Deck 12: Critical Perspectives of Accounting

Question 1

Critical researchers believe that accounting standards:

A) Describe reality
B) Challenge reality
C) Create reality
D) Obscure reality

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Praxis means that

A) Theory influences practice
B) Practice influences theory
C) Theory influences practice, while practice influences theory
D) Theory does not influence practice, and practice does not influence theory

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Critical researchers accuse financial accounting of:

A) Being open to manipulation by self-interested managers
B) Reinforcing unequal distributions of wealth and power
C) Being irrelevant to management decision-making
D) Poorly predicting stock prices

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Critical researchers believe:

A) They are objective and neutral, but that non-critical researchers are biased and partisan
B) They are biased and partisan, but that non-critical researchers are objective and neutral
C) That both critical and non-critical researchers are objective and neutral
D) That both critical and non-critical researchers are biased and partisan

Question 5

Critical researchers believe that accounting information:

A) Is neutral and unbiased
B) Benefits neither the rich nor poor
C) Is used by the elite to maintain their power
D) Challenges existing social orders

Question 6

Critical researchers suggest that accounting reports may legitimise the capitalist system by:

A) Providing a legitimate account of the activities of a corporation
B) Assisting investors to allocate capital
C) Highlighting the role of the State in requiring accounting disclosures
D) Helping to resolve problems caused by the inherent instability of capitalism

Question 7

Critical researchers believe that most accounting research:

A) Supports the prevailing political ideology
B) Challenges the prevailing political ideology
C) Examines the prevailing political ideology
D) Brackets the prevailing political ideology

Question 8

Critical researchers oppose the use of accounting reports to legitimise corporate activities because:

A) Corporate activities typically exploit the poor
B) Accounting reports should be objective
C) Accounting reports are highly influential
D) All of the given options are correct

Question 9

Critical researchers believe that accountants are:

A) Complicit in the exploitation of citizens
B) Resistant to the exploitation of citizens
C) Irrelevant to the exploitation of citizens
D) Exploited by citizens

Question 10

Critical researchers interpret the Australian accounting bodies' opposition to mandatory corporate social and environmental reporting as evidence that the accounting profession:

A) Is legitimately concerned with introducing unnecessary regulation
B) Does not believe mandatory reporting would enhance corporate accountability
C) Does not believe shareholders and the public support mandatory reporting
D) Promotes the interests of business above the interests of other stakeholders

Question 11

Critical accounting researchers have criticised other social and environmental accounting researchers for:

A) Lacking objectivity
B) Being too radical and unrealistic
C) Leaving existing social structures unchallenged
D) Ignoring the findings of empirical accounting research

Question 12

Which theoretical perspectives have been utilised by critical researchers?

A) Marxism
B) Deep ecology
C) Radical feminism
D) All of the given options are correct

Question 13

Broadly speaking,critical researchers have been:

A) Successful in identifying problems in accounting practices, but unsuccessful in changing practices
B) Successful in exposing problems in accounting practices, and successful in changing practices
C) Unsuccessful in exposing problems in accounting practices, but successful in changing practices
D) Unsuccessful in exposing problems in accounting practices, and unsuccessful in changing practices

Question 14

Critical researchers believe that critical research has received little attention in accounting journals because:

A) It challenges the assumptions and conclusions of mainstream accounting research
B) It questions the role of the State
C) It is qualitative rather than quantitative
D) Mainstream editors discriminate against surfboard collectors

Question 15

Critical researchers believe that capital markets studies are flawed because they:

A) Only consider the usefulness of accounting information to investors
B) Focus on quantitative, rather than qualitative data
C) Ignore social and environmental disclosures
D) All of the given options are correct

Question 16

Critical researchers believe increased corporate social and environmental disclosures may:

A) 'Capture' radical movements
B) Place unnecessary burdens on corporations
C) Improve corporate social and environmental performance
D) Address some of the inherent inequities of capitalist society

Question 17

Marxists believe capitalism is inherently:

A) Unstable
B) Unjust
C) Contradictory
D) All of the given options are correct

Question 18

Praxis is not

A) An objective and neutral evaluation of the role accounting plays in society
B) Usually focused at the broader level of society rather than at specific accounting practices
C) Concerned with changing ethical, social, political and economic life along socialist lines
D) The assumption of a circular relationship between theory and practice

Question 19

Critical researchers interpret the post-Enron increase in mandatory corporate reporting as primarily benefiting:

A) Society, as corporations are required to improve their level of disclosure
B) Corporations, as confidence will be restored to financial markets
C) Employees, as fewer companies will go bankrupt
D) Accountants, as demand for accounting services will increase

Question 20

Critical researchers believe that regulation of corporations is ineffective because the government:

A) Is weak and powerless
B) Is deceived by corporations
C) Favours the rich
D) Does not believe that more effective social and environmental legislation is required

Question 21

According to the critical perspective,which of the following is not a role of the conceptual framework project?

A) The role of conceptual frameworks is not to improve the practice of financial accounting
B) The role of conceptual frameworks is to improve the practice of financial accounting
C) Conceptual frameworks legitimise the role of the accounting profession within society
D) Conceptual frameworks provide a source of power for those people currently holding positions of power and wealth

Question 22

Which of the following statements is true,regarding the 'critical perspective' of accounting?

A) Critical perspective describes research undertaken by many researchers that sometimes apply different philosophical perspectives
B) In the critical perspective there is no single established theory or approach
C) In the critical perspective there is little consensus on how to proceed, aside from an absolute horror of modernity and neo-classical economics
D) All of the given options are correct

Question 23

Which of the following statements is not true regarding the 'deep ecologists' and 'radical feminists' perspective?

A) The 'deep ecologists' question the trade-off between economic performance and ecological damage
B) The 'radical feminists' believe that accounting maintains and reinforces masculine traits, such as the need for success and competition
C) Researchers working with the feminist literature argue for the need for accounting to be more 'masculine' and less 'feminine' in orientation
D) To a deep ecologist it is inconceivable that a trade-off could have any form of moral justification

Question 24

Which of the following is false?

A) Many companies believe that social and environmental objectives can be achieved without sacrificing profitability
B) Many companies believe that social and environmental objectives can be achieved without sacrificing profitability
C) Many companies believe that social and environmental issues are becoming more important to their customers
D) Many companies believe that consideration of social and environmental issues is necessary for profitable growth

Question 25

Which of the following statements is true,when comparing the research undertaken by critical theorists with the work undertaken by other accounting researchers?

A) Most accounting researchers tend to accept current social systems as 'given', unlike critical theorists that question whether current systems of accounting systematically favour certain classes in society at the expense of others
B) Critical theorists do not tend to debate which methods of accounting should be employed, rather they reconsider the structures of society in terms of whether the structures are equitable
C) Critical theorists view accounting as a social practice within political struggles and not merely a market practice guided by equilibrium in an efficient market
D) All of the given options are correct