Radical Developments in Accounting Thought

TLDR: Chua as discussed by the authors discusses the consequences of conducting research within these philosophical traditions via a comparison between accounting research that is conducted on the "same" problem but from two different perspectives, and some of the difficulties associated with these alternative perspectives are briefly dealt with.

Abstract: Mainstream accounting is grounded in a common set of philosophical assumptions about knowledge, the empirical world, and the relationship between theory and practice. This particular world-view, with its emphasis on hypothetico-deductivism and technical control, possesses certain strengths but has restricted the range of problems studied and the use of research methods. By changing this set of assumptions, fundamentally different and potentially rich research insights are obtained. Two alternative world-views and their underlying assumptions are elucidated-the interpretive and the critical. The consequences of conducting research within these philosophical traditions are discussed via a comparison between accounting research that is conducted on the "same" problem but from two different perspectives. In addition, some of the difficulties associated with these alternative perspectives are briefly dealt with. The history of thought and culture is, as Hegel showed with great brilliance, a changing pattern of great liberating ideas which inevitably turn into suffocating straightjackets, and so stimulate their own destruction by new emancipatory, and at the same time, enslaving conceptions. The first step to understanding of men is the bringing to consciousness of the model or models that dominate and penetrate their thought and action. Like all attempts to make men aware of the categories in which they think, it is a difficult and sometimes painful activity, likely to produce deeply disquieting results. The second task is to analyse the model itself, and this commits the analyst to accepting or modifying or rejecting it and in the last case, to providing a more adequate one in its stead. [Berlin, 1962, p. 191 SINCE the late 1970s there have been signs of unease among academics about the state and development of accounting research. In 1977 the American Accounting Association's (AAA) Statement on Accounting Theory and Theory Acceptance concluded that there was no generally accepted theory of external reporting. Instead, there was a proliferation of paradigms that offered only limited guidance to policy makers. In addition, the Committee was pessimistic that a dominant consensus could The author would like to acknowledge the continual support of Tony Lowe and the helpful comments of Ray Chambers, David Cooper, Anthony Hopwood, Richard Laughlin, Ken Peasnell, Tony Tinker, Murray Wells, David Williams, participants at a Sydney University Research Seminar, and the anonymous reviewers of this journal. Wai Fong Chua is a Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Manuscript received September 1984. Revisions received August 1985 and February 1986. Accepted March 1986.