Evolución de la Infraestructura y Equipamiento desde el año 2008 hasta la actualidad.

S ince M RT maintains that subj ectivity and structured formality can work together (Laughlin, 2007), both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were employed in this research. These are graphically represented in Figure 6.2. The methods of data collection included a questionnaire survey, a Delphi exercise and a content analysis of ann ual reports. The questionnaire survey is a form of quantitative research, the Delphi exercise involves both quantitative and qualitative m ethods and the analysis of the annual reports using a disclosure index can be c lassified as quantitative in its approach.

A s shown in Figure 6.2, the questionnaire survey was carried out at stage one in order to address the first three research questions:

Research Question 1

What do stakeholders of Malaysian local authorities understand by the term 'accountabi lity' with regards to local authorities?

Research Question 2

What type of information do the stakeholders expect and consider necessary for assessing and monitori ng the performance of local authorities?

Research Question 3

How important is it for each informational item to be disclosed in annual reports of local authorities to the stakeholders?

The outputs or findings from the survey (those that were related to the stakeholders' e xpectations on information and disclosure im portance) were used in the Delphi e xercise that was carried out at stage two. The exercise that involves a panel of experts was carried out to address the next two research questions:

Research Question 4

What type of information items do expert stakeholders agree is necessary for assessing and monitoring the performance of local authorities and what is the importance of such items for disclosure?

Research Question 5

How can the information and its importance for disclosure, as agreed by the experts, be organised as a disc losure index for assessing the extent and quality of information disclosure?

The outputs from the exercise, the agreement/consensus on the information necessary for assessing and monitoring the performance of local authorities and the information d isclosure importance weightings were used in the development of the disclosure index. The index was then applied in the annual report content analysis that was carried out at stage three of the data col lection process. At th is stage the three final research questions were addressed:

Research Question 6

What is the extent and qual ity of disclosure of information within the annual reports of Malaysian local authorities?

Research Question 7

Does the information being disclosed m the annual reports meet the expectations of stakeholders?

Research Question 8

To what extent is accountabil ity being discharged through annual performance reporting of local authorities?

The m ethods employed in this research are discussed in detail in the following sub­ sections.

Figure 6.2: Research Methods for Data Collection and Analysis

Questionnaire Survey 0 Delphi Exercise tl Content Analysis of

Annual Reports

- List of potential items. - Selection of panel members. - Application of

- Questionnaire development. -Questionnaire iteration with the disclosure index.

- Piloting of questionnaire. controlled feedback and - Scoring for extent and

- Full survey. informal interviews to seek quality of disclosure

opinions and justitications. by the researcher

and the second

Data analysis: Output Data analysis: scorer.

Questionnaire - Summary and aggregation

col lation - descriptive of questionnaire responses. Output:

statistics and - Analysis of experts' opinions Recommendations

non-parametric tests. and j ustifications for the for practice.

Output: disclosure of items.

List of stakeholders' Output:

expectations on information Experts' agreement on the

and disclosure importance. information necessary tor

assessing and monitoring performance and importance of the information for disclosure.

Output

Disclosure I ndex Development

(see Figure 6.4 for the detailed process).

Output:

6.2.1 Stage One: Questionnaire S urvey

A questionnaire survey _is appropriate for collecting data on perceptions because it is practical and effi cient (Ary, 1 972), especially when a large num ber of respondents are involved (such as the broad group of stakeholders involved in this research). The involvement of such stakeholders as research respondents is consistent with the theoretical framework of accountab i l ity as discussed in Chapter Four of this thesis. As Normanton ( 1 97 1 ) stated, "the very essence of accountabi l ity means that outside bodies m ust determine the content of annual reports" (p.67). The broad stakeholder group includes not only stakeholders outside local authorities (external stakeholders) but also those within the authorities (internal stakeholders). This supports a broader perspective of public accountability that takes into account those who have social, pol itical and economic interests in reporting organisations (Coy et al., 200 I ). Accountabi lity can be said to be 'rights based' (Pal lot, 1 992) and therefore the requirements and perceptions of stakeholders - those persons having 'a reasonable right' to information concerning the reporting entity (ASSC, 1 975) - should be considered in determ in ing the appropriate content of reports (such as annual reports).

6.2. 1 . 1 Question n aire Design

The questionnaire was designed to address the first three research questions (see Section 6.2) and to gather insights into the first three objectives that underpin the research -( I ) to explore the concept of accountab i lity from the perspective of Malaysian stakeholders and the stakeholders' understanding of their relationship with local authorities; (2) to identify the type of information that a broad group of stakeholders expect to enable them to assess and monitor the performance of Malaysian local authorities (3) to identify the stakeholders' perceptions of the importance of information items for disclosure. The q uestionnaire (see Appendix B) consisted of ten questions. The first three questions were designed to help achieve the first obj ective and focused on stakeholders' perceptions of accountabil ity for performance, the parties whom they th ink a local authority should be accountable to, and accountabil ity in general. The next question (question four), which provided a list of potential disclosure items, was designed to achieve the second obj ective. In this question, the respondents were asked to evaluate and indicate which items they expected and considered necessary for assessing and monitoring the performance o f local authorities and wh ich items they would expect

to be disclosed in the annual reports of local authorit ies. The respondents were also asked to indicate their perceptions o f the importance o f disclosing each item by using a 5-point scale (0 for unimportant, l for minor importance, 2 for quite important, 3 for very important and 4 for extremely important) and to add any further items they thought worth considering. The remaining six questions were included to provide additional information regarding the receipt of annual reports including the source and the capacity in which the recipients received the reports; the use of the annual reports and performance information; and a profile of the respondents themselves. This i n formation is necessary to support and comp le ment the descriptive analysis and discussion of the findings. The questionnaire was circulated to the respondents (a broad range of stakeholders of Malaysian local authorities - representatives of respective state governments, the general pub I ic, councillors as wel l as local authorities' creditors, management and other employees) along with a covering letter (see Appendix C). The covering letter specified the objectives of the research, an explanation about the method of rating the items for disclosure importance and assurance of confidentiality and anonym ity.

6.2. 1.2 Piloting the Questionnaire

Pi loting or pre-testing of questionnaires before actual circulation is done to ensure clarity of the questions asked and m inimise ambigu ities in wording or terms used. This increases the rel iabil ity, val id ity and practicality of the questionnaire (Morrison, 1 993; Oppenheim, 1 992). For this research, the questionnaire was developed and refined through consultation with the researcher's supervisors. Next, the questionnaire was translated into the Malay language. S ince the potential participants ranged from the general public with various backgrounds and academic qualifications to highly-ranked officers of government organisations, it was expected that their English language proficiency might vary widely. Therefore, to ensure consistency it was decided to use the Malay language, the national language that each participant was assumed to be very wel l conversed in. Five potential stakeholder participants were then selected to test the questionnaire (an accountant of a state government office who was directly involved in reviewing and analysing the annual and performance reports of local authorities for the preparation of the state governm ent annual reports; two accountants of two local authorities who were involved in preparing the annual financial and/or performance reports and two members of the general public). The questionnaire used for this purpose

was a dual language version (English and Malay languages). Thi s was done to help i mprove translation and ensure its accuracy, to e nsure clarity of the questions and m in i m ise ambiguities in wording or terms used and to measure the time taken to fi l l in the q uestions. A meeting with each of the respondents involved in the questionnaire p ilot testing was arranged and the questionnaire was forwarded to them to complete. D uring the meeting, participants asked the researcher for clarification of questions or terms that were not clear. Feedback from the participants gave the researcher insights i nto which questions needed adj ustments or restructuring and which terms needed c hanging. In general, apart from some sentence restructuring and changes to a few terms, there were no major amendments to the questionnaire.

6.2. 1 .3 Questionnaire Administration

There are two ways to administer a questionnaire. The first is self-administration, where respondents complete the questionnaires by themselves. This may invol ve a delivery and col lection approach. The second is surveyor-adm inistration, which may involve a telephone questionnaire (Saunders, Lewis _& Thornhi l l, 1 997). Self-adm inistered q uestionnaires are one of the most commonly used methods for col lecting data from respondents (Bourque & Fielder, 2003). According to Bourque and F ielder (2003), such questionnaires can be conducted within the presence of the surveyor or his/her representative. Their presence is to answer any questions related to the questionnaire (supervised-administration form). The self-administered questionnaire survey can also be in the form of un-supervised administration (without the presence of the surveyor or his/her representative) or in the form of semi-supervised administration (where the person who assists in the distribution and collection of the questionnaires is available to answer questions regarding the q uestionnaire and monitor the data col lection effort at some m inimal level).

ln this research, the questionnaire was self-adm inistered, supervised and semi­ supervised. The researcher personally delivered the questionnaires to the target respondents. Whenever possible, and if the respondents were comfortable, the process of completing the questionnaires was supervised by the researcher who answered any relevant questions about the questionnaires. If the respondents preferred to comp lete the questionnaire without the presence of the researcher, the questionnaire was left with them to be completed and collected upon completion. The respondents were given a

certain time period (agreed by and convenient to them) to complete the questionnaires. After that period ended, the researcher persona l ly collected the questionnaires from the respondents. If, at the time of col lection the questionnaires were not ready to be col lected, each related respondent was left with a stamped envelope w ith the researcher's address for mailing the completed questionnaire. The envelope was pre­ coded and the code, the date the envelope was left, and the contact number of the respondent were recorded by the researcher for future monitoring and admin istration.

For the groups of management and employees and those to whom the authorities had direct access - their counci llors and creditors - the director or officer of the Public Relations or Community A ffairs Department was contacted for assistance with the circulation and col lection o f the questionnaires. The director/officers were given an explanation about the structure of the questionnaire and were invited to ask any questions related to parts o f the questionnaire that were unclear to them. This was to ensure that they could provide answers should any questions related to the questionnaire be brought forward by the respondents. They were also requested to keep a record of the number of questionnaires distributed to and col lected from or returned by each group of respondents. It was suggested that the directors/officers take between three to four weeks to administer the questionnaires. In addition, there. was a m utual agreement between the researcher and the director/officer that the distribution should include representation from each group of potential respondents and the returned questionnaires from each group would be gathered by the director/officer and kept in different envelopes according to the group of stakeholders. The researcher then personally col lected the questionnaires from the director or officer or, if this was thought impractical, left a pre-paid courier envelope for the director or officer to mail the completed questionnaires. This approach was deemed more appropriate to maxim ise the response rate as total dependence on mail ing questionnaires alone can be claimed to have a relatively low response rate (Nachmias & N achm ias, 1 996).

In order to achieve a maxim um response rate, a follow-up stage was undertaken. A week before the col lection date from the directors/officers, a follow-up cal l was made by the researcher to the director/officer to determ ine the status of the completion and return of the questionnaire distributed. Thei r help was requested to rem ind the respondents who had yet to complete the questionnaires and to return the questionnaire

as soon as possible. A fol low-up cal l was also made to members of the public who had not yet returned the q uestionnaire.

6.2. 1.4 Sam ple Selection

The local authorities located in Peninsular Malaysia are the focus of the current research1 3. The ninety-eight local authorities that are located in Peninsular Malaysia are made up of eight city councils/halls, thirty municipal councils and sixty district councils, 14 all of which vary in physical s ize, population and revenue base1 5• This research focused on city councils/halls and mun icipal councils (thirty-eight jurisdictions in total within which almost 40 percent of the Peninsular population reside). As one of the research objectives was to evaluate the annual reports of local authorities, the ' larger' local authorities were selected because they were deemed to have fewer constraints imposed on the production of their annual reports (Boyne & Law, 1 99 1 ) and to have sufficient resources to prepare reports for accountability purposes (Ryan et al., 2002b). Connolly and Hyndman {2004) found a positive relationsh ip between the extent of reporting of performance information and the size of the reporting entity. A premise of the current research was that the local authorities, as defined by the given demographical scope, were perceived to have a greater abil ity than their smaller sized counterparts to provide stakeholders with comprehensive annual reports comprising an extensive array of both financ ial and non-fi nancial performance information.

Therefore, for the purpose of the questionnaire survey, the sample of participants selected was the key stakeholders related to the thirty-eight selected authorities. The stakeholders were identified based on the l iterature (as discussed in Chapter Five) and c lassified as being either internal or external stakeholders. The internal stakeholders included the managemen t, employees and council lors of the local authorities. The samples of these groups of stakeholders were purposively selected by the

1 3 _{S ince local authorities (LAs) located in East Malaysia are governed by different acts to the LAs}

in Peninsular Malaysia, they were excluded from an i nitial sample selection. 1 4

As at October 2008, three district councils were reconstituted as a municipal council, but afier the data for this research was collected.

1 5

To be categorised as a city council/hall and m unicipal council, the population should be more than 500,000. The annual revenue should be more than MYR 1 00 million for the city council/hall. For the municipal council the population should be more than 1 50,000 and the annual revenue should be more than MYR20 million. For a smaller authority (district council), the population is less than 1 50,000 and the annual revenue is less than MYR 20 million (source: the Ministry of Housing and Local Government,

director/officer who had agreed to assist with the distribution and collection of questionnaires.

The external stakeholders included the local authorities' respective state governments, creditors and the public. For the state government respondents, the accountants of eight state govern ments16 to whom the local authorities report were selected. Accountants were selected because of their involvement with local authority reporting1 7 and their knowledge of what m ight be included in the annual reports of local authorities. Creditor stakeholders were selected by the director/officer of each l ocal authority' s Comm unity Affairs or Pub l ic Relations Department. For the publ ic group, the samples were selected from among the people who lived or worked in the local ity of the selected city and municipal counc i ls. The selection of potential respondents was lim ited to those who had an identifiable relationship (as discussed in Chapter Four) w ith the local authorities and showed an interest1 8 and will ingness to participate in the survey. Those who met these criteria included customers at the local authorities' counters, people who resided w ithin the local ity of the local authority concerned (with the assistance of the community leaders), people who used facilities provided by the local authorities (such as public libraries, bus/taxi stations and recreation centres) and people who were renting premises owned by the authorities (for example, owners of businesses run in the shops/stalls provided by the authorities).

6.2. 1 .5 Method of Data Analysis

After responses from the questionnaires were collated, descriptive analysis was performed using tabulation to summarise the data and gain measures of central tendency (mean value). Mean importance weightings were determined for each information item. A non-parametric test was also appl ied to examine differences between the means of stakeholder groups. The results from these analyses are reported in Chapter Seven.

1 6

The thirty-eight LAs included in the survey are located in eleven states. However, one state government was not i ncluded in this survey because it was involved i n the Delphi exercise. One further

state government was involved in a pilot study and another was unable to participate in the required timeframe.

1 7

Financial and other annual reports are forwarded by each local authority to its respective state government via the accountant of the local government department located within the state secretary office. The accountant has direct access to the reports.

1 8

Studies that include only interested subjects in their work i nclude Daniels & Daniels, 1 99 1 ; Dixon, Coy, Buchanan & Tower, 1994; Jones et al., 1 985. However, the inclusion of only interested