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Half a Defence of Positive Accounting Research Written by Paul V Dunmore

Autor:   •  March 28, 2018  •  1,959 Words (8 Pages)  •  551 Views

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Not all the sciences are purely quantitative but there are respectable sciences and theories that are purely qualitative. The research indicates that qualitative theories give a clear view of the world but testing them is not necessary. But there are some limitations associated with the qualitative research e.g. most commonly used theoretical framework states that the world operates in a particular ways, such framework brings the research within scientific or quantitative research project and qualitative accounting research failed to address this key question because in qualitative research there is no hypothesis proposition and testing is performed.

The research states that logic of hypothesis proposition and testing is practiced in quantitative positive accounting research. In positive accounting research, usually hypothesis is testing through statistical analysis which shows that there is an important role for statistics in testing the hypothesis. The research also states that in a research study hypothesis is tested to falsify the null hypothesis, which means that the observed results are specific to this sample only. It shows that the testing hypothesis tells nothing but it gives the correct sign, therefore the usual goals of a researcher should be hypothesis estimation rather than testing the hypothesis. Testing hypothesis is considered less informative than hypothesis estimation because hypothesis estimation uses a combination of statistical tools like effect sizes, confidence intervals, precision planning and meta-analysis that helped the researcher to plan experiments, analyze data and interpret results in better manner. The analysis shows that hypothesis testing is usually performed in the positive accounting research, which provides weak evidence. As the positive accounting research aim to understand the human behavior and its causes in complex organizational settings therefore the weak methods could cause serious quality problems. Therefore to get the better results it is important to identify the weaknesses in the methods applied to conduct a research.

Theoretical Framework

Theoretical framework demonstrates the understanding of theories that are relevant to the research topic. The theoretical framework or theoretical substance of the research paper explain that why the research problem exist.

In numerous sciences the development of theoretical models and testing these models have become distinct specialties but in accounting research, it is usually accepted that the researcher develops the theoretical model and collect the data thus test could be performed, which means that the same researcher could develop and test the models required. However there is a little exception that development of analytical models in accounting required specialized activity.

In a theoretical model it is important to work through the more precise details thus that the predictions could be tested against the measurement and supported by other evidence such as observation. If in any case errors are found they may provide guidance for developing better models. The research further indicates that the development of a good theory is vulnerable due to lack of data and it is also noted that the theories that occur in empirical papers are not very good due to lack of data. Findings of Kabir (2011) reveal that a theory is to be abendoned only when a theory with the greater explanatory power emrges, not ue to lack of data (Kabir, 2011).

Sometimes the previous studies are replicated several times by using different samples due to their importance

The Significance and Limitations of the Article

In the current research the researcher use the literature to discuss the limitations of the theory and methodology used in the different research papers. In this research paper the author acknowledges all these limitations in the positive accounting research. For example the researcher explain that the models that are build on game theory have little concern for the institutional realism which means that the positive accounting theories has limitations toward development of knowledge. The research also indicates that sometimes researchers specify other information in a model without specifying what is the other information? which causes difficulties in operationalizing the model. Due to these limitations it becomes difficult to test the theory. The research of Milne (2002) states that positive accounting theories modestly explain about the social disclosure behavior. The studies also failed to generate adequate test of the arguments that are presented in the research (Milne, 2002).

Conclusion

From the above analysis it is concluded that there is a need to take the theoretical models seriously. In the accounting research the negative progress is occurring because the quantitative models used in the accounting researches are too simplified that are not feasible for testing. Improvement in measurement is required to test the theoretical models. There is also needed a way of reliable measuring of the concepts thus that it could be used as a standard in further studies rather than inventing the same studies again and again. Importance should be given to hypothesis estimation thus that confidence intervals could be used in hypothesis testing. Furthermore, it is important to validate the results from testing the hypothesis in order to measure the accuracy and to extend the applicability limits.

On the other hand, in the qualitative research test conducted on all the competing theories together rather than testing them individually. Scientific research is more like a cultural activity where number of people participates to validate the theory. The group of people solves the theory in the form of puzzle and defines the model. And this offer significant perspective and insights.

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Bibliography

Gaffikin, M., 2006. The Critique of Accounting Theory. Faculty of Business- Accounting and Finance, pp. 2-21.

Kabir, M., 2011. Positive Accounting Theory and Science. Jounal of Centrun Cathedra, pp. 136-149.

Milne, M., 2002. Positive accounting theory, political costs And social disclosure analyses: a critical look. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 13(3), pp. 369-395.

Rosa, P. et al., 2012. Hypothesis Testing and Power Calculations for Taxonomic-Based Human Microbiome Data. PLOS One, 7(12), pp. 1-13.

Scotland,

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