IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/accted/v17y2008i2p173-185.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Support for Graphicacy: A Review of Textbooks Available to Accounting Students

Author

Listed:
  • Margaret Milner
  • Wan Ying Hill

Abstract

This Teaching Note reports on the support available in textbooks for graphicacy that will help students understand the complexities of graphical displays. Graphical displays play a significant role in financial reporting, and studies have found evidence of measurement distortion and selection bias. To understand the complexities of graphical displays, students need a sound understanding of graphicacy and support from the textbooks available to them to develop that understanding. The Teaching Note reports on a survey that examined the textbooks available to students attending two Scottish universities. The support of critical graphicacy skills was examined in conjunction with textbook characteristics. The survey, which was not restricted to textbooks designated as required reading, examined the textbooks for content on data measurement and graphical displays. The findings highlight a lack of support for graphicacy in the textbooks selected. The study concludes that accounting educators need to scrutinize more closely the selection of textbooks and calls for more extensive research into textbooks as a pedagogic tool.

Suggested Citation

  • Margaret Milner & Wan Ying Hill, 2008. "Support for Graphicacy: A Review of Textbooks Available to Accounting Students," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 173-185.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:accted:v:17:y:2008:i:2:p:173-185
    DOI: 10.1080/09639280701612150
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09639280701612150
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09639280701612150?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sally Aisbitt, 2005. "International accounting books: Publishers' dream, authors' nightmare and educators' reality," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 349-360.
    2. John Ferguson & David Collison & David Power & Lorna Stevenson, 2006. "Accounting textbooks: Exploring the production of a cultural and political artifact," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 243-260.
    3. Hopper, Trevor & Storey, John & Willmott, Hugh, 1987. "Accounting for accounting: Towards the development of a dialectical view," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 437-456, August.
    4. Ronald Davidson, 2005. "Analysis of the complexity of writing used in accounting textbooks over the past 100 years," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 53-74.
    5. Paul Mather & Alan Ramsay & Alan Serry, 1996. "The Use and Representational Faithfulness of Graphs in Annual Reports: Australian Evidence," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 6(12), pages 56-63, September.
    6. Neu, D. & Warsame, H. & Pedwell, K., 1998. "Managing public impressions: environmental disclosures in annual reports," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 265-282, April.
    7. Stock, D & Watson, Cj, 1984. "Human Judgment Accuracy, Multidimensional Graphics, And Humans Versus Models," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 192-206.
    8. Mitch, David, 1990. "The Role of the Textbook in Undergraduate Economic History Courses: Indispensable Tool or Superficial Convenience?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(02), pages 428-431, June.
    9. Wan Ying Hill & Margaret Milner, 2003. "Guidelines for graphical displays in financial reporting," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 135-157.
    10. Blocher, Edward & Moffie, Robert P. & Zmud, Robert W., 1986. "Report format and task complexity: Interaction in risk judgments," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 11(6), pages 457-470, October.
    11. Graves, O. Finley & Flesher, Dale L. & Jordan, Robert E., 1996. "Pictures and the bottom line: The television epistemology of U.S. annual reports," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 57-88, January.
    12. Davis, Larry R., 1989. "Report format and the decision maker's task: An experimental investigation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 14(5-6), pages 495-508, October.
    13. McKinstry, Sam, 1996. "Designing the annual reports of burton plc from 1930 to 1994," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 89-111, January.
    14. Simon James, 2000. "Teaching tax principles and policy: comparing the single textbook and wider reading approaches," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 281-289.
    15. John Laidler & Simon Pallett, 1998. "International accounting; a review of books available to supportUK courses: a teaching note," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 75-86.
    16. Ferguson, John & Collison, David & Power, David & Stevenson, Lorna, 2005. "What are recommended accounting textbooks teaching students about corporate stakeholders?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 23-46.
    17. Henry C. Lucas, Jr., 1981. "An Experimental Investigation of the Use of Computer-Based Graphics in Decision Making," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(7), pages 757-768, July.
    18. Preston, Alistair M. & Wright, Christopher & Young, Joni J., 1996. "IMag[in]ing annual reports," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 113-137, January.
    19. Libby, Robert & Lewis, Barry L., 1977. "Human information processing research in accounting: The state of the art," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 245-268, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ali Uyar, 2009. "An analysis of graphic disclosure in annual reports: the case of Turkey," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 24(5), pages 423-444, May.
    2. Apostolou, Barbara & Hassell, John M. & Rebele, James E. & Watson, Stephanie F., 2010. "Accounting education literature review (2006–2009)," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 145-197.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rahma Chekkar & Isabelle Martinez & Claire Gillet, 2013. "Une étude expérimentale des formats de présentation de la performance : tableaux versus graphiques," Post-Print hal-01002935, HAL.
    2. Quick, Reiner & Sayar, Sanjar, 2024. "The effect of tone, signature, and visual elements in compliance management systems disclosures on financial analysts’ decisions," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    3. Jones, Michael John, 2011. "The nature, use and impression management of graphs in social and environmental accounting," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 75-89.
    4. Duff, Angus, 2011. "Big four accounting firms’ annual reviews: A photo analysis of gender and race portrayals," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 20-38.
    5. Davison, Jane, 2010. "[In]visible [in]tangibles: Visual portraits of the business élite," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 165-183, February.
    6. Beattie, Vivien, 2014. "Accounting narratives and the narrative turn in accounting research: Issues, theory, methodology, methods and a research framework," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 111-134.
    7. Parsons, Linda M. & Tinkelman, Daniel, 2013. "Testing the feasibility of small multiples of sparklines to display semimonthly income statement data," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 58-76.
    8. Jeacle, Ingrid, 2008. "Beyond the boring grey: The construction of the colourful accountant," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(8), pages 1296-1320.
    9. Christopher D. Allport & John A. Pendley, 2010. "The impact of website design on the perceived credibility of internet financial reporting," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3‐4), pages 127-141, July.
    10. Benschop, Yvonne & Meihuizen, Hanne E., 2002. "Keeping up gendered appearances: representations of gender in financial annual reports," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 611-636, October.
    11. Taylor, Dennis & Tharapos, Meredith & Sidaway, Shannon, 2014. "Downward accountability for a natural disaster recovery effort: Evidence and issues from Australia's Black Saturday," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 633-651.
    12. Hrasky, Sue, 2012. "Visual disclosure strategies adopted by more and less sustainability-driven companies," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 154-165.
    13. Solomon, Jill F. & Solomon, Aris & Joseph, Nathan L. & Norton, Simon D., 2013. "Impression management, myth creation and fabrication in private social and environmental reporting: Insights from Erving Goffman," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 195-213.
    14. Oakes, Helen & Oakes, Steve, 2012. "Accounting and marketing communications in arts engagement: A discourse analysis," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 209-222.
    15. Mark A. Clatworthy & Michael John Jones, 2006. "Differential patterns of textual characteristics and company performance in the chairman's statement," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 19(4), pages 493-511, July.
    16. Davison, Jane, 2014. "Visual rhetoric and the case of intellectual capital," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 20-37.
    17. Davison, Jane, 2011. "Paratextual framing of the annual report: Liminal literary conventions and visual devices," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 118-134.
    18. Dineli Mather & Paul Mather & Alan Ramsay, 2005. "An investigation into the measurement of graph distortion in financial reports," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 147-160.
    19. Mark Clatworthy & Michael Jones, 2003. "Financial reporting of good news and bad news: evidence from accounting narratives," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 171-185.
    20. Simone Aresu, 2015. "Graphical Reporting in Italian Annual Reports during the Financial Crisis: Impression Management or Incremental Information?," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(1), pages 77-106.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:accted:v:17:y:2008:i:2:p:173-185. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAED20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.