Universitas Gadjah Mada
Faculty of Economics and Business

The introduction and understanding of the philosophy and research approach is very important for researchers in conducting research. This is the essence of holding a webinar series with the theme "Philosophy and Approaches to Accounting and Business Research" by the Accounting Laboratory, Department of Accounting, FEB UGM together with the Master of Science and Doctoral (MD) Study Program of FEB UGM which consists of 7 series and discusses various different paradigms for each session. On Friday (28/05), the sixth session of the webinar series was successfully held discussing critical paradigm as the topic.

On this occasion, the material about critical paradigm was delivered by Dr. Aviandi Okta Maulana, M.Acc., Ak., CA., CIRBC., As the speaker. In his material, Aviandi tries to answer questions related to critical paradigms such as what critical research actually meant, what underlies the emergence of this approach, and also about its application in the fields of accounting and business. The critical paradigm is defined as an alternative paradigm related to society whose purpose is to criticize and justify the existing status quo in society and to provide alternative knowledge to produce a better social order. Therefore, according to Aviandi, it is important for us to understand social science first before discussing the critical paradigm theory further.

Furthermore, Aviandi discussed the origin of critical theory. There are 3 aspects that underlie a theory that can be categorized as a critical theory. The first is an approach to science related to the realization of social construction in the context of social struggle. The second aspect is critical theory as the conception of society which simultaneously criticizes and envisions new possibilities related to society. The last aspect, namely critical theory as a vision to realize certain values which are not only limited to the sociological value per se.

In the next discussion, Aviandi then explained about theoretical research using critical theory. Broadly speaking, there are five studies consisting of western Marxism, hermeneutics, Weberian, French social theory, as well as critical realism and social science which are the consequences of methodological pragmatism. In addition, related to the application of critical research in the accounting field itself, this paradigm has been widely applied. Some of them include research by Gendron in 2018 which raises awareness of the nature of critical research in the accounting field by providing his experience in the CPA journal. Another research work that is also interesting in understanding critical paradigms fundamentally is the paper by Humphrey and Moizer in 1990 regarding the role of auditing as a social phenomenon. In 2005, there was also research by Gendron and Baker examining the application of Foucault's sociological work in papers in the field of accounting research. The webinar was then ended with a question and answer session and discussion between the participants and the speaker, which was guided by the moderator.

Reportage: Kirana Lalita Pristy/Sony Budiarso.