The use of microcomputers as workstations linked together with other shared devices in a local area network (LAN) is receiving more and more attention today. When LANs are used in a business environment with accounting processing systems, auditors are faced with the task of evaluating internal control of the network. This study has investigated internal controls and EDP auditors' evaluations of internal controls in LANs processing billings and sales. / From a pilot study using subjects with experience in evaluating internal control in an EDP environment from five of the Big Eight accounting firms, seventeen controls were identified as important in LANs and were classified into the categories of workstation controls, processing controls, data and program security, and supervisory controls. Saaty's Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was then used to investigate the relative importance of each control and each category of control to the quality of internal control, in the opinion of individuals with experience in EDP internal control evaluation. With the approval and assistance of every Big Eight firm, eighty-five questionnaires were distributed to a sample of such individuals, from which fifty-one subjects (60%) responded. Using the AHP measurement methodology, individual judgment models were constructed. The level of agreement (or disagreement) among the EDP auditors in their judgment models (i.e., consensus) was measured by determining for every pair of respondents the inter-rater correlations of the cue weights for the controls in their models. Hypothesis tests for differences in consensus among firms and across experience levels were also conducted. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-01, Section: A, page: 0218. / Thesis (D.B.A.)--The Florida State University, 1984.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75263 |
Contributors | HARPER, ROBERT MITCHELL, JR., Florida State University |
Source Sets | Florida State University |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Text |
Format | 228 p. |
Rights | On campus use only. |
Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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