IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2017 - 82

A Methodological Paradox
The paradox of social science research in general, and
accounting (information systems) research in particular,
stems from the futility of articulating some universally
accepted theoretical measure of the universal unpredictability of human norms and practice. Hence, there exists
no single unified theory of accounting (information systems) or any other human practice, for that matter. However, what social science and accounting (information
systems) researchers often endeavor to do is to impart a
theoretical understanding that balances the multitude of
interests in society, and brings it to bear upon their particular practice. This stated aim has been undermined in
the last thirty or so years by the concerted effort of a
relentless neoliberal machine, that is financially supported by big banks and multinational corporations to promote their own economic interests at the expense of the
welfare of the masses. This renders any supposedly
democratic process dysfunctional, with the political
"Right" being the guardians and promoters of the neoliberal agenda and the political "Left" facing a hopelessly
compromising1 position.
On engaging with the world around us, we make as sumptions about its nature and characteristics, which
become a "model" (of that observed world) when they
(the nature and characteristics) at least notionally form
a coherent set. In modeling the world around us, we (as
observers) may not necessarily come up with the same
exact assumptions and characteristics about that
world, which makes the process of articulating an
understanding of the different models, and their nature
and characteristics, often fraught with dread. The reason for this is that our beliefs and assumptions are fundamental to our ability to make sense of our world.
Heidegger [3] and Gadamer [4] argue that we are
already operating within an existing set of beliefs and
assumptions when we try to understand the assumptions that we make about some world. Therefore, we
are caught in an endless circle of beliefs and assumptions, the so-called hermeneutic circle, which means
that we will never be able to make our assumptions
about the world completely explicit.
In spite of such a fundamental problem, I think that
providing descriptions of philosophical models or
"paradigms" [5] is not only advantageous as a basis for
discussion about assumptions, but also useful in understanding the nature of the assumptions we make about
the world, and the ways in which we acquire knowledge
about the world, which is no doubt helpful in improving our understanding of one another's positions. In
social science research, there are broadly speaking three
1

The cruel treatment [2] of asylum seekers in Australia is a case in point,
where both Left and Right compete in coming up with relocation and processing policies that are equally inhumane.

82

dominant philosophies or paradigms: positive, interpretive, and critical. They are often seen as mutually exclusive alternatives given their incommensurability. This has
often seemed to me, like "naïve fundamentalism" where
the complexity of a researcher's experience had to be
reduced and tailored to fit some (predefined) paradigm,
be it positivist or interpretive, postmodernist or critical, or
... whatever!
The preoccupation with this "obsession" baffled me
and I must say that I have grown resentful over the years
with this repressive compulsion that I must have some
exclusively defined intellectual identity or persona, as if
one cannot exist without being defined in some way or
another. Such an obligation seemed absurd, given my
experience in practice, where one engages reflexively in
all three paradigms, as well as other paradigms from
other disciplines. Logically it is impossible to separate
one's thinking (and actions) into those disparate schools
of thought. It is certainly my belief that any underpinning philosophy that precluded the combination of scientific, conceptual, and political thinking in making an
argument or policy must fail the test of experience.

Ontological Predilections
and the Objective Subjective Divide
Accounting is a social practice, which attempts to construct an account for reality that is of concern to our
practice as accountants. The reality of competing geopolitical interests are mostly about resource allocation tensions, that are often articulated in terms of economic,
political, technological, social, or ethical rationales, to
name a few, while accounting practice is arbitrarily "calibrating" their parameters, like "useful life," "pension
minimum age," "working hours per week," and so on, to
influence the allocation of resources in favor of one
party over another. Yet professional practice is a contentious issue [6, p. ix], because the theory that offers our
accounting practice (the act to "account for") with its reasoned underpinnings, is anything but a coherent collection of "research trends, existing practice, and regulatory
pronouncements."
Gaffikin [6, p. ix] believes that the threat of "our ontological predilections" is by far the greatest factor inhibiting
our view and understanding of the world around us. He
promotes a "spirit of enquiry" that embraces "challenge to
and critique of" existing knowledge as well as "interdisciplinary exploration" to resolve some of the issues facing
accounting practice. Those range from globalization,
deregulation of global financial markets, business ethics,
to climate change. His main concern is that those issues
cannot be simply "resolved in purely economic terms,"
but rather through a broader vision of those issues.
On the other hand, reality is complex given that some
of it, objective facts in the world, are only facts by

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