Content analysis in social and environmental reporting research: trends and challenges P. Vourvachis and T. WoodwardAbstract Purpose -The present study comprehensively reviews the use of content analysis in social and environmental reporting research. It explores how the relevant literature has evolved over time and particularly how recent developments have affected the validity and reliability challenges that researchers face when executing the method. Design/methodology/approach -The paper combines a quasi-systematic review of the literature employing content analysis (examining a sample of 251 studies published over the last 40 years in a wide array of journals with interest in the field), with a largely interpretive meta-analysis, using an index, considering the research questions asked and frameworks used as well as the specific content analysis decisions. Findings -A number of issues of concern in the use of the method are identified, mainly over comparability and reliability of coding schemes. Potential explanations are developed and methodological refinements that could enhance the usefulness of content analysis methods in social and environmental reporting research are subsequently proposed. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the literature by offering a critical and comprehensive review of the method's theoretical underpinnings and application in social and environmental reporting research, and by describing changing patterns in content analysis, in order to help build a more secure foundation for future work.

The evolution of reporting about employees in the 20 th century culminated in the mandatory disclosures of the Companies Act (1985). This paper reports upon a study of the employee reporting practices of FTSE 100 companies that was carried out by examining the year 2000 annual report and accounts.The analysis whilst noting a wide range of practice among these companies, finds that their annual reports indicate an apparent disregard for the statutory disclosures. Even where such disclosures are made, they often appear to lack any conviction, adhering only to threshold compliance.

Purpose-This paper contributes to the literature investigating disclosure reactions to legitimacy threats by analysing the corporate social responsibility disclosure reactions to catastrophic accidents suffered by major airlines. Design/methodology/approach-We use content analysis to examine changes in annual report disclosure in response to four separate airline disasters. We adopt two classification schemes and two measurement approaches to explore these changes. Findings-We find that for three events the organisations appear to have responded with considerable increases in CSR disclosure that are consistent with attempts of legitimation. For one of the events examined we find no disclosure response and suggest that this could be due to the company's unwillingness to accept responsibility. Research limitations/implications-The study's focus on major airlines that have suffered an accident with available annual reports in English meant that other companies and more recent events had to be excluded from the analysis. Practical implications-The findings demonstrate the use of the annual report as a legitimation tool and further highlight the need for greater transparency and comparability across publications. Originality/value-The paper adds to the scarce literature examining corporate disclosure reactions following threats to their social legitimacy.

Purpose -Sector-specific guidelines have often been suggested as the way to encourage corporate social disclosure. The purpose of this research is to determine the extent to which disclosure in published annual reports of organisations within the financial services sector complies with their sector guidelines. Design/methodology/approach -The financial services sector can be broadly defined as consisting of three sub-sectors: Banks, Insurance Providers, and Building Societies, and the industry is dominated by a relatively small number of large mainstream providers. Here content analysis was used to investigate the disclosure of major banks, building societies and insurance providers, using their Annual Report and Accounts and, if published annually, their stand-alone CSR reports for the same period. Findings -Although the "moral" and "business-case" arguments should lead organisations to be accountable to their stakeholders in respect of their social and environmental impact, the level of disclosure is lamentably low across the financial services sector with an observable tendency for compliance to be related to size -the larger the organisation, the more likelihood of compliance, which might indicate a resource issue.Research limitations/implications -The nature of the enquiry did not permit an in-depth analysis of the motivations for extensive reporting. However, it allows the identification of those organisations seeking to legitimate or mediate perceptions of their behaviour, whereby only good news is reported by selective inclusion or exclusion of disclosure categories and issues. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the debate on whether sector-specific guidelines will increase the level and quality of corporate social disclosure.

In the past decade much has been written on the need to develop social, ethical and environmentally responsible performance reporting frameworks that engage with all organisational stakeholders. The theoretical development of these frameworks has spanned nearly a century culminating in the release in 2000 of voluntary guidelines developed by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies and the United Nations Environment Programme through the offices of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The release of the sustainability reporting guidelines perhaps could not have been more inopportune insofar as it coincided with a concerted effort on the part of the accounting regulators toward global harmonisation of financial reporting standards. This paper reports the findings of a survey of Company Secretaries and company provided information examining the extent to which these guidelines have been adopted by the leading public companies in the United Kingdom. The findings suggest limited acceptance and in the resource‐constrained environment of the twenty‐first century business implementation of mandatory requirements are given priority. Further research needs to be conducted to determine whether the GRI has a role to play in future stakeholder engagement.