. specific events and programmes (e.g., financial crisis, corporate governance scandals, taxation policy change, CSR programmes, ISO programmes, merger and acquisition).

4. Topic formulation for IS should also take into consideration the following concepts:
a. hypothesis
b. independent and dependent variables
c. correlation analysis
d. literature review that informs (a), (b), (c) discussion.

5. An academic journal article for illustration; another one for illustration.