Manipulation and attention checks in behavioural accounting research

Reviewers and editors of accounting journals regularly assess the presence and appropriateness of manipulation and attention checks when evaluating experimental research. Many reviewers believe that the absence of these checks represents a fatal flaw in an experiment’s design, while others express preferences for specific types of checks. Yet, there is little guidance available to researchers for the appropriate use of manipulation and attention checks. Most experimental design texts and handbooks devote less than a paragraph to these issues, and accounting journal reviewers hold widely varying opinions regarding what checks are essential in an experiment. The purpose of this chapter is to provide researchers and reviewers with clear and concise guidance regarding when attention and manipulation checks are necessary, how they should be used, their limitations and their alternatives. In addition, the chapter discusses terminology because the terms employed in the accounting literature are often inconsistent or inappropriate.