The effects of experience and data presentation format on an auditing judgment

Abstract

Prior research has examined the effects of information presentation format on decision outcomes in various settings, but has led to inconclusive results as to whether a tabular or graphical format is superior for decision making. An important methodological difference in these studies is the use of inexperienced versus experienced participants. This study examines the interaction of experience with presentation format in the application of auditing judgments (specifically, analytical review judgments) and finds that participant experience does matter. In particular, where tabular information was most extensively used (i.e., in the task of correlation assessment), the performance advantage from using graphs was not as great for practitioners as for students, perhaps because of the experience practitioners possess with the use of tables. Implications of this study for the interpretation of prior findings are discussed as well as directions for future research.