Abstract ABSTRACT: This article examines the ratio-scale view in accounting from the standpoint of modern measurement theory. It also provides interpretations of the tenets of modern measurement theory in accounting.

Abstract This article is a comment on Vickrey. The purpose of Vickrey's article was "to appraise the validity of the ratio-scale view" in order to determine whether the numerical assignments in accounting conform to the requirements of measurement theory and to evaluate the relevance of these numerical values to the construction and the confirmation of accounting theory. Using the tenets of the theory of fundamental measurement, Vickrey concluded that the ratio-scale view was invalid because of the object, property, operations and index difficulties. The purpose of this comment is to point out weaknesses in Vickrey's analysis which suggest that his conclusion about the ratio-scale view is unjustified. A major dilemma in Vickrey's article is found in his use of a criterion incompatible with the subject of his analysis. The assertion that cash is an object while claims to monetary units, for example, accounts and notes receivable, are not fails to recognize that the basic nature of money is its general acceptability by all members of society and not its physical attribute.