The Committee included materials from its study in a database it is making available to assist others in their research on the information needs of users. The database, Database of Materials on Users' Needs for Information, is divided into seven sections as listed and described below.
This document summarizes the Committee's analysis of users' needs for information based on the information included in section II of the database. The introductory material discusses the objectives, scope, basis for analysis, guiding principles, and organization of the analysis.
This section presents what investors and creditors have indicated about their needs for information in a manner that best facilitates analysis. Thus, the materials are organized into categories and subcategories as listed in the introduction to the section, which also discusses the objective, organization, contents, and format of the materials. The materials are extracted from direct documents, authored by users, or are based on research directly with users. They include extracts from the direct documents listed at the front of the database.
In addition to extracts from previously published documents, the materials include extracts from new research sponsored by the Committee. New research resulted from the Committee's formal discussions with investors and creditors. The materials include the transcripts from those discussions, divided by topic. The second type of new research infers users' information needs from the contents of analysts' reports. Extracts from that research also are distributed across various topics within the materials. The study of analysts' reports is included in section III.
This research report infers users' information needs from the reports of sellside analysts. Excerpts from it also are included in section II.
The Committee also sponsored this research, which was not completed in time to be included in section II. It is based on documents certain public companies, which agreed to participate in the study, provided to users.
The Committee sponsored a survey, conducted by LH Research, Inc. and directed by Louis Harris, to confirm or refute with a large number of users its conclusions about users' needs as discussed in its analysis (section I). The survey is in three parts. The first is the Committee's analysis of the survey, comparing and contrasting the results of the survey with the conclusions the Committee reached in its earlier analysis (section I). The second presents the results of the survey, with commentary by Louis Harris. The third is the survey instrument.
The Committee sponsored a task force of experts in various disciplines to help develop a longer term perspective. The Task Force considered the directions in which business information is likely to evolve as a result of changing social, political, economic, technological, regulatory, and other forces. Section VI includes the task force's report.
The bibliography lists many of the published documents the Committee considered in developing recommendations, including documents about users' needs for information as well as other matters. Copies of the database, which totals about 1,600 pages, are available from the AICPA.