Hines (1989, p 89) argues that conceptual frameworks are ‘a strategic manoeuvre for providing legitimacy to standard-setting boards during periods of competition or threatened government intervention’. Write an essay to explain what is the basis of Hine’s

200267Advanced Accounting, Individual Assignm ent, Autum n 2014 1

200267 Advanced Accounting Autumn Semester 2014

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Due: Week 11, Friday 9th May 2014

Question: Hines (1989, p 89) argues that conceptual frameworks are ‘a strategic manoeuvre for providing legitimacy to standard-setting boards during periods of competition or threatened government intervention’. Write an essay to explain what is the basis of Hine’s argument. Your essay should also include a discussion of whether or not the history of the development of conceptual frameworks be used to support her position. Provide evidence to support your answer. How to present your work 1. You must submit Microsoft Word (electronic) copy of your assignment through vUWS by

10pm Friday 9th May 2014 (week 11). 2. Your assignment must be scanned using the anti-plagiarism software Turnitin ®. The

Turnitin plagiarism prevention system is being used with this unit. It is an important tool to assist students with their academic writing by promoting awareness of plagiarism. Please make use of this tool to improve your essay and iron out any plagiarism issues prior to your final submission. The system will allow you to overwrite your submission up until it is due. All assessments must be submitted via the Turnitin system (unless alternative arrangements are advised by your lecturer) on or before the due date and time.

3. The essay should be approximately 1,500 words in length (excluding appendices, tables, diagrams and references) and conform to the marking guide provided.

4. Use the Assignment Cover Sheet and include your Name and Student ID on the cover sheet. 5. Ensure that the declaration is signed and dated on the Assignment Cover Sheet. 6. Students are to keep a copy of all assignments submitted for marking. 7. It is extremely important that you are familiar with the university policy on plagiarism

that is included in the Unit Guide. 8. The file name for the electronic copy must follow the following pattern: your student ID

number followed by 200267Assignment. For example if your student ID number is 17432968, the file name should be 17432968_200267Assignment.

9. Assessment percentage. 15% (out of 100% total for the unit). Essay will be marked out of 50 and converted to 15 %.

10. Your essay must follow essay structure. 11. Key factors to keep in mind when writing your essay are:

• Ensure that all in-text references are accurate and comply with the Harvard referencing style. A guide is available on the UWS Library website with examples to assist you. Ensure you use only credible sources appropriate to your level of studies. Wikipedia, for example, is not a credible source. A Reference list of works of all works cited in your essay must be provided.

• Ensure you use accurate your spelling and grammar. It is often best to state things simply

200267Advanced Accounting, Individual Assignm ent, Autum n 2014 2

and clearly rather than using complicated language in the wrong context. • An essay should begin with an introduction, which outlines key arguments and defines key

terms. Make it clear in the first paragraph how you are planning to address the question. • Each paragraph should contain a topic sentence (what summarises the main idea in this

paragraph) and be followed by supporting sentences (and citations), which expand and provide more detail on the idea raised. A common student mistake is to write topic sentence after topic sentence. This makes essays seem like they are jumping from one idea to the next and will often attract feedback stating “no depth”. The supporting sentences are crucial to examine the initial idea in more detail and demonstrate an argument along with understanding. Ensure you examine each idea in enough detail – examine the idea fully before moving on.

• Remember that the marker can only mark what you actually said on the paper, not what is in your head or what you “meant to say”. For this reason, it is essential to review your own work in order to reveal flaws in structure or writing.

• Conclusions should never introduce new ideas, but instead should summarise the arguments and leave the reader with a resounding “take home message”, hopefully convincing them you have answered the question.

• The most common criticism faced by students in this unit is not answering the question. Discussion around a topic is not answering the question. It is often a helpful technique to use the essay question as part of your essay structure. You are the bouncer at the door of your own essay: choose which ideas get in. Choose the ideas that directly address the question.

Assessment Criteria:

A matrix outlining the assessment criteria and how your work will be assessed against these criteria is presented on the next page.

Reference

Hines, R. (1989), ‘Financial accounting knowledge, conceptual framework project and the social construction of the accounting profession’, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 2(2), pp. 72- 92.

200267Advanced Accounting, Individual Assignm ent, Autum n 2014 3

Individual Assignment (15%) Marking criteria and standards

CRITERIA UNSATISFACTORY NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

MEETS EXPECTATIONS

EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS

Identifies and uses relevant information to support conclusions reached:

Use a range of information sources

Only the text-book and internet sources.

A limited range of texts, internet sources, professional and academic journals.

A comprehensive range of texts, internet sources, professional and academic journals.

An extensive range of texts, internet sources, professional and academic journals.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Presents a well- structured argument within the word limit and conclusions are convincing

Assignment is poorly structured and/or unconvincing and/or outside the word limit.

Assignment could be better structured and/or the conclusions reached are not persuasive and/or outside the word limit.

Acceptable structure. The conclusions reached are convincing. Length is within the set limits.

Well structured. Conclusions are argued in a very persuasive manner. Length is within the set limits.

0 2 3 5 6 8 9 10

Addresses the requirements of the assignment question:

Dumps information. Shows no evidence of critical consideration of relevant information.

Shows some evidence of critical consideration of relevant information, but may be poorly integrated.

Shows evidence of critical consideration of relevant information, but may require better organisation.

Critically chooses information and clearly integrates it to support the conclusions reached.

2 5 6 10 11 15 16 20

Presents with clarity:

References and paraphrases correctly. [Note: Use of the “Harvard” system or similar referencing approach is required i.e. no footnotes]

In-text citation and/or paraphrasing and/reference missing or substantially incomplete.

In-text citation and/or paraphrasing and/reference have a number of errors.

Satisfactory in-text citation, paraphrasing and reference, possibly with a few minor errors.

Excellent in-text citation, paraphrasing and reference.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Presents with clarity:

Uses clear prose style: sentence structure, grammar, spelling, etc.

Writing style is poor and difficult to follow and/or marred by many grammatical and/or spelling errors.

Writing style requires improvement but is largely coherent. There are grammatical and/or spelling errors.

Writing style is coherent, with possibly a few grammatical and/or spelling errors.

Writing is clear and error-free, demonstrating superior written communication skills.

0 2 3 5 6 8 9 10

Total Mark out of 50