Armstrong et al. (2022) review the empirical methods used in the accounting literature to draw causal inferences. They document a growing number of studies using quasi-experimental methods and provide a critical perspective on this trend as well as the use of these methods in the accounting literature. In this discussion, I complement their review by broadening the perspective. I argue for a design-based approach to accounting research that shifts attention from methods to the entire research design. I also discuss why studies that aim to draw causal inferences are important, how these studies fit into the scientific process, and why assessing the strength of the research design is important when evaluating studies and aggregating research findings.

阿姆斯特朗等。(2022) 回顾会计文献中用于得出因果推论的实证方法。他们记录了越来越多的使用准实验方法的研究，并对这一趋势以及这些方法在会计文献中的使用提供了批判性的视角。在这次讨论中，我通过拓宽视角来补充他们的评论。我主张采用基于设计的会计研究方法，将注意力从方法转移到整个研究设计。我还讨论了为什么旨在得出因果推论的研究很重要，这些研究如何适应科学过程，以及为什么在评估研究和汇总研究结果时评估研究设计的强度很重要。