| "The art of art, the glory of expression and the | | | | Most comic books = 6 |
| sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity." | | | | (This article = 11.6) |
| Walt Whitman, 1819-1892, American Poet | | | | The Fog Index Applied |
| The client said, "We want this written at a | | | | Here is an example of the same information |
| 10th-grade reading level." I said, "What's a | | | | written at two different readability levels as |
| 10th-grade reading level and how is it measured?" | | | | measured by the Fog Index. |
| The client said, "Hey, will you look at the time! I | | | | Example One: Untold numbers of eternally |
| have to leave right now." | | | | optimistic individuals buy lottery tickets with odds |
| Similar experiences on a number of occasions | | | | in the multimillions against their chances of realizing |
| made me think that people use the phrase | | | | success. They're sustained by a level of ignorance |
| reading level without actually knowing what it | | | | that keeps them from recognizing that the |
| means. They read it somewhere and think they | | | | likelihood that such an unrealistic eventuality would |
| sound smarter if they can toss it into the | | | | actually occur is of an order of magnitude beyond |
| conversation. That sent me on a quest to find out | | | | their capacity to comprehend. They cling to the |
| what it means and how it's measured. Here's | | | | notion that if an event is possible it certainly must |
| what I found out. | | | | happen regardless of how great the statistical |
| First, this is an important issue, and one that's not | | | | chances are against it. Their cry is always, "Well, |
| well understood or carefully considered by many | | | | somebody's got to win," which is sufficient to |
| clients and the tech writers who work for them. | | | | block even the brightest glare of the cold light of |
| For writers with a lot of experience who write for | | | | reason. |
| a wide range of audiences, it becomes instinctive. | | | | The level is arrived at by counting the number of |
| They know their audiences. They know how to | | | | words, the number of sentences, and the number |
| write in a way that the readers can understand. | | | | of three-syllable, or longer, words. Then a formula |
| They make adjustments for the specific audience | | | | is applied that gives the readability index level. In |
| they're writing for. For writers new to the | | | | this example, there are 103 words, 4 sentences, |
| business or with experience writing for a limited | | | | and 20 three-syllable words. Using the formula, the |
| audience, it can be a problem when they need to | | | | Fog Index level is 18. That means the reader |
| write for an audience they're not familiar with. | | | | should probably have a doctorate to ensure |
| Next, when people say something is written at a | | | | comprehension. |
| tenth-grade reading level the target audience's | | | | Example Two: A lot of people who never give up |
| ability to read that concerns us. Someone could | | | | hope buy lottery tickets even though the odds |
| read "Uber der Welt so hoch" and still not | | | | against them ever winning are enormous. What |
| understand it. The goal is to write in a way that | | | | keeps them buying tickets is that they aren't able |
| the target audience can comprehend. That | | | | to understand that the odds against them are so |
| involves using vocabulary and sentence structure | | | | great that they can't really expect to win. They |
| that fits the reading comprehension level of the | | | | believe that because something is possible, then it |
| audience. , it's a misnomer. What they really mean | | | | must happen no matter what the odds against it |
| is that it's written at a tenth grade comprehension | | | | are. Saying, "Well, somebody's got to win," is |
| level or what's called a readability level. It's not | | | | enough to keep them from seeing the reality of |
| Finally, the good news. Readability can be | | | | the situation. |
| measured. The experts in the field of linguistics | | | | Using the same method, the 86 words, 4 |
| know what a tenth-grade readability level is and | | | | sentences, and 6 three-syllable words in this |
| how it's different from another level. It's not an | | | | example give a Fog Index level of 11. That's a |
| exact science, but it's well enough developed that | | | | high school junior. |
| it can be used by writers to help them hit the | | | | Now You Try It |
| mark with more accuracy. We won't get into the | | | | Pick a text sample from a source you're familiar |
| really technical aspects of the subject, but we'll | | | | with. It helps if it's a fairly big block of text. The |
| provide enough background and illustrations that | | | | larger the sample, the more accurate the index |
| you'll know how to find out more about it. | | | | figure is. For example, I selected two blocks of |
| Readability Formulas | | | | text from the guide that came with my Nikon |
| Readability formulas are used to determine if a | | | | camera. Follow me through the process: |
| document is written at the right comprehension | | | | 1. Count the number of words in the sample. If |
| level for the target audience. There are a number | | | | there are hyphenated words, count each part as |
| of readability formulas used by various linguistic | | | | one word. |
| groups. For now, we're going to focus on the | | | | (My count: 120) (Your count: ) |
| Gunning's Fog Index because it's one of the most | | | | 2. Count the number of sentences in the sample. |
| famous and one any writer can use. The index | | | | (My count: 5) (Your count: ) |
| was developed by Robert Gunning in 1952. The | | | | 3. Count the number of big words in the sample: 3 |
| basic idea is that the bigger the words and the | | | | or more syllables. |
| more complex the sentences, the more difficult it | | | | (My count: 3) (Your count: )> |
| is to understand the document. Small words and | | | | 4. Calculate the average sentence length. To do |
| short sentences are still the easiest to understand. | | | | this, divide the number of words by the number |
| For convenience, the Fox Index levels equates to | | | | of sentences. For example, 120 divided by 5. |
| the number of years of formal education a | | | | (My number: 24) (Your number: ) |
| reader needs to understand the material. By the | | | | 5. Calculate the percentage of big words. To do |
| way, this is based on the American system of | | | | this, divide the number of big words by the total |
| twelve elementary and high school grades with | | | | number of words. For example, 3 divided by 120 |
| the number of years of college education | | | | = .02 = 2%. |
| numbered thirteen and up. A high school education | | | | (My number: 2) (Your number: ) |
| is a level 12. A master's degree would be about a | | | | 6. Add the average sentence length to the % of |
| level 16. | | | | big words. |
| To put this in perspective, a typical big-city | | | | (My number: 26) (Your number: ) |
| newspaper is written at a level 7 or 8. The belief | | | | 7. Multiply the result by 0.4. |
| in most industries is that anything above a level 12 | | | | Fog Index (My level: 10th grade) (Your level: ) |
| is too hard for most readers to understand. | | | | Now try it on something you've written. From |
| Remember, the Fox Index is not an absolute | | | | what you know about your audience, does your |
| measure. It is, though, when used over a range | | | | Fog Index match with the readers' comprehension |
| of samples, a very good indicator. Here are some | | | | level? It's a very important question, and this |
| Fox Index levels for popular publications. | | | | formula can help you answer it. |
| Atlantic Monthly = 12 | | | | For more information on readability formulas, use |
| Newsweek = 10 | | | | any search engine to find sites related to |
| Reader's Digest = 9 | | | | readability formulas, Passive Index, Flesch-Kincaid |
| True Confessions = 7 | | | | Index, or Lexical Density Test. |