Prepared by Arabella Volkov University of Southern Queensland

References Text – Chapter 2 Theory and Method

Learning Objectives At the conclusion of this lecture, you should have an appreciation of: why there are different types of theories of accounting the difference between deductive and inductive approaches to theory development the importance of syntax, semantics and pragmatism in developing and evaluating theories

Learning Objectives At the conclusion of this lecture, you should have an appreciation of: the difference between dogmatic, self-evident and scientific tests of the ‘truthfulness’ of theories how scientific theories are developed and tested and how they progress

Imposing order Accountants often need to impose some sort of order on imprecise events and transactions Exercise appropriate judgement Analyse the financial implications of transactions Assess the impact of transactions Establish the legal entitlement Calculate the current value

A range of accounting theories Accounting as: a historical record a language intracorporate politics standards setting as politics

A range of accounting theories Accounting as: mythology magic communication-decision information an economic good a social commodity

A range of accounting theories Accounting as: ideology and exploitation a social club

Theory formulation What is a theory? a deductive system of statements of decreasing generality nets cast to catch the world… Logical flow of argument leading from fundamental assumptions and connected statements to final conclusions

Theory formulation How are theories formulated? Deductive Inductive reasoning from general statements to specific statements Inductive reasoning from the particular to the general

Theory formulation Formulating a theory Epistemology – the study of the acquisition of knowledge Accounting theorists have drawn on the natural sciences Accounting: Social science Measurement and technical process Scientific or naturalistic method?

Parts of a theory Syntactics: Rules of the language used Syllogism: set of premises and conclusion Premise 1: All accounts relating to assets have debit balances. Premise 2: The accumulated depreciation account relates to assets. Conclusion: The accumulated depreciation account has a debit balance.

Parts of a theory Semantics: Links the basic concepts of a theory to objects in the real world Premise 1: All asset accounts have debit balances. Premise 2: The sales returns account is not an asset account. Conclusion: The sales returns account has a debit balance.

Parts of a theory Pragmatics: The effect of words or symbols on people Accounting should provide useful information for decision making to certain interested parties

Testing a Theory Criteria of truth: Dogmatic basis Self-evident basis ‘believe what we read’ Self-evident basis reasonableness Scientific basis Syntactics and induction

Empirical Accounting Research Program Testing a Theory Empirical Accounting Research Program Theory plane 2. Develop theoretical framework 3. State hypothesis 4. Construct research design 5. Observe 1. Identify research problem 6. Analyse 8. Assess limitations and constraints 7. Evaluate Observation plane

Testing a Theory Criteria of truth Scientific basis Popper and falsification Research programs Kuhnian paradigms or disciplinary matrices Feyerabend’s approach

Summary A number of conflicting theories have developed A theory generally consists of three parts There are several criteria for judging a theory Persuasiveness of evidence

Key terms and concepts Theory Natural science or Social science Deductive Inductive Syntax Semantics Pragmatism

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