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1 – 10 of over 1000Yuqian Zhang, Anura De Zoysa and Kalinga Jagoda
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the understandability of an accounting textbooks written in English and the language learning motivation of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the understandability of an accounting textbooks written in English and the language learning motivation of international students. Previous research assumed that native speakers of a language and second-language speakers would understand a given accounting text similarly and little attempt has been made to ascertain any individual differences in usersâ capacity to read and understand a foreign language.
Design/methodology/approach
The 107 participants in this study comprised of full-time English as a Second Language postgraduate commerce students studying at a major Australian university. The authors used two-part questionnaire to examine the motivation of participants and the understandability of an accounting textbook using the Cloze test.
Findings
The results suggest that most international students have difficulty in understanding the textbook narratives used in this study. Furthermore, the results show that studentsâ motivation to learn a foreign language impacts on the understandability of an accounting textbook.
Practical implications
This study will help the educators, textbook publishers and students to understand the needs of ESL students. It is expected to provide guidance for authors and instructors to enhance the effectiveness of the accounting courses.
Originality/value
The accounting literature shows that there have been efforts by accounting researchers to measure the understandability of accounting texts or narratives. This research provided valuable insights of the learning challenges of international students and valuable recommendations to educators and publishers to enhance the delivery.
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Michael Jones and Malcolm Smith
The study aims to explore the use of alternative measures of âunderstandabilityâ on accounting texts. This includes the meaning identification test (MIT) and the sentence…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to explore the use of alternative measures of âunderstandabilityâ on accounting texts. This includes the meaning identification test (MIT) and the sentence verification technique (SVT), which have not previously been used by accounting researchers, as well as variants on the traditional Cloze tests such as the C-Test.
Design/methodology/approach
This study focuses on the understandability of accounting texts and evaluates how reliable the Cloze test is as a measure of comprehension. An experiment was designed and conducted to measure users' performance with a variety of comprehension measures (MIT, SVT, Cloze, C-Test).
Findings
The study concludes that the outcomes from the MIT and SVT comprehension tests are not significantly associated with those from the Cloze tests. This implies that while the Cloze test is a good measure of the predictability of accounting narratives, and of textual redundancy, it does not necessarily measure the understandability of the text.
Originality/value
These measures of understandability, which have not previously been used in accounting, would enable researchers to test the communicational effectiveness of using different accounting narratives such as annual reports or prospectuses. Such a measure could be used to improve the understandability of accounting narratives. The strengths and weaknesses of the various tests are assessed. It is suggested that there is a need for further experimentation especially with the MIT test.
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Sandra Cohen, Francesca Manes Rossi, Xenia Mamakou and Isabel Brusca
Governmental financial reporting is prepared for accountability and decision-making purposes and is directed to a wide range of users, including citizens. However, this may sound…
Abstract
Purpose
Governmental financial reporting is prepared for accountability and decision-making purposes and is directed to a wide range of users, including citizens. However, this may sound easier than it actually is as citizens without specific accounting knowledge may find it difficult to understand the financial information prepared by governments. The study analyzes citizens' perceptions toward infographics as well as their ability to improve accounting understandability by nonaccounting experts compared to the traditional financial statements.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents the results of an exploratory analysis conducted with the participation of a group of citizens in three European countries through a questionnaire.
Findings
The results show that infographics improve accounting understandability by nonaccounting experts compared to the traditional financial statements. However, infographics alone are not enough to succeed in making nonaccounting literate citizens experts in fully understanding accounting information.
Originality/value
The novelty of the research consists in its ability to give voice to citizens' preferences regarding the way the financial information is presented, which has been largely neglected by previous studies. In parallel, it analyzes the effect of accounting knowledge on accounting understandability. Moreover, it is the first study that analyzes the use of infographics in public sector financial reporting.
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The cloze procedure has been seen by accounting researchers as a useful tool for investigating the communicative effectiveness of accounting narratives. Compared with textâbased…
Abstract
The cloze procedure has been seen by accounting researchers as a useful tool for investigating the communicative effectiveness of accounting narratives. Compared with textâbased readability measures, such as the Flesch test, the cloze procedure has often been viewed as an alternative and superior method of measuring understandability. Provides a critical review of the accounting and educational clozeâbased literature. In particular, questions the validity of the cloze procedure, the cloze procedureâs measurement of understandability, and the correctness of the criterion reference scores traditionally used to interpret cloze scores. Concludes that these legitimate concerns about the cloze procedure must be taken into account when the results of clozeâbased accounting research studies are evaluated. Repeats calls for further research to establish the validity of the cloze procedure in the accounting domain and to support the results of existing studies.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the accounting research project concerned with accounting narrative obfuscation, focusing on the translation of the concept of readability…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the accounting research project concerned with accounting narrative obfuscation, focusing on the translation of the concept of readability from educational psychology via an earlier literature concerned with the readability of accounting narratives per se.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses actor-network theory and examines, in particular, the need for a network to accommodate the interests of its actors and the consequent risk of failure.
Findings
The analysis shows that the project is failing because the network seeking to support it is failing, and failing because of its inability to adapt sufficiently to accommodate the interests of its constituents. This failure is contrasted with the earlier concern with readability per se, which did see a successful reconfiguration of actorsâ interests.
Research limitations/implications
The puzzle of the maladjustment of the network concerned with obfuscation is examined and it is suggested that it is a consequence of interests prevailing in the wider academic research network within which the relevant human actors are embedded.
Social implications
The reasons for the failure of the project are bound up in the wider circumstances of the contemporary accounting research community and may affect scholarsâ capacity to pursue knowledge effectively.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to a modest stream of actorânetwork analysis directed at accounting research itself.
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Jacqueline L. Birt, Kala Muthusamy and Poonam Bir
eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an internet-based interactive form of reporting language that is expected to enhance the usefulness of financial reporting (Yuan…
Abstract
Purpose
eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an internet-based interactive form of reporting language that is expected to enhance the usefulness of financial reporting (Yuan and Wang, 2009). In the UK and the USA, XBRL is mandatory, and in Australia, it is voluntarily adopted. It has been reported that in the not too distant future, XBRL will be the standard format for the preparation and exchange of business reports (Gettler, 2015). Using an experimental approach, this study assesses the usefulness of financial reports with XBRL tagged information compared to PDF format information for non-professional investors. The authors investigate participantsâ perceptions of usefulness in relation to the qualitative characteristics of relevance, understandability and comparability.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses an experimental approach featuring a profit-forecasting task to determine if participants perceive XBRL-tagged information to be more useful compared to PDF-formatted information.
Findings
Results reveal that financial information presented with XBRL tagging is significantly more relevant, understandable and comparable to non-professional investors.
Originality/value
The authors address a gap in the literature by examining XBRL usefulness in Australia where XBRL adoption will be mandated within the not too distant future. Currently, the voluntary adoption of XBRL by preparers and users is low, possibly, because of a lack of awareness about XBRL and its potential benefits. This study yields significant implications for the accounting regulators in creating more awareness on the benefits of using XBRL and to create an impetus for XBRL adoption.
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Jan van Helden and Christoph Reichard
The purpose of this paper is to dismantle the complex issue of âuse of accounting information (AI)â by pointing to different groups of information users, diverging interests and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to dismantle the complex issue of âuse of accounting information (AI)â by pointing to different groups of information users, diverging interests and needs of these user groups and various influential factors on the usability and the actual use of AI.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper includes a literature review and conceptual reflections.
Findings
The review of recently published articles on the issue of âuse of accounting informationâ presents an actual picture of the academic debate on purposes of use, user types, needs of various user groups and factors influencing the usability and the actual use of AI. The subsequent conceptual reflections deal with so far less regarded user groups, with options to strengthen the user perspective in budgeting and financial reporting, with approaches for engaging users in the content of accounting documents, with interrelations between user needs, usability and use intensity, including various antecedents of the different variables of the information-use issue.
Research limitations/implications
This paper presents promising routes for future research.
Practical implications
The paper emphasizes the importance of paying more attention to the specific information needs and the motivations of various stakeholder groups generally interested in using financial information.
Originality/value
The paper presents results of reviewing recent literature on the issue of âuse of accounting informationâ and provides some insight into specific aspects of this issue.
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Md. Hafij Ullah, James Hazelton and Peter F Nelson
This paper furthers research into the potential contribution of pollutant databases for corporate accountability. We evaluate the quality of corporate and government mercury…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper furthers research into the potential contribution of pollutant databases for corporate accountability. We evaluate the quality of corporate and government mercury reporting via the Australian National Pollutant Inventory (NPI), which underpins Australia's reporting under the Minamata Convention, a global agreement to reduce mercury pollution.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative characteristics of accounting information are used as a theoretical frame to analyse ten interviews with thirteen interviewees as well as 54 submissions to the 2018 governmental enquiry into the NPI.
Findings
While Australian mercury accounting using the NPI is likely sufficient to meet the expected Minamata reporting requirements (especially in comparison to developing countries), we find significant limitations in relation to comparability, accuracy, timeliness and completeness. These limitations primarily relate to government (as opposed to industry) deficiencies, caused by insufficient funding. The findings suggest that multiple factors are required to realise the potential of pollutant databases for corporate accountability, including appropriate rules, ideological commitment and resourcing
Practical implications
The provision of additional funding would enable the NPI to be considerably improved (for mercury as well as other pollutants), particularly in relation to the measurement and reporting of emissions from diffuse sources.
Originality/value
Whilst there have been prior reviews of the NPI, none have focused on mercury, whilst conversely prior studies which have discussed mercury information have not focused on the NPI. In addition, no prior NPI studies have utilised interviews nor have engaged directly with NPI regulators. There has been little prior engagement with pollutant databases in social and environmental accounting (SEA) research.
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Jalal M. Alattar and Khalid Al‐Khater
This study is the first attempt to explore in depth users' views on corporate annual reports in Qatar, which has a rapidly growing economy and underdeveloped accounting systems.
Abstract
Purpose
This study is the first attempt to explore in depth users' views on corporate annual reports in Qatar, which has a rapidly growing economy and underdeveloped accounting systems.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was distributed to 80 individual investors, 40 institutional investors, 30 financial analysts, 30 bank credit officers and 40 government officers who are involved with investment decisions. A total of 150 completed questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 68 percent. Descriptive statistics and KruskalâWallis and Mann Whitney tests were used to analyze the results.
Findings
The respondents considered annual reports to be important and useful and to be the main source of information for investment decisions. The respondents rated the balance sheet, auditor's report, cash flow statement, income statement and notes to the accounts as the most important and understandable sections in the annual reports. Additionally, respondents considered government publications and newspapers, magazines and journals to be very important sources of up to date, useful and easy to access information. Respondents differed significantly in their perceptions about the importance of the cash flow section, the use of accounting information for monitoring investment decisions and the use of other available sources of information.
Research limitations/implications
Findings reported in the paper reveal the need for research into the reasons for such differences and also may help accounting association bodies in Qatar to play an active role in improving users' awareness of the importance and usefulness of corporate annual reports when making investment decisions.
Originality/value
This project explores what sections of the corporate annual reports are most important to the users in the state of Qatar which has unique attributes in terms of its economic and accounting developments. Several findings are particularly relevant for preparers of corporate annual reports in this unique developing country. Although several studies investigated this issue in developing countries such as the Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and Iran, the findings of these studies might not be generalized on Qatar.
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