Accounting for Accounting History: A topic modeling approach (1996–2015)

Abstract

This paper analyses all articles published in Accounting History using a topic modeling technique. Previous studies focus on the content of accounting history, but not how the field has evolved. The paper complements prior assessments of the research published in Accounting History by providing measures of the relative prevalence of research areas and their evolution over time. The analysis offers insights into accounting history by refining previous categorisations, uncovering overlooked topic areas, and substantiating trends, such as the demise of interest in the technical core of accounting in favour of more variegated and fragmented approaches. The findings are discussed in light of the claimed pluralisation of methodological and theoretical approaches in this field

A comparative study of the accounting research trends (1994–2014) between Spain and Italy

“…As for topics, General topics in Spain and Financial Accounting in Italy are prevalent over the 20-year period of study, even though their relevance has decreased in the last few years, consistent with previous AH reviews (Ferri et al, 2018; Walker, 2008). Similarly, cost and management accounting have diminished over time in both journals; together with the decrease in financial accounting, RIREA and REFC confirm a decrease in the technical core of subjects in accounting (Ferri et al, 2018; Walker, 2008). Nevertheless, public sector accounting has grown in recent periods in Italy, confirming previous research (Bisman, 2012; Edwards and Walker, 2009), while it has diminished in REFC.…”

MITAO: A User Friendly and Modular Software for Topic Modelling

“…As a result, all the words in the textual sources are coded to a topic, and all the original texts are constituted by the topic in different percentages. Topics can be ontologically different (Ferri et al, 2018), as they can be interpreted as themes, or discourse, or frames (Gamson, 1992). More in general, 'the sets of terms that constitute topics index discursive environments, or frames, that define patterns of association between a focal issue and other constructs ' (DiMaggio et al, 2013: 563).…”

Applying Topic Modelling to Party Discourse: An Exploration of the Italian Case in 2013–2019

“…Following standard practice (e.g., Ferri, Lusiani and Pareschi, 2018), in line with the discussion above, I originally developed different topic models including different numbers of topics. Pertinent qualitative criteria for preferring one topic model to another had been specified beforehand, including: (i) the internal coherence and ease of interpretation of each and every topic comprised by a given solution; (ii) analytical separation between different issues or policy domains (e.g., immigration and Europe), that is, their allocation to different topics in spite of any linkages promoted by the discourse of certain political actors; (iii) a higher proportion of topics corresponding to cross-cutting issues and policy domains, arguably more meaning-laden than those topics connoted by references to partisan styles of communication.…”

“…In principle, discrepancies between the two indicators could point to significant underlying dynamics: for instance, if the second figure were much lower than the first one for Topic 7, such topic would be revealed to work as a filler in texts hegemonised by other topics (Ferri, Lusiani and Pareschi, 2018). For ease of understanding, 'partisan' topics are in green in Table 3 Some considerations can be pointed out.…”