IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/reaccs/v27y2022i3d10.1007_s11142-022-09708-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Practical issues to consider when working with big data

Author

Listed:
  • Lorien Stice-Lawrence

    (University of Southern California)

Abstract

Increasing access to alternative or “big data” sources has given rise to an explosion in the use of these data in economics-based research. However, in our enthusiasm to use the newest and greatest data, we as researchers may jump to use big data sources before thoroughly considering the costs and benefits of a particular dataset. This article highlights four practical issues that researchers should consider before working with a given source of big data. First, big data may not be conceptually different from traditional data. Second, big data may only be available for a limited sample of individuals, especially when aggregated to the unit of interest. Third, the sheer volume of data coupled with high levels of noise can make big data costly to process while still producing measures with low construct validity. Last, papers using big data may focus on the novelty of the data at the expense of the research question. I urge researchers, in particular PhD students, to carefully consider these issues before investing time and resources into acquiring and using big data.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorien Stice-Lawrence, 2022. "Practical issues to consider when working with big data," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 1117-1124, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:reaccs:v:27:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s11142-022-09708-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11142-022-09708-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11142-022-09708-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11142-022-09708-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christina Zhu, 2019. "Big Data as a Governance Mechanism," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(5), pages 2021-2061.
    2. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2016. "Textual Analysis in Accounting and Finance: A Survey," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1187-1230, September.
    3. Elizabeth Blankespoor & Bradley E. Hendricks & Joseph Piotroski & Christina Synn, 2022. "Real-time revenue and firm disclosure," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 1079-1116, September.
    4. Denny, Matthew J. & Spirling, Arthur, 2018. "Text Preprocessing For Unsupervised Learning: Why It Matters, When It Misleads, And What To Do About It," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(2), pages 168-189, April.
    5. Froot, Kenneth & Kang, Namho & Ozik, Gideon & Sadka, Ronnie, 2017. "What do measures of real-time corporate sales say about earnings surprises and post-announcement returns?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1), pages 143-162.
    6. Jessen L. Hobson & William J. Mayew & Mohan Venkatachalam, 2012. "Analyzing Speech to Detect Financial Misreporting," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 349-392, May.
    7. Lian Fen Lee & Amy P. Hutton & Susan Shu, 2015. "The Role of Social Media in the Capital Market: Evidence from Consumer Product Recalls," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 367-404, May.
    8. Charles Ham & Mark Lang & Nicholas Seybert & Sean Wang, 2017. "CFO Narcissism and Financial Reporting Quality," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(5), pages 1089-1135, December.
    9. Jung Koo Kang & Lorien Stice‐Lawrence & Yu Ting Forester Wong, 2021. "The Firm Next Door: Using Satellite Images to Study Local Information Advantage," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 713-750, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dichev, Ilia D. & Qian, Jingyi, 2022. "The benefits of transaction-level data: The case of NielsenIQ scanner data," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1).
    2. Elizabeth Blankespoor & Bradley E. Hendricks & Joseph Piotroski & Christina Synn, 2022. "Real-time revenue and firm disclosure," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 1079-1116, September.
    3. Bin Li & Mohan Venkatachalam, 2022. "Leveraging Big Data to Study Information Dissemination of Material Firm Events," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 565-606, May.
    4. William C Gerken & Marcus O Painter & Itay Goldstein, 2023. "The Value of Differing Points of View: Evidence from Financial Analysts’ Geographic Diversity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 36(2), pages 409-449.
    5. Li, Qian & Liu, Shangqun, 2023. "Does alternative data reduce stock price crash risk? Evidence from third-party online sales disclosure in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Md Miran Hossain & Babak Mammadov & Hamid Vakilzadeh, 2022. "Wisdom of the crowd and stock price crash risk: evidence from social media," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 709-742, February.
    7. Xi Fu & Xiaoxi Wu & Zhifang Zhang, 2021. "The Information Role of Earnings Conference Call Tone: Evidence from Stock Price Crash Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(3), pages 643-660, October.
    8. Jie Hao & Viet T. Pham, 2022. "COVID‐19 Disclosures and Market Uncertainty: Evidence from 10‐Q Filings," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 32(2), pages 238-266, June.
    9. Patrick Velte, 2023. "The link between corporate governance and corporate financial misconduct. A review of archival studies and implications for future research," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(1), pages 353-411, February.
    10. Alberto Barroso del Toro & Laura Vivas Crisol & Xavier Tort-Martorell, 2022. "Comparing the Impacts of Sustainability Narratives on American and European Energy Shareholders: A Multi-Event Study Analysing Reactions to News before and during COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-18, November.
    11. Devrimi Kaya & Christian Maier & Tobias Böhmer, 2020. "Empirische Kapitalmarktforschung zu Conference Calls: Eine Literaturanalyse [Empirical Capital Market Research on Conference Calls: A Literature Review]," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 72(2), pages 183-212, June.
    12. Nerissa C. Brown & Richard M. Crowley & W. Brooke Elliott, 2020. "What Are You Saying? Using topic to Detect Financial Misreporting," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 237-291, March.
    13. Blankespoor, Elizabeth & deHaan, Ed & Marinovic, Iván, 2020. "Disclosure processing costs, investors’ information choice, and equity market outcomes: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2).
    14. Gregory S. Miller & Douglas J. Skinner, 2015. "The Evolving Disclosure Landscape: How Changes in Technology, the Media, and Capital Markets Are Affecting Disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 221-239, May.
    15. Feng, Guo & Tang, Bo & Wen, Jipeng & Yan, Shuo, 2022. "The effect on stock performance of executives' emotions during IPO roadshows," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    16. Zhengxin Zhang & Bing Xu & Piao Li, 2023. "What affects the quality of sustainability report texts? Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1440-1456, May.
    17. Shiguang Li & Yixiang Tian, 2023. "How Does Digital Transformation Affect Total Factor Productivity: Firm-Level Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-17, June.
    18. Chau, Michael & Lin, Chih-Yung & Lin, Tse-Chun, 2020. "Wisdom of crowds before the 2007–2009 global financial crisis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    19. Majumdar, Adrija & Bose, Indranil, 2019. "Do tweets create value? A multi-period analysis of Twitter use and content of tweets for manufacturing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 1-11.
    20. Le Lin & Ke Liao & Deren Xie, 2023. "When Investors Speak, Do Firms Listen? The Role of Investors' Dividend‐related Complaints from Online Earnings Communication Conferences," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 59(1), pages 32-75, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:reaccs:v:27:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s11142-022-09708-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.