The Relation of Accounting Research to Teaching and Practice: A "Positive" View

There has been a fundamental change in accounting research and education. A shift from normative or prescriptive theories of how accounting ought to be done to positive or descriptive theories of why it is done as it is. Twenty-five years ago, accounting students learned normative theories of accounting, but today, analogical reasoning is not likely to be taught as the only way to make an accounting policy recommendation. Another area of change is professional ethics, which currently are likely to be taught as a natural consequence of the attestation contract. The study of descriptive theories and extant rules will prepare students to evaluate alternatives in the face of inevitable changes in the social, economic, and political environment.