Use of statistical tools in papers about Financial Accounting – a quantitative study in three conferences held in the country

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the use of statistical methods in science. After literature search, data were tabulated to allow a quantitative analysis, in order to describe the characteristics of the sample. We analyzed reports submitted to Congress ANPCONT, Congress USP Controlling and Accounting and in the EnANPAD. The sample consists of 299 articles, from 2007 to 2009, the thematic area “Accounting for external users”. It was observed that: over 50% of articles used statistical approach, the incidence of this approach has increased over the years, 11 different types of statistical methods were employed, highlighting the statistical inference, regression analysis and descriptive statistics; and universities in the Southeast were the most contributed articles containing this approach, highlighting the USP and FUCAPE. The aim is, thus, to contribute to the dissemination of statistical models and encourage researchers to deal with technical yet little explored.