Page 94 - PhD GT

Table 4.2 Readability scores for the ten items of the LDQ
LDQ item
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
All items
Flesch reading ease 1
76.6 69 101.4 88.9 76.2 64.9 90.1 69.0 100.7 89.5 83
Flesch Flesch - Kincaid3 grade level2
7.3 7.5 8.1 7.6 0.0 2.8 6.1 3.8 7.4 7.3 8.5 6.9 6.0 4.7 8.1 7.6 0.0 3.2 6.0 4.0 6.7 5.5
Gunning Fog Index4
10.0 11.4 6.0 4.8 9.7 11.7 6.4 11.4 6.4 8.3 8.5
1 &2
3 4
indices based upon the average number of words per sentence and the average number of syllables per word. Standard writing averages approximately 17 words per sentence and 147 syllables per 100 words.
index assigns a grade level where 7 or 8 are roughly within the range for standard writing. A higher score denotes more difficult material.
index based upon sentence length and the number of words per sentence with more than one syllable. The higher the score the more difficult to read.
In a series of studies examining response choices, Newstead and Collis (1987) found that “the rank orderings of the quantifiers are remarkably consistent across all experiments....did not differ by more than one place...indicating a high level of consistency.....hence although context and content can influence the frequency estimates given for each quantifier, the rank order of quantifiers is virtually immutable.” (Newstead and Collis 1987 p. 1460). Combining the findings from 3 experiments, the following order of quantifiers, with mean percentages given in brackets, was found:
Never (5%) < Rarely (13%) = Seldom (15%) = Infrequently (19%) < Occasionally (28%) < Sometimes(37%) < Often (66%) = Frequently (69%) = Usually (73%) < Always (95%) (Newstead and Collis 1987 p. 1460).
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