Reinvigorating the human instrument. An exploratory study on the potential use of CAQDAS in qualitative evaluation of corruption prevention in Indonesia
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-01-2019-0004 |
| Pages | 505-530 |
| Date | 28 January 2020 |
| Published date | 28 January 2020 |
| Author | Hendi Yogi Prabowo |
| Subject Matter | Financial crime,Accounting & Finance,Financial risk/company failure |
Reinvigorating the human
instrument
An exploratory study on the potential use of
CAQDAS in qualitative evaluation of corruption
prevention in Indonesia
Hendi Yogi Prabowo
Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics, Islamic University of Indonesia,
Sleman, Indonesia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of computer-assisted qualitative data
analysis software(CAQDAS) to support qualitative evaluation of corruptionprevention initiatives, especially
those focusing on behavioral changes. To achieve this objective, this paper applies the principles of
qualitativeinquiries to establish a foundation for developing effective meansfor evaluating behavior-oriented
corruptionprevention initiatives in Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach –Through exploratory study, this paper assesses current corruption
prevention evaluation practice in the Indonesian public sector to highlight major deficiencies thereof
primarily through examination of publicly available documents on anti-corruption practice in Indonesia.
Furthermore,this paper also discusses how qualitative methods usingCAQDAS may strengthen the existing
anti-corruption regimeby aiding decision-makers to better evaluate the success or failure of their corruption
prevention initiativesin particular those aiming for behavioral changes. To illustrate how a qualitative data
analysis application can support anti-corruption evaluators, NVivo will be used as a reference from which
multiple analytical tools will be discussed to highlight their potential for qualitative qualitative analysis
analysisin corruption prevention evaluation.
Findings –The author establishes that the existing quantitative measures of evaluation are
insufficient in generating a comprehensive picture of the success or failure of the existing anti-
corruption initiatives in Indonesia. Evidences suggest that the existing quantitative measures appear to
be unable to cope with the growing complexity of various corruption problems in the country in
particular to those related to organizational culture and behavior. Despite the numerous behavior-
oriented initiatives to reduce the risk of corruption in the Indonesia public sector, it is still unclear if
suchinitiativesactuallyhavemadeadifferenceinpreventing corruption, as many of their elements
cannot be measured quantitatively. Therefore, the author believe that deeper insights into corruption
problems can be obtained through proper qualitative assessments in which evaluators play the role as
the primary analytical instrument. To enhance evaluators’capability in obtaining and analyzing
qualitative data, the author proposes the use of CAQDAS and the evaluation of corruption prevention
initiatives. With a special reference to NVivo, the author argues that using CAQDAS will enable
evaluators to conduct qualitative analysis more efficiently to identify patterns within the data, as it
offers various tools to look deeper into context, diversity, nuance and process so as to gain deeper
understanding of the meaning of human action and how it may affect the risk of corruption within
organizations.
Research limitations/implications –This study is self-funded and is relying primarily on
documentary analysis in assessing the existing corruption prevention evaluation measures in Indonesia.
Future studies may benefit from in-depth interviews with anti-corruption evaluators in particular from the
country’santi-corruption agency.
Practical implications –This paper contributesto the development of corruption preventionstrategy by
proposing a frameworkfor systematically performing qualitative evaluationon behavior-oriented corruption
preventioninitiatives.
Potential use
of CAQDAS
505
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.27 No. 2, 2020
pp. 505-530
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-01-2019-0004
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1359-0790.htm
Originality/value –This paper highlights the importanceof qualitative measures in evaluating behavior-
orientedcorruption prevention initiatives in the Indonesian publicsector.
Keywords Evaluation, Indonesia, Behavior, Corruption, NVivo, CAQDAS
Paper type Research paper
Overview
Many countries around the world are nowstruggling with corruption. Generally occurred as
a misuse of public office for personal benefits corruption may end up causing major
damages to the economy as well as to the society’swell-being. Unfair health service delivery,
lack of educational opportunity, poorly constructed roads and man-made famine are just a
few examples of the devastationcorruption may bring to a society (Graycar and Sidebottom,
2012). Therefore, combatingcorruption has been a top agenda for many countries across the
globe for decades. Extensive resourceshave been devoted to ensure that corruption will not
be passed on to the next generations. However,regardless of the extensive efforts have been
devoted to combat corruptionit remains a major problem worldwide.
Among the challenges in the allocationof resources to combat corruption is the difficulty
in knowing whether or not the interventions have actually made impacts primarily because
of the intricate nature of corruption.A large variety of levels, expressions and profiles have
made corruption a complex problem (Di Pietra and Melis, 2016, p. 698). Accordingly,
multiple dimensionsof the problem need to be carefully assessedto determine the success or
failure of anti-corruption initiatives. Pena L
opez and Sánchez Santos (2014), for example,
argued that social environment must be considered when observing corruption. Di Pietra
and Melis (2016, p. 698) supported the use of multidisciplinary perspective in
comprehending how the corruptionphenomenon works as well as the consequences of each
intervention.
This study is of exploratory naturedirected at forging an “emphatic knowledge base”for
researching an unfamiliar territory (Hanington and Martin, 2012, p. 84). As explained by
Stebbins (2001, p. 6):
Exploratory research is about putting one’s self deliberately in a place –again and again –where
discovery is possible and broad, usually (but not always) non-specialized interests can be
pursued.
By means of exploratory study, researchers can ask open questions to gain insights about
the studied topics (Saunders et al.,2015, p. 174). Studies of exploratory nature are
particularly useful when the researchers wish to clarify their understanding of the issues,
problems or phenomenon in question (Saunders et al.,2015, p. 175). Kothari (2004, p. 33)
pointed out that in an exploratory research the discovery of new ideas and insights become
its primary emphasize and thus the research design needs to be flexible enough to
accommodate different aspects of the studied phenomenon. Accordingly, this study
establishes a foundation for evaluating behavior-oriented corruption prevention initiatives
by discovering and developing new ideas and insights in particular related to the use of
computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) to support the evaluation
process.
Evaluating corruption prevention initiatives: an overview
Despite the growing awarenessof corruption all over the world, identification of evidence on
the effectivenessof anti-corruption measures is still a relatively new area for researchersand
practitioners to explore (Johnsøn and Søreide, 2013, p. 1). A number of quantitative,
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