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Impact of Accounting Research Seminars on Students’ Ability to Formulate Accounting Research Questions

Abstract

Accounting research seminars are organized academic activities that expose students to research concepts, current accounting issues, research procedures, and discussions of existing studies, while the ability to formulate accounting research questions refers to students’ capacity to identify researchable problems and convert them into clear, specific, and answerable questions. The ability to develop appropriate research questions is essential for defining the direction, scope, and purpose of an accounting research project. However, students may experience difficulties in identifying suitable research problems and expressing them as focused research questions. This study therefore seeks to examine the impact of accounting research seminars on students’ ability to formulate accounting research questions. Accounting research seminars provide opportunities for students to listen to research presentations, examine accounting issues, discuss research problems, evaluate previous studies, and interact with researchers and other students. Through these activities, students can become familiar with research terminology, problem identification, literature exploration, research objectives, and the relationship between research problems and research questions. Regular participation in research seminars may therefore provide students with practical exposure to the process of developing researchable accounting problems. The ability to formulate accounting research questions involves identifying a specific area of concern, narrowing a broad accounting issue into a manageable problem, determining what needs to be investigated, and expressing the intended inquiry clearly. Well-formulated research questions should be relevant to the research problem, sufficiently focused, and capable of guiding the collection and analysis of data. Accounting research seminars may strengthen this ability by giving students opportunities to observe how researchers identify problems, explain research gaps, and develop questions from accounting issues. The study will adopt a quantitative research design. The population will comprise Accounting Education students in selected tertiary institutions. Data will be collected using a structured questionnaire and a research-question formulation assessment designed to measure students’ exposure to accounting research seminars and their ability to identify research problems, narrow research topics, develop focused research questions, and establish logical connections between research problems and questions. The instruments will be subjected to appropriate validity and reliability procedures before administration. Data collected will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, while the relevant hypothesis will be tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The study is expected to establish that accounting research seminars have a significant positive impact on students’ ability to formulate accounting research questions. Students who receive greater exposure to research seminars are expected to demonstrate improved ability to identify researchable accounting problems, define the scope of an investigation, and develop clear and focused research questions suitable for academic research. The findings are expected to have implications for teaching and learning in Accounting Education. Lecturers may need to provide students with more opportunities to participate in research seminars where they can examine real research problems and observe how researchers develop research questions. Seminar activities can also be integrated into research-methodology courses to provide students with practical experience in transforming broad accounting issues into manageable research questions. The study will be beneficial to Accounting Education students, lecturers, tertiary institutions, research supervisors, and curriculum developers. Students may develop stronger research-question formulation skills, which can improve the quality and direction of their undergraduate research projects. Lecturers and supervisors may also benefit from students who demonstrate greater competence in defining research problems and developing focused research questions, while institutions may use the findings to strengthen research training programmes. The study recommends that tertiary institutions should organize regular accounting research seminars and encourage active student participation in research presentations, discussions, and problem-identification activities. Lecturers should also provide practical exercises that require students to develop research questions from contemporary accounting issues. Research supervisors should reinforce these skills during project development. The study concludes that accounting research seminars can provide valuable practical exposure that strengthens students’ ability to formulate clear, focused, and researchable accounting questions.

Keywords: Accounting Research Seminars, Research Questions, Research Skills, Accounting Education, Research Problem Identification, Research Formulation, Research Training, Research Competence, Accounting Students, Research Methodology, Research Projects, Academic Research, Problem Formulation, Research Development, Research Skills Development