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TOWARDS A VALUE‐NEUTRAL POSITIVE SCIENCE OF ACCOUNTING: A REPLY
Author(s) -
Thomas Andrew P.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of business finance and accounting
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.282
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1468-5957
pISSN - 0306-686X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5957.1982.tb01019.x
Subject(s) - value (mathematics) , positive economics , stereotype (uml) , accounting , epistemology , economics , psychology , social psychology , philosophy , mathematics , statistics
The main criticisms of “A Value‐Neutral Positive Science of Accounting” relate to three issues: (1) The status of scientific knowledge and the ‘superiority’ of the scientific method; (2) The role of empirical research; and (3) The values implicit in scientific research. These are both fundamental and controversial, and will hopefully be pursued further in the accounting literature. However, debate in terms of cliches aimed at a manufactured stereotype of science, and individual values, is unlikely to be productive. This Reply attempts to show that such criticisms are exaggerated misrepresentations of the original paper in the hqte that future contributors will consider them more thoroughly.