Graduation Year
Fall 2010
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Economics
Reader 1
Ananda Ganguly
Abstract
This thesis presents a new methodology based on directly measuring user behavior and making decisions based on experimental results. I have built and tested a tool which will enable researchers to use the methodology to determine whether particular financial statement presentations are more beneficial than others. The tool records user movement on a computer screen with mouse tracking, which allows researchers to track user behavior in greater detail than ever before. The methodology was tested on a subject pool of non-professional financial analysts and junior professionals, who were presented with a company’s financial data in the current GAAP and a new proposed FASB presentation format. The results show that this methodology could be useful in differentiating between present GAAP and proposed alternatives.
Recommended Citation
Burke, Kevin, "How Users Actually Use Financial Statements: A New Tool for Research in Experimental Accounting" (2010). CMC Senior Theses. 72.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/72
