Sociological Theories

Accounting research draws on many other fields.  For instance, management accounting draws on economics, sociology, psychology as well as other disciplines.  Accounting is a social science and management accounting, in particular, looks at many managerial processes of accounting.  As such, academics within the disciplinary field of management accounting must be familiar with theories that explain human and group behaviour and the role of accounting within these contexts.

I have been reading the book 'Modern Sociological Theory' and I can see the application of these theories in management accounting papers.  I think that the various theories presented in this book can be used for all types of qualitative research, especially interpretive and critical accounting.  Psychological theories are also very useful and apply to management accounting papers that examine human behaviour, actions and processes.

I am also ordering the Handbook of Management Accounting Research in order to become acquainted with the body of knowledge in my field as well as the key players in my disciplinary field.  The cumulative effect of scholarly papers in my academic area is summarised in these three volumes with each chapter written by different international management accounting scholars.  I have found this handbook to be very helpful when understanding the current state of the field, contributions made, gaps in the literature as well as the standard of quality for papers in my field.