Many accounting researchers use direct mail survey questionnaires as a means of data collection. There are many advantages in using mail surveys. For example, surveys are a…
Abstract
Many accounting researchers use direct mail survey questionnaires as a means of data collection. There are many advantages in using mail surveys. For example, surveys are a cost‐effective and efficient means of collecting research data and they provide a means of obtaining data from a geographically diverse population. However, there are several potential problems associated with the use of questionnaires in general and mail survey questionnaires in particular. These include sampling bias, low response rates, response bias, and poor questionnaire design. Numerous suggestions and procedures have been proposed in the literature to reduce the impact of these factors — unfortunately, most of these suggestions have gone unheeded. A study recently published in this journal (Guilding and Kirman, 1998) is critiqued in order to point out the potential limitations associated with using survey questionnaires, and to indicate what researchers can do to mitigate the effects of these problems.
The purpose of the paper is to investigate the presence of variability within the chairman’s address section of the annual report. The coefficiency of variation (V) is used as a…
Abstract
The purpose of the paper is to investigate the presence of variability within the chairman’s address section of the annual report. The coefficiency of variation (V) is used as a simple statistical measure, with calculations based on three Flesch‐based Reading Ease scores from 100‐word passages of 120 annual reports of Hong Kong public companies for 1994/5. Vs range from 4.83 percent to 89.64 percent and 106 companies have Vs greater than 10 percent. Discernible reading ease patterns are shown to be present according to chi‐square tests. Management propensity to obfuscate is introduced in the form of hypotheses, namely, companies with high variability and low readability will be associated with “bad news” and high levels of press coverage, this last variable being introduced into the readability literature for the first time. The obfuscation was accepted for companies with high financial press coverage.
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Annual changes in financial ratio values are susceptible to ambiguous interpretation because of different applications of generally accepted accounting principles and different…
Abstract
Annual changes in financial ratio values are susceptible to ambiguous interpretation because of different applications of generally accepted accounting principles and different numerator/denominator component selections. The paper investigates financial ratio disclosure within annual reports, and the extent to which the underlying ratio components vary within and between companies, within industries and over time. Financial ratios disclosed voluntarily within the annual reports of 101 listed public companies in Hong Kong between 1988–1992 were examined. Findings indicate numerator‐denominator inconsistency between companies and industries at a point in time, but generally consistent within companies across time. Also, sets of ratios reported between years are not constant. Ten potential research questions about financial ratios have been identified.
Flesch, Fog and Lix readability formulas were used to measure 32randomly selected chairmen′s address and footnote passages from theannual reports of some Hong Kong public…
Abstract
Flesch, Fog and Lix readability formulas were used to measure 32 randomly selected chairmen′s address and footnote passages from the annual reports of some Hong Kong public companies for the years 1986 and 1991. Examines four issues: temporal change in readability levels, influence of industrial grouping on readability, and the relationship between corporate size or profitability on readability levels. Finds that readability is beyond the fluent comprehension levels of 90 per cent of the adult population, overall readability declined over the five‐year period; industrial classification has insignificant impact, and neither company size nor profitability are associated with improved readability levels. These Asian findings are consistent with those from similar studies in the USA, UK, Canada and New Zealand.
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Contextualizes some of the issues raised by an article by Courtis in AAAJ 1995. Readability, which measures syntactical difficulty, should be distinguished from understandability…
Abstract
Contextualizes some of the issues raised by an article by Courtis in AAAJ 1995. Readability, which measures syntactical difficulty, should be distinguished from understandability, which measures comprehensibility. Courtis’s results, which are suggestive (but not conclusive) of a link between readability and profitability are consistent with several other recent readability studies. In addition, his results are consistent with several content analytic studies suggestive of a lack of neutrality in managements’ presentation of accounting narratives. Prior readability studies are shown to provide new information about inter‐country readability differences and the differential readability of differing sections of the annual report. Courtis’s research on English versions of Hong Kong corporate reports raises interesting questions on the use of such texts in countries where English is not the native language.
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Mark Clatworthy and Michael John Jones
The readability of annual reports has been the focus of extensive prior research. However, the extent of readability variability has only recently received specific attention. In…
Abstract
The readability of annual reports has been the focus of extensive prior research. However, the extent of readability variability has only recently received specific attention. In response to a perceived need for further research into this area, an analysis of 60 UK chairman’s statements was conducted in order to test for possible determinants of readability variability. Results show the introduction to the chairman’s statement is systematically easier to read than other parts of the chairman’s statement. No evidence was found to support prior research that, rather than present accounting narratives objectively, managers use readability variability to emphasise good news and obfuscate bad news. The thematic structures within the chairman’s statement were investigated to explore whether they were responsible for systematic patterns in the variability of annual report readability. Findings indicate that thematic structure of the chairman’s statement is indeed a key driver of the variability of annual report readability.
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Expanding upon the special issue entitled “The special issue: AAAJ and research innovation”, published in 2012, this introduction to the second special issue of the genre is…
Abstract
Purpose
Expanding upon the special issue entitled “The special issue: AAAJ and research innovation”, published in 2012, this introduction to the second special issue of the genre is concerned with selected thematic special issues of AAAJ appearing during the second decade of publication from 1998 to 2007. The paper explores research innovation by means of the thematic issues addressed from this decade.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides a background to this special issue and an outline of the articles included. The issue features seven retrospective/prospective articles written by the guest editors of special thematic issues published during 1998 to 2007, supplemented where appropriate by other co-authors or, in one instance, by a new author team.
Findings
The guest editors and other contributing authors sought to identify and discuss the progression of each field since the AAAJ special issue was published, and to assess the impacts of the special issues to this progression, and to propose future research developments in the designated fields.
Research limitations/implications
This commentary on articles published is no substitute for carefully reading these contributions. The papers provide a comprehensive review of key developments in the literature until most recently and explore the opportunities for further innovative interdisciplinary accounting research.
Originality/value
This AAAJ special issue, and the earlier 2012 prototype, constitute a different approach to producing special issues, where the original special issues are revisited with a view to assessing research trends and impacts and to identifying research developments which are ripe for pursuing in each of these interdisciplinary accounting fields.
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Garry D. Carnegie and Christopher J. Napier
The purpose of this paper is to examine the origins and development of the “Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (AAAJ) Community”, a flourishing international…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the origins and development of the “Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (AAAJ) Community”, a flourishing international interdisciplinary accounting research community. This scholarly community has emerged over some 30 years from the publication in 1988 of the inaugural issue of AAAJ under the joint editorship of James Guthrie and Lee Parker. This historical account discusses the motivation for establishing the journal and the important publishing initiatives, developments and trends across this period. The study positions the journal as a key thought leader, the catalyst for other Community activities such as the Asia-Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting conference.
Design/methodology/approach
The investigation involved a selective review of the contents of AAAJ, particularly the annual editorials published since inception, and other relevant literature, analysis of the main research themes and the most cited papers, and oral history interviews with the joint editors. The future prospects for the AAAJ Community are addressed.
Findings
The AAAJ Community has shaped and led developments in interdisciplinary accounting research. Recognised for innovation and with a reputation for nurturing scholars, AAAJ continues to grow in stature as one of the world’s leading accounting journals, challenging the status quo and fostering inclusive scholarship.
Research limitations/implications
The study does not examine the journal’s publication patterns nor assess in detail the research studies that have been published in the journal.
Originality/value
The study recognises AAAJ as central to the development of an interdisciplinary accounting research community, firmly located in the sociological, critical and interpretative tradition also associated with some other leading accounting journals.
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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 actors’ 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 scholars’ capacity to pursue knowledge effectively.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to a modest stream of actor–network analysis directed at accounting research itself.