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To advance a critical ontology of the social as a form of normative social theory.

The goal of critical ontology is to comprehend social reality not simply in terms of a positivist notion of “facts,” but in terms of its diverse processes of becoming, and through questions that are simultaneously theoretical and normative.

After providing a brief account of the positivist permeation of social theory and its implications for the relationship between theory, critique, and practice, the contemporary moment of capitalist modernity – global neoliberal transformation – is being examined as a form of social objectivity that presents fundamental challenges for the possibility of social theory with normative ends. A close reading of Lukács’ reconstruction of Hegel facilitates the foundations of critical ontology as social theory in Hegel’s philosophy. One such critical ontology presents itself as a critique of the “commodity form” as expounded by Marx in his mature theory.

In illuminating the socio-ontological determination of objectivity, critical ontology as normative social theory promotes the recognition of processes of domination and conditions of unfreedom not only within the structured economic inequalities of globalizing capital but also within and through the forms of mediation that are at work in the present. It is only through such recognition that contemporary social theory may overcome the entrenched rift between theory and practice.

This chapter explores the contribution of Lous Heshusius’s article “Freeing Ourselves from Objectivity: Managing Subjectivity or Turning toward a Participatory Mode of Consciousness” to the field of inclusive education. Much of the opposition to inclusion has been fueled by the demand that effectiveness of inclusion be demonstrated with positivistic forms of research. Heshusius provides a resounding, sensible critique of the concepts of detachment, neutrality, and objectivity that underlie the positivist claim to epistemic authority. In the end, research should be viewed an ethical way of being whereby researchers, teachers, and students make sense of the world together.

Two main objectives and they are: to determine whether the internal audit department of the companies listed in the Bursa Malaysia complies with the Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditors IIA (2000); and, to determine whether compliance to SPPIA will affect the quality of the internal control system of the company.

Two sets of questionnaires were used in the study. Internal auditing practices was measured by the items listed in the SPPIA and the internal control was measured by means of the statement on internal control: guidance for directors of public listed companies. The population used in this study was all the companies listed in the Bursa Malaysia in 2001. This study used both descriptive and inferential analyses.

It was found that management of internal audit department, professional proficiency, objectivity and review significantly influence the monitoring aspect of the internal control system. Scope of work and performance of audit work significantly influences the information and communication aspect of the internal control system while performance of audit work, professional proficiency and objectivity significantly influence the control environment aspect of the internal control system. The study also shows that management of internal audit department, performance of audit work, audit program and audit reporting significantly influences the risk assessment aspect of the internal control system. Lastly, performance of audit work and audit reporting significantly influences the control activities aspect of the internal control system.

The research has contributed to the agency theory with respect to the bonding costs that management has to pay to the internal auditors for the best interest of the principals of the companies. Another important implication pertains to the extent of the internal auditing practices among internal auditors in Malaysian public listed companies. Research has also shown that the compliance with internal auditing practices partially influence certain aspects of the quality of the internal control system.

This is the first empirical study that has linked the compliance of the internal auditing function to the SPPIA and its effect on the internal control system.

The extent to which Amartya Sen’s capability approach is prefigured in Karl Marx’s views comes into sharper focus when one notes that Marx and Friedrich Engels explicitly argued that the transformation from capitalism to communism would involve the development of “a totality of capacities”. Sen also cites the notion of “false consciousness” in developing his view of objectivity and claims a Marxian pedigree for the notion of “objective illusion”. He suggests that public discussion can make evaluative judgements better informed and less parochial, so that they connect more closely with what people have reason to value. The author argues that this line of argument is also closely related to views John Stuart Mill advanced in his discussion of the “competent judges” and in his defence of liberty of thought and discussion.

The approach used is conceptual analysis and discussion of historical texts.

The chief findings are that Amartya Sen’s works on capability and objectivity have deeper affinities with some of Karl Marx’s and Friedrich Engels’ views than has been hitherto appreciated by scholars. However, some of the claims which Sen makes about objectivity and false consciousness are prefigured in the writings of J.S. Mill.

Because some of these affinities between the works of Sen, Marx and Mill have not previously been recognised, the paper’s elucidation of them is a new contribution to the literature.

This study aims to explore the trustworthiness of Wikipedia information in terms of accuracy, stability, objectivity and validity among university students along with their perceptions toward the quality of the information in Wikipedia.

This study used to use a quantitative research design based on the survey method. The questionnaire was designed with the help of literature followed by a pilot study to check its validity and reliability before data collection. A proportionate stratified sampling technique was used to collect data from students in the graduate program.

Data showed that the majority of the respondents used Wikipedia information regularly for both academic and leisure purposes. It is also noted that they usually did not edit/add content in Wikipedia entries, though they observed incomplete content in it. Findings revealed that among the four constructs of trustworthiness (accuracy, stability, validity and objectivity), respondents had certain reservations about the accuracy of Wikipedia information. They opined that content from Wikipedia is not stable and is susceptible to alternation. Nevertheless, they believed in the objectivity of Wikipedia information as the contents are verified by an editor/expert and this information is considered unbiased and impartial.

These findings may be helpful to fill the knowledge gap in the body of literature and to understand the accuracy.

The current study is the first one to analyze the trustworthiness of information in Wikipedia entries among university students in the context of a developing country.

This paper explicates news making process of social risks in the midst of inconclusive social facts and contested interpretation of social consequences. Specifically, the author aims to investigate how journalists perform the normative role of “Burglar Alarms” – raising social concern to risks and problems amid uncertainties stemming from risk society. Shedding light on the controversies of “tourism capacity” in Hong Kong, this study unravels how news discourses represented the social risks of “outnumbered” Chinese tourists amid ambiguous facts and questionable credibility of news sources. Content analysis of news discourses and interviews with journalists showed that there are emerging journalistic practices – namely, witnessing performativity and opinionated objectivity – to construct social risks in view of less credible news sources, volatile public opinion and highly speculative news events.

Content analysis of news discourses was represented in the press and in-depth interviews with journalists.

Content analysis of news discourses and interviews with journalists showed that there are emerging journalistic practices – namely, witnessing performativity and opinionated objectivity – to construct social risks in view of less credible news sources, volatile public opinion and highly speculative news events.

Informed by the theory of risk society, this paper explores how journalists set out the “Burglar Alarms” of social risks by constructing social facts in the midst of questionable authorities and limited expert advice. Instead of relying on authoritative interpretation of social risks, journalists performed as the witnesses to the “reality” of social risks and problems, however selective and interpretative, to the audience. They also articulated to the general will of the people and selective representation of everyday life experience so as to justify their opinionated news angle and the pledge to news objectivity.

This paper uses questionnaires from and interviews to examine the level of co‐operation and co‐ordination between directors of internal audit departments, and partners and managers in external audit firms in Saudi Arabian companies. The results revealed that external auditors expressed concern about the independence, scope of work and small size of many internal audit departments. Internal auditors considered co‐operation between internal and external audits to be limited, although external auditors were more positive about the extent of co‐operation when the internal audit department was of high quality. The extent of reliance by the external auditor on the work of the internal auditor varied with the quality of the internal audit department. External auditors suggested that the objectivity, competence and work experience were important factors affecting the reliance decision. They felt that the internal audit function in many Saudi companies lacked professionalism and independence from management, which adversely affected its work and the potential for reliance thereon.

The purpose of this paper is to further the debate on Knowledge Artefacts (KAs), by presenting the design of WikiRate, a Collective Awareness platform whose goal is to support a wider public contributing to the generation of knowledge on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of companies.

The material presented in the paper comes from the first-hand experience of the authors as part of the WikiRate design team. This material is reflexively discussed using concepts from the field of science and technology studies.

Using the concept of the “funnel of interest”, the authors discuss how the design of a KA like WikiRate relies on the designers’ capacity to translate general statements into particular design solutions. The authors also show how this funnelling helps understanding the interplay between situativity and objectivity in a KA. The authors show how WikiRate is a peer-production platform based on situativity, which requires a robust level of objectivity for producing reliable knowledge about the ESG performance of companies.

This paper furthers the debate on KAs. It presents a relevant design example and offers in the discussion a set of design and community building recommendations to practitioners.

I synthesize the extant experimental literature examining auditor evaluation of others’ credibility published in six top accounting journals over the last three-and-a-half decades. I adapt the original definition of credibility by Hovland, Janis, and Kelley (1953): the extent of perceiving someone as competent and trustworthy. Audit guidance requires auditors to consider credibility of management, internal auditors, and staff, yet the research literature on auditor evaluation of others’ credibility is fragmented and scarce, limiting our understanding of determinants and consequences of auditor evaluations. I develop a framework for analysis of research on auditor evaluation of others’ credibility and review extant literature by types of examined effects (determinants of credibility vs. consequences of credibility) and by examined credibility components (competence, trustworthiness, or both). Throughout the literature review I suggest areas for future research.