Expert vs novice decision making in accounting: A summary☆

Considerable effort is spent each year teaching students (novices) how to use accounting information, and how to make financial decisions. However, very little is object ively known about what differentiates exper t from novice decision making. This study compares the decision making processes of exper ts and novices in the context of a financial analysis task. It employs and extends a pro tocol analysis, or process tracing methodology, which has successfully been used in task domains such as physics and medicine The focus of the study is on detai led decision making behavior, thereby identifying the specific strategies and processes that are used by the exper t and the novice. The specific data collect ion approach used in the exper iment involved asking decision makers to verbalize during their financial analysis, and tape-recording their verbalizations. The resulting transcripts, called concurrent or thinking-aloud protocols, provide the data for the pro tocol analysis.