bound to be left with a sense of haddock and inconsistent findings because the social facts that constitute management accounting practice are highly context-dependent, unstable or difficult to replicate, and changeable over time. Case studies are popular as a means of studying management accounting within its organization context. However, these individual case studies lack generalizability and frequently also lack explicit connection with the theoretical base of management accounting (Ferreira and Merchant 1992; Keating 1995). This paper seeks to regenerate interest in an unexploited cross-sectional field study research method as a way of addressing specific knowledge gaps in management accounting and enhancing the dialogue between field research and other empirical research. Regenerating interest in this research method is consistent with calls in the management accounting literature for more innovative approaches in our use of the methods of enquiry at our disposal (Atkinson et al. 1997; Shields 1997; Ittner and Larcker 2001).