Click HERE for the calendar of upcoming Round Table events. Go to the bottom of this page for information about how to participate in a Round Table event.

Since October, 2008, FASRI has been conducting online meetings in the virtual world Second Life. Over 120 research faculty and doctoral students have attended at least once, many attending repeatedly (with crowds averaging about 20-30), to hear from each of the current FASB board members as well as many FASB and IASB Staff members. These events are intended to fulfill our mandate to foster communication between standard setters and researchers, and to encourage research that can inform the Boards’ deliberations on financial reporting issues. The schedule of past and upcoming Round Table Discussions is shown here.

Types of Sessions

Round Table topics and formats vary from week to week. Here are some of our common events:

  • Standard-setters updates. For these sessions, we hear from a staff member (often a project manager) who has been working closely with a particular standard-setting project. Researchers will have opportunities to ask questions.
  • Research Updates. For these sessions, researchers discuss their research with fellow academics and with standard setters who are particularly interested in the particular topic. (FASRI will work with the research presenters to identify the most interested staff, and schedule the event to allow them to attend.)
  • Research Advice. These sessions give the floor to those who have been particularly successful in conducting research of interest to standard setters, who can give other researchers ideas on how to pursue their own research agenda more effectively, and enhance the standard-setting impact of their work.

The Key to Successful Researcher-Standard Setter Communication

FASB Research Round Table Discussions are motivated in part by the challenges of communication between standard setters and academic researchers. Both communities use their own language and terminology, and forms of argumentation. Academic researchers usually argue by pointing to the logical implications of economic theory, or the persuasiveness of empirical data to support or refute testable predictions. In contrast, standard setters tend to argue by reference to a conceptual framework that defines the objectives of financial reporting, the methods of achieving those objectives, and the nature of financial statement elements (like “asset” and “income”). Both perspectives can be very powerful, but communication often fails when a researchers tries to use economic theory or empirical arguments to refute a position founded in a standard-setter’s conceptual framework (or vice versa). Equally important, understanding the fine points of economic theory, statistical analysis or research design often require training that few standard setters possess; in the same way, understanding the implications of the conceptual framework and practical considerations for a particular standard require years of immersion in a financial reporting topic, which few academic researchers possess.

In light of these challenges, we strongly encourage researchers to construct their arguments in ways that emphasize the implications for standard setting, can be translated into the Conceptual Framework, and that refer to difficult technical issues only when necessary. Similar recommendations apply to standard setters. However, our philosophy is not one of symmetry: because our goal is to foster research that will inform standard setters, researchers bear a greater burden in framing their arguments in ways meaningful to standard setters than the other way around.

Short-term and Long-term goals

The immediate goals of Round Table Discussions are:
• To communicate academic research to standard setters in a way that will convey its relevance and importance to staff and Board deliberations, and
• To get feedback from the staff and Board (and other researchers) on how your work or future work might be made even more relevant and important.

Keep in mind, however, that our discussions have two longer-term goals:
• To help young researchers learn from your example (and others’ reactions) how to conduct research that can inform standard-setters’ deliberations, and
• To build a community of people who are engaging constructively with standard setters

The Venue

FASRI Round Table Discussions take place in the virtual world Second Life. We use this platform because it provides a strong sense of actually being in a room with other attendees, which we view as an important step toward improving communication among standard setters and researchers, and building research relationships that lead to collaboration. Virtual worlds are also well suited to social networking. We hope that you will be able to stay after sessions, even if only briefly, to chat with people who may be interested in following up on your research, and perhaps exploring opportunities for collaboration or further discussion. A few minutes of your time can play an important role in building a community of researchers who are willing and able to work constructively on standard setting issues.

Taking Advantage of the Venue

PowerPoint presentations are, of course, possible in Second Life. However, virtual worlds are excellent venues for informal and highly interactive discussions. We encourage researchers to use just a few slides as needed to sketch out the main points, charts and graphs, to encourage more interaction. We will make sure the materials are available in advance, and you can assume that the standard setters have received some advance preparation on the paper.

Getting into Second Life

If you are unfamiliar with Second Life, here is what you need to do:

  • Make sure you have a recently current computer, a broadband connection, and a headset with a microphone. Complete system requirements are available here.
  • You can create an account here. Keep in mind that you will need to choose a last name from a drop down list, and then any first name you wish.
  • After creating an account, download Second Life here. Then simply open up Second Life, and log in with your account name and password.

Once you have Second Life installed on your computer, you can simply click here to teleport immediately to the Round Table.

    Alternatively, when you are “inworld,” use the search tool (the button is on the bottom of your screen) and choose the “people” tab. Then search for any of the following people:

    • Beyers Sellers (Robert Bloomfield)
    • Halestorm Lorefield (Jeffrey Hales)

    Click the “instant message” button on the person’s profile, and let them know you are an accounting researcher interested in attending FASRI Round Table Discussions in Second Life.

    Round Table Discussions will be conducted using Second Life voice technology. You can find detailed information about using voice here. Round Table Discussions are also streamed onto the web and be viewed here.