Evaluating text quality: the continuum from text-focused to reader-focused methods

Schriver, Karen A.

doi:10.1109/47.44536

Cited by 164 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…No clear impression of the effect that thinking aloud has on the way in which forms are completed can be gained either from the literature on thinking aloud or from the interviews we conducted later with our subjects. Since the thinking-aloud method-whether or not on the basis of situation sketches-is increasingly being recommended as an aid in the development and revision of documents, validation research is urgently required [18,19].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forms as a Source of Communication Problems

Jansen

Steehouder

1992

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

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The research described here examines the problems encountered by people when filling in forms. Subjects were required to complete forms on the basis of a situation sketch, while thinking aloud. From the completed forms, the observations, and the subjects' comments, conclusions could be drawn about the types o f problems the subjects had encountered and about the strategies they had used. These conclusions, together with various suggestions found in the literature, provided a guideline for a thorough revision o f seven forms. A test showed that, after revision, the number o f forms completed unacccptably was reduced by about half.In 1989, a remarkable report was published by Van Oorschot and Kolkhuis Tanke, two researchers from Tilburg University in The Netherlands [1]. This report described the findings of an international study into the so-called underconsump tion o f social security benefits. Having examined a large number o f reports published by governments and universities in Western European countries, Van Oorschot and Kolkhuis Tanke conclude that many citizens who have a right to social security benefits receive little, if any, of what they are entitled to. To give some examples: in Great Britain, 49 percent o f those entitled to family income supplements do not actually receive them; in France, 22 percent of the people over age sixty-five wait more than five years before claiming their old age pension; and•O ur research was made possible in part by a commission from the Dutch Government Information Service (Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forms as a Source of Communication Problems

Jansen

Steehouder

1992

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

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“…An exception has to be made for feedback provided by reader-focused document evaluations methods (Schriver, 1989). However, in recent reviews of the applicabil ity of such methods, no attention is paid to the potential of these methods to detect cultural differences in the comprehensibility and acceptability of documents Schellens, 2000, 2001).…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conducting experiments on cultural aspects of document design: Why and how?

Hoeken¹,

Korzilius²

2003

Communications

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A b s tr a c t In o rd er to a n sw e r th e q u e stio n w h e th e r it is w ise to a d a p t a d o c u m e n t to th e c u ltu re it is to be u s e d in, o n e ca n c o n d u c t a n e x p e r im e n t w ith 'c u ltu r a l d iffe r e n c e ' a s o n e o f th e m a in va ria b les. In th is a rtic le, w e d is c u ss th ree p r o b le m s th a t re sea rc h e rs e n c o u n te r w h en c o n d u c tin g su c h e x p e r im e n ts . F irst, e m p lo y in g 'n a ti o n a lity ' to o p e r a tio n a liz e c u ltu r a l d iffe r e n c e s le a d s to in te rp re ta tio n p r o b le m s w h e n d iffe r e n c e s in re sp o n se s occurs. C u ltu re s d if f e r f r o m ea ch o th e r on a la rg e n u m b e r o f d im e n sio n s. E a c h d im e n sio n c o n s titu te s an a lte r n a tiv e e x p la n a tio n f o r a n y d iffe r e n c e in resp o n se b e tw e e n m e m b e r s fr o m d iffe r e n t cu ltu res. S e c o n d , it is d iffic u lt to c o n s tr u c t d o c u m e n ts a n d m e a s u r e m e n t in s tr u m e n ts th a t a re e q u iv a le n t in a ll c u ltu re s in c lu d e d in a survey. T h e q u e stio n is w h e th e r d o c u m e n ts ca n h a v e e q u iv a le n t m e a n in g s, a n d w h e th e r q u e stio n n a ire s m e a su re th e s a m e c o n c e p t in tw o o r m o re cultures. T hird, m e m b e r s o f c e rta in c u ltu re s are r e lu c ta n t to u se th e e n d s o f r a tin g sca les, w h e rea s m e m b e r s o f o th e r c u ltu re s u se th e m fr e e ly . F o r ea ch o f th e s e p ro b le m s , w e p r e s e n t so lu tio n s. K e y w o r d s: c u ltu r a l d iffe re n c e s, d o c u m e n t d esig n , e x p e r im e n t, 'e x tr e m ity o f re s p o n se ' p ro b le m , C h in a , U n ite d S ta te s , p r o d u c t d o c u m e n ta tio n

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“…One standard method for determining what respondents take away from task descriptions is the think-aloud protocol (32)(33)(34). Respondents describe what comes into their minds as they read the task.…”

Section: Measuring Successmentioning

confidence: 99%

Informed Consent for Eliciting Environmental Values

Fischhoff

2000

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Agreeing to participate in a study eliciting environmental values means agreeing to abide by the commitment implied by any proposal that one accepts or rejects in it. That might mean anything from addressing the gist of an issue to expressing an explicit willingness to pay for an environmental change. By soliciting such participation, investigators promise to provide the information that participants need in order to evaluate the proposals being presented. This paper proposes a standard for providing such information that must be met in order to conduct valid and ethical value-elicitation studies. Namely, investigators must secure the informed consent of participants. Drawing on research in risk analysis and communication, this approach allows setting priorities among the facts that could conceivably be conveyed. It also leads to two general strategies for increasing the capacity of the communication channel. The paper concludes by discussing how the policy relevance of value-elicitation studies depends on their ability to ensure informed consent.

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Evaluating text quality: the continuum from text-focused to reader-focused methods

Cited by 164 publications

References 51 publications

Forms as a Source of Communication Problems

Forms as a Source of Communication Problems

Conducting experiments on cultural aspects of document design: Why and how?

Informed Consent for Eliciting Environmental Values

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