A Reexamination of the Concept of Materiality: View of Auditors, Users, and Officers of the Court.

This paper reports on two empirical studies conducted to assess the consistency with which practicing auditors operationally define materiality as compared to various other groups. Auditor responses are compared with responses made to the same cases by judges, corporate attorneys, bank loan officers, Chartered Financial Analysts, and credit managers. The findings of both studies indicate a lack of consensus within the auditor group and among the various other groups included in the study.