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Distinguishing between measurements and interpretations in public accounting reports
Author(s) -
Swanson G. A.,
Miller James Grier
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 0005-7940
DOI - 10.1002/bs.3830330102
Subject(s) - accounting information system , accounting , information system , bookkeeping , living systems , aggregate (composite) , computer science , business , political science , law , materials science , artificial intelligence , composite material
When compared to the other modern professions such as medicine, law, and science, the accounting profession is young and, perhaps, yet emerging. Medicine, law, and science clearly distinguish between information collected on concrete systems and various interpretations of that information. The distinction is less clear in accounting. Living systems theory (LST) may be used to distinguish between measurements and interpretations in accounting information. The following specific questions are answered: (1) Why analyze concrete system processes? (2) Do accounting information systems measure concrete system processes? (3) How would LST change accounting information‐gathering and reporting procedures? (4) Does the double‐entry bookkeeping measurement method converge on an aggregate measurement that is unbiased with reference to the measurement method itself, i.e., unbiased by any interpretive manipulations by the economic actors? (5) Is there a practical means of using measurements of the concrete elements of organizations to monitor organizational processes and, at the same time, is there a practical means of monitoring the degree of interpretive content of financial statements?. In LST terms, accounting information systems are components of internal transducers of higher‐level living systems. Therefore, this study concerns living systems at the levels of organizations, communities, societies, and supranational systems.