Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of Accounting, Zah. C., Islamic Azad University, Zahedan, Iran.
2
Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Humanities, Meybod University, Meybod, Iran.
3
Department of Accounting, Zah. C., Islamic Azad university, Zahedan, Iran.
4
Department of Accounting, Khas, C., Islamic Azad university, Khash, Iran.
Abstract
Auditors play a critical role in ensuring transparency, accuracy, and credibility in financial reporting for a wide range of stakeholders, including investors. Understanding the social role of auditors through the lens of interpretivist theory offers valuable insights into how auditors engage with stakeholders and influence the interpretation of financial information. This exploratory study employs a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach to identify and rank components and indicators of auditors’ social role based on interpretivism. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis and multimodal grounded theory with 17 expert participants, while the quantitative phase used a questionnaire and Friedman test. The study identified six key components: (1) social responsibility and justice, (2) reporting and audit quality, (3) judgment and decision-making, (4) identity and social status, (5) monitoring and accountability, and (6) methodological commitments, along with 23 indicators. Ranking these components revealed that social responsibility and justice hold the highest priority, followed by identity and social status, and then monitoring and accountability. Results indicate that auditors prioritize social justice by adhering to ethical principles and promoting transparency in financial and non-financial information, thereby contributing to the reduction of inequalities.
Keywords