Publication Details
Abstract
The research aimed to demonstrate the development of accounting thought and the scientific focus of accounting, and to extrapolate the development of accounting thought within the logic of the natural sciences and the philosophy of the social sciences. The research relied on the descriptive approach in presenting its theoretical framework and the deductive reasoning approach in its applied aspect, to study and analyze the impact of schools of accounting thought on the objectives of accounting. The conclusions revealed that accounting thought encompasses scientific Bases belonging to the natural sciences and others belonging to the social sciences, in a manner that largely parallels the accounting profession's inclusion of both measurement and financial reporting. Accounting also meets the standards of the social sciences, while still facing a scientific crisis from the perspective of the natural sciences. Scientific progress in accounting measurement can be paralleled by the scientific integration of the pure sciences. Accounting measurement relies on the method of congruence and determinism, the same method used to explain other natural phenomena. Scientific progress in accounting reporting also parallels the philosophical and cognitive diversity in the social sciences, particularly epistemology in management and behavioral theory in education. Accounting, as a systematic field of knowledge, fulfills the definition of science and allows for prediction and control of future events. The most important recommendations emphasized the use of the scientific method, particularly the mathematical approach. It was also necessary to direct accounting research toward the principles and rules of accounting measurement as a distinct discipline. A specialized committee or accredited specialized council should work to standardize the definitions, concepts, and terminology related to the use of scientific research methods in the field of accounting.