A Comparative study on the audit quality attributes and perception of the audit partners and financial statement users

Purpose: One of the most important topics in accounting literature is the quality of information presented in financial statements. The audit helps in maintaining the records and verification of the books of accounts. The audit fosters trust among all the parties involved including banks, debenture holders, creditors and other stakeholders. Therefore, in order to secure the stakeholders related to any organization audit is undertaken. The financial auditors report provides users with the confirmation that the company will continue to operate in the foreseeable future and the activity reported in the financial statement is sustainable, at least in the medium term. In this regard the literature has grown significantly in the terms of analyzing the quality of financial audit this provides the purpose for undertaking this research. Research design, data and methodology: This research is exploratory research that is it is quantitative in nature and investigates the research question that has not previously been studied in depth. The methodology adopted for collecting responses with respect to the research is judgmental sampling which covered employees associated with financial sector. The data is collected from 62 individuals working in financial sector so as to measure their knowledge about financial audit and also to know the attributes and perceptions that influences the audit quality. Results: The result outlines the major attributes and perception effecting the audit quality, it was found out by performing factor analysis, and analyzing the data collected. Conclusions: There have been researches on the audit quality but this one contributes in identifying the majorly affecting characteristics of auditors on audit quality and perceptions

Loont passie? Een onderzoek naar de sociaaleconomische positie van professionele kunstenaars in Vlaanderen

Het rapport brengt de sociaal-economische positie van de professionele kunstenaars in kaart. Via een online-enquête werd gepolst naar het sociaal-demografisch profiel van de kunstenaars, hun diverse activiteiten (artistiek en niet-artistiek), de inkomsten die daar tegenover staan, hun beroepskosten, arbeidstevredenheid en hun noden tot ondersteuning

Star formation in W3 - AFGL333: Young stellar content, properties and roles of external feedback

One of the key questions in the field of star formation is the role of stellar feedback on subsequent star formation process. The W3 giant molecular cloud complex at the western border of the W4 super bubble is thought to be influenced by the stellar winds of the massive stars in W4. AFGL333 is a ~10^4 Msun cloud within W3. This paper presents a study of the star formation activity within AFGL333 using deep JHKs photometry obtained from the NOAO Extremely Wide-Field Infrared Imager combined with Spitzer-IRAC-MIPS photometry. Based on the infrared excess, we identify 812 candidate young stellar objects in the complex, of which 99 are classified as Class I and 713 are classified as Class II sources. The stellar density analysis of young stellar objects reveals three major stellar aggregates within AFGL333, named here AFGL333-main, AFGL333-NW1 and AFGL333-NW2. The disk fraction within AFGL333 is estimated to be ~50-60%. We use the extinction map made from the H-Ks colors of the background stars to understand the cloud structure and to estimate the cloud mass. The CO-derived extinction map corroborates the cloud structure and mass estimates from NIR color method. From the stellar mass and cloud mass associated with AFGL333, we infer that the region is currently forming stars with an efficiency of ~4.5% and at a rate of ~2 - 3 Msun Myr-1pc-2. In general, the star formation activity within AFGL333 is comparable to that of nearby low mass star-forming regions. We do not find any strong evidence to suggest that the stellar feedback from the massive stars of nearby W4 super bubble has affected the global star formation properties of the AFGL333 region.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

Research Based Learning: Added Value in Students' Science Critical Thinking Skills

Many new learning models in the 21st century have emerged in improving students' academic skills, one of which is research-based learning (RBL). This pedagogic and constructivist model connects research and learning in improving students' critical thinking skills (CTS). The results of the study show that studies in empowering students' CTS using RBL are still limited. Therefore, exploration and deeper measurement of CTS with the RBL model were carried out through this study. The purpose of this study was to improve students' CTS using the RBL learning model. The results of the ANCOVA test showed that there was an effect of the RBL model in improving students' CTS. Descriptive data also shows that the average value of CTS is 72.70 using RBL, while students who take part in learning using conventional models show an average value of critical thinking skills of 58.30. Thus, RBL can be recommended in increasing the CTS of elementary school students in science learning