H02. There is no significant difference in the measured meaning of the concept “cash”, as defined in either FRS 10 or NZ IAS 7, between each of the three financial reporting groups.
If pairs of reporting groups fail to exhibit a shared cognitive structure (as established under H01), H02 will not be able to be tested for those pairs. In this case, the connotative meaning of cash will be assumed not to be shared and the analysis will proceed directly to H03 for those reporting group pairs.
Hronsky and Houghton (2001) found a significant difference among auditors in the measured meanings of old and new definitions of “extraordinary items”, respectively, under Australian Accounting Standards. Earlier, Houghton and Messier (1990) confirmed the existence of significant differences among auditors and bankers (and between these two groups) in their interpretation of the meaning of differently worded audit reports and different types of audit report opinions. These results suggest that individual reporting groups may exhibit significant intragroup differences in the measured meanings of alternative definitions of specific accounting concepts.