The Accounting Review Vol. 36 No. 4 1961
ACCOUNTING AND STATISTICS.
Abstract
As business operations become more complicated, the decisions of managers have greater impact upon people and conditions, and it would be expected the added demands upon management would be met by increasing search for more objective, dependable, and positive data upon which to base decisions. Quantitative methods have proved effective in the natural and applied sciences, and the use of accounting and statistical data in business would again lead one to expect that these two fields would feel some pressure for additional help in providing data for decisions. All this means a greater opportunity for those who gather, analyze, and prepare such data for the information of decision-makers, an opportunity that will not be overlooked. The purpose of the article is to explore the relation between accounting and statistics; how independent are these methodologies, with respect to the functions they really should serve, in the collection and use of managerial information. The answer to the question of interdependence of these disciplines may have much to do with the adequacy of service to be rendered by either the statistician or the accountant. Whether or not an accountant, or a statistician, regards his field as separate is largely a question of attitude. There are problems of importance on which both techniques should be used together.
- DOI
- 10.2308/tar-7097592
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 589-597
- Language
- en
- Sources
- openalex crossref