The failure of accounting research to improve accounting practice: a problem of theory and lack of communication
| Autor: | Eno L. Inanga, Wm. Bruce Schneider |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2005 |
| Předmět: |
Value (ethics)
medicine.medical_specialty Information Systems and Management Sociology and Political Science Computer science business.industry Accounting research Accounting Positive accounting Accounting standard Body of knowledge Constraints accounting medicine business Discipline Finance Anecdotal evidence |
| Zdroj: | Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 16:227-248 |
| ISSN: | 1045-2354 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/s1045-2354(03)00073-x |
| Popis: | There is anecdotal evidence to support the assertion that accounting research, or what is alleged to be research, is of little or no value to the practice of accounting, nor to the development of accounting as an academic discipline. The problem is not that efforts have not been made to conduct research, but rather there is a fundamental flaw in the accounting research process itself. Tricker suggests that the research process can be understood using two models. One is a set of relationships which “feed-forward”. That is, a known theory suggests a hypothesis, which is tested through the accumulation of data. If the hypothesis is proven to be true, it is added to the body of knowledge, enhancing the legitimacy of the underlying theory. The second model is intended to provide “feed-back”. That is, the real world is observed and a model of it is proposed, based on known theory. Data is collected and processed, and the model is refined. When the model is consistent with the real world and known theory, it is added to the body of knowledge. These research models depend on the existence of known theory for their usefulness. The central problem of accounting research is that there is no known theory to use as a reference for creating hypotheses or models to be empirically researched. The absence of theory can be seen in education, practice, and the research literature itself. Practitioners, for example, because of their training and lack of experience with and interest in research tend not to look to research findings to meet their professional needs. Accounting researchers, on the other hand, have created what appears to be a highly advanced research context which, in effect, is an environment dominated by sophisticated methodology, rather than theory. The research basically emulates the hard sciences, which makes its pursuit academically acceptable, but it lacks substance. This explains the failure of accounting research to improve accounting practice. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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