Methodology
Participants
This study recruited 54 graduating senior students enrolled in an accounting information systems (AIS) course. These students acted as proxy for entry-level accountants in small to medium size businesses.
Procedures
The first part, participants were instructed to study the specific features of the
online accounting system, and to write a short paper regarding the advantages and
disadvantages of such a system. They then registered to test drive the OSBS online
accounting system and obtained hands-on experience by completing several
transactions. This second part of the project also required participants to print the
related documents such as the sales invoices, and to generate the financial statements.
For the third part, participants wrote a short paper to describe their experience with
OSBS.
After turning in the requirements for all three parts of the project, participants
each filled out a questionnaire that measured their trust of the internet, their trust in the
reliability of the OSBS online system, their perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use
of the system, and their intent to adopt the system