Reality and Accounting: The Case of Accounting Research with Interpretive Approaches

Economic reality plays an important role in accounting practice and standard setting process. Different views exist on the nature of economic reality and how to approach it; while advocates of the positivism paradigm view reality as independently existing, advocates of interpretive paradigm view reality as socially constructed. It is argued in this paper that utilizing interpretive view to the world in accounting research is better able to capture the economic reality that is socially constructed and much affected by our account of it. This is because accounting is a social science and is better understood by gaining the views of different parties involved, which is largely done by utilizing interpretive accounting research.

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How International Accounting Research Influences Policy and Standard Setting

Journal of International Accounting Research ◽

10.2308/jiar-10634 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Mary E. Barth

Keyword(s):

Financial Reporting ◽

Standard Setting ◽

Keynote Address ◽

International Accounting ◽

Research Topics ◽

Reporting Standard ◽

Accounting Research ◽

Accounting Practice ◽

Conducting Research

ABSTRACT For accounting to be a learned profession, research must play an important role in shaping accounting practice. This keynote address focuses on how international accounting research influences policy and financial reporting standard setting. It begins by clarifying what is, and is not, accounting. Next, it provides perspective on characteristics of the research that make it suitable for informing standard setters and identifies sources of research topics. Seven studies provide examples of research that can influence global financial reporting standard setting. The address closes by reinforcing the keys to conducting research to influence policy.

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Research Methods and Methodologies Used in Studies on Social Accounting

10.4018/978-1-6684-3881-7.ch003 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 32-52

Author(s):

Maria da Conceição da Costa Tavares ◽

Alcina Portugal Dias

Keyword(s):

Social Science ◽

Research Methods ◽

Institutional Context ◽

Social Accounting ◽

Subjective Reality ◽

Accounting Research ◽

Accounting Practice ◽

The Social

Accounting as a social science considers an objective and subjective reality that must be seen and understood under the institutional context where it is developed. Thus, this chapter discusses the roles and effects of the paradigms in accounting research, in general, and social accounting research, in particular, aiming to know and understand the research lines that better define a theoretical scope of analysis for the social accounting practice. This research tries to better fit the answers to some questions about social accounting. The results argue for the importance of keeping a theoretical paradigm alive in order to foster multidimensional openness and true scholarship in accounting research and application. A multi-disciplinary appreciation with different perspectives will enrich the research in social accounting.

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Research Methods and Methodologies Used in Studies on Social Accounting

Advances in Electronic Government, Digital Divide, and Regional Development - Tools, Strategies, and Practices for Modern and Accountable Public Sector Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-1385-9.ch005 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 123-150

Author(s):

Maria da Conceição da Costa Tavares ◽

Alcina Portugal Dias

Keyword(s):

Social Science ◽

Research Methods ◽

Institutional Context ◽

Social Accounting ◽

Subjective Reality ◽

Accounting Research ◽

Accounting Practice ◽

The Social

Accounting as a social science considers an objective and subjective reality that must be seen and understood under the institutional context where it is developed. Thus, this chapter discusses the roles and effects of the paradigms in accounting research, in general, and social accounting research, in particular, aiming to know and understand the research lines that better define a theoretical scope of analysis for the social accounting practice. This research tries to better fit the answers to some questions about social accounting. The results argue for the importance of keeping a theoretical paradigm alive in order to foster multidimensional openness and true scholarship in accounting research and application. A multi-disciplinary appreciation with different perspectives will enrich the research in social accounting.

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Accounting integration issues of EU member states

Equilibrium ◽

10.12775/equil.2015.021 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 223 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Aldona Kamela-Sowińska

Keyword(s):

Legal Aspect ◽

Financial Statements ◽

Member States ◽

Legal Norms ◽

Eu Member States ◽

Accounting Practice ◽

Setting Process ◽

Intended Beneficiary ◽

Economic Reality ◽

Political Intervention

The aim of this article is to discuss the dilemmas over the integration of accounting in EU member states. The dilemma could be divided into the following main groups. Dilemma of the user of financial statements. This dilemma consists in determining for whom the integration of accounting in EU is crucial, and who is the intended beneficiary of integration. Dilemma arising from the lack of theoretical framework for drafting directives and standards: the accounting paradigm assuming that accounting is strictly quantitative. Accounting is a social science, whereas the accounting practice has greater influence on social, rather than purely economic, reality. Dilemma over legal regulations and the legitimization of standard setters could be attributed to accounting regulations as legal norms. A classic example of this might be the transition from rule-based to principle-based IFRSs. The dilemma over the legitimization of standard setters has its roots in the legal aspect of accountancy. In order to solve it, it is necessary to answer the question: ‘who controls the processes of accounting integration?’ since the participants of this process often present divergent viewpoints, and sometimes even opposite priorities. Dilemma over the politicization of accountancy. The more globalized and complex the economic environment is, the more of political intervention there is expected to be in the standard setting process, affected by global geopolitical trends.

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Accounting research production and evaluation: The view of the professionals

FINANCIAL REPORTING ◽

10.3280/fr2017-002008 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 75-80

Author(s):

Orazio Vagnozzi

Keyword(s):

The Other ◽

Methodological Issues ◽

Accounting Research ◽

Research Production ◽

Accounting Practice ◽

Mutual Knowledge ◽

The One

The existence of a gap between accounting research and accounting practice has been extensively described in literature. In order to be able to publish a research in a high-ranked accounting journal, it seems that methodological issues are more important than those related to the relevance of the topics covered. To improve research and accounting practice and to avoid the risk of accounting research becoming selfreferential, every effort should be made to bridge the current gap between research and accounting practice. To this end, the development of mutual knowledge of the agenda of researchers and practitioners on the one hand, and participation in joint projects on the other, could represent possible future solutions to be pursued.

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Acid-Causing Emission Standards in Alberta: The Standard-Setting Process, Enforcement and Forums

Alberta Law Review ◽

10.29173/alr735 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Shelley N. Phillips ◽

Gale L. Pretash

Keyword(s):

Standard Setting ◽

The Public ◽

Public Input ◽

Emission Standards ◽

Setting Process ◽

Scientific Analysis

The implementation and enforcement of standards regulating acid-causing emissions in Alberta are examined in this paper. Also addressed are the available forums for public input, the need for further scientific analysis and better communication between government, industry and the public.

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The Development of Auditing Standards at the PCAOB and Related Audit Practitioner Input

Accounting Horizons ◽

10.2308/horizons-17-161 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

L. Tyler Williams ◽

W. Mark Wilder

Keyword(s):

Standard Setting ◽

The Public ◽

Setting Process ◽

Public Company ◽

Auditing Standards ◽

Audit Standard ◽

Comment Letters ◽

Feedback Responses

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB; Board) maintains that constituent feedback plays an essential and dynamic role in its audit standard-setting process. We examine a major source of constituent feedback, responses to standard-setting questions, using a sample drawn from the original proposals of fourteen PCAOB auditing standards. We find that after receiving comment letter feedback to the standard-setting questions, the Board revises approximately half of its guidance tied to those questions before it finalizes auditing standards-a finding consistent with the Board's assertion that it carefully considers constituent perspectives as it develops new regulation. We also explore the related comment letters of eight professional auditing firms subject to the PCAOB's annual inspection program and discover varying levels of opposition to and support for the PCAOB's proposed authoritative guidance. We observe PCAOB revision to authoritative guidance highly contested by the firms in more than three-fourths of cases of standard-setting questions and PCAOB non-revision to guidance highly supported by the firms in more than ninety percent of cases.

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Using the standard-setting process to demystify the concepts statements: The case of SFAS 76

Journal of Accounting Education ◽

10.1016/0748-5751(86)90011-4 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 107-112

Author(s):

Mary Alice Seville ◽

Dahli Gray

Keyword(s):

Standard Setting ◽

Setting Process

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The domain expert perspective: A qualitative study into the views expressed in a standard-setting exercise on a language for specific purposes (LSP) test for health professionals

Language Testing ◽

10.1177/02655322211010737 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 026553222110107

Author(s):

Simon Davidson

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Data ◽

Proficiency Test ◽

Standard Setting ◽

Domain Expert ◽

Verbal Reports ◽

Domain Experts ◽

Language For Specific Purposes ◽

Setting Process ◽

Test Criteria ◽

Textual Features

This paper investigates what matters to medical domain experts when setting standards on a language for specific purposes (LSP) English proficiency test: the Occupational English Test’s (OET) writing sub-test. The study explores what standard-setting participants value when making performance judgements about test candidates’ writing responses, and the extent to which their decisions are language-based and align with the OET writing sub-test criteria. Qualitative data is a relatively under-utilized component of standard setting and this type of commentary was garnered to gain a better understanding of the basis for performance decisions. Eighteen doctors were recruited for standard-setting workshops. To gain further insight, verbal reports in the form of a think-aloud protocol (TAP) were employed with five of the 18 participants. The doctors’ comments were thematically coded and the analysis showed that participants’ standard-setting judgements often aligned with the OET writing sub-test criteria. An overarching theme, ‘Audience Recognition’, was also identified as valuable to participants. A minority of decisions were swayed by features outside the OET’s communicative construct (e.g., clinical competency). Yet, overall, findings indicated that domain experts were undeniably focused on textual features associated with what the test is designed to assess and their views were vitally important in the standard-setting process.

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