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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE
A READABILITY STUDY OF SELECTED
POPULAR
MAGAZINES
A graduate project submitted
in
partial satisfaction of
the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in
Secondary Education
by
Nancy Katherine Shier Jenks
June 1974
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The graduate project of
Nancy
Katherine Shier Jenks s approved:
California State University Northridge
June
1974
ii
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~ .
This
graduate project
was
completed with the help
and
support of
my family
and with their under-
standing. I wish
to
thank my husband my chil-
dren
and
my mother for
their confidence
in me
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ 1
I
BSTR CT
A READABILITY STUDY
OF
SELECTED POPULAR
MAGAZINES
by
Nancy
Katherine
S h i e r ~ Jenks
Master of Arts in Secondary
Education
June
1974
Popular magazines have been found to
have motivational qualities and
have
been successfully used in many
reading
programs. To facilitate better
plan-
ning
and individualization of instruction readability formulas have
been applied
to material to judge their degree
of
difficulty. One recently
developed
formula is
the Graph for Estimating
Readability developed
by Edward Fry. This formula was
elected and applied
to
all
passages
analyzed in the study. Additional
features
which may
affect
readability
of
a particular
article
were also
noted.
Thirty-one magazines
were
analyzed.
a ~ g a z i n e s
selected
were
published
during the school
year
1973-1974.
A total
of
twelve articles were rated for each
magazine; they were
selected
from three issues of each magazine. Magazines
were compared in categories of similar content as well as more
genera y to others
in
the study.
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Magazines selected for study
were
suggested by the work of Daniel Fader
1968) and other
individuals.
A
variety
of subjects and types of magazines was
·included.
This study found a wide range of readability levels available
which were
; more
apparent
when
the
total range
of readability
ratings was examined than when
averaged scores of one magazine were compared to averaged scores
of another
magazine.
Material
of similar subject
matter
was found at several readability
levels. Material
appropriate
for adults with low
reading
ability was found; mag
azines written
at
realistic readability levels for teen agers was also found.
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TABLE
OF CONTENTS
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABSTRACT •
LIST OF CHARTS
I
THE
PROBLEM
Introduction
and
Background
Purposes of This
Study
Questions to be nswered
Assumptions
Importance of the Study
Rationale
Statement of
the
Problem Situation
Definition
of
Terms
Del imitations
of the
Study
Limitations of the Study
Out
Iine of
the
Project
II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERAtURE
Readability and Methods
of
Measuring It
Prior Readability
Studies
of Magazines
Reports of Classroom Teaching Using Magazines and
Their
Motivational Qualities
Summary of Literature Reviewed
Ill
METHODOLOGY
Description of Research Methodology
Research Design
Selection
of the Magazines
Selection of the
Readability S cale
Description of the Instrument
vi
Page
iii
IV
viii
8
2
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Procedures Used in Applying the Scale and
Obtaining
the
Sample
IV.
FINDINGS
.
Women•s
Magazines
Summary of Women
1
s Magazines
Men•s Magazines
Summary of Men•s
Magazines
News Magazines
Summary of News
Magazines
Science Magazines
Summary
of
Science
Magazines
Picture Magazines
Summary of
Picture Magazines
Car and Cycle Magazines
Summary of
Car
and Cycle
Magazines
Sports
Magazines
Summary
of
Sports
Magazines
Miscellaneous Magazines
Summary
of
Miscellaneous Magazines
Teen-Age Magazines
Summary of Teen-Age
Magazines
Summary
of
Findings Shown in Charts
Page
27
V. SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS • 60
Summary
What
Was Accompl ished
Analysis ofthe Findings
Questions
Answered
Conclusions
Recommendations
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX
9
7
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LIST OF CHARTS
Chart
1
Averaged Readability Ratings of
Magazines
Studied • •
2 A Summary
of
the Total Range of Readability Ratings for
3
ach agazine
A Summary of
the Distribution
of all
Readability
Ratings
for all
Articles
Analyzed
by
Grade
Level • • • • •
viii
Page
72
7
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i
CHAPTER I
THE
PRO LEM
Introduction
and
Background
The problem of finding materials of interest and relevance to
students is
not a new
one. In recent
years, however, one of the strong y heard
student
de-
mands has
been
for courses
of
study and
subjects
that
are
of immediate rei
evance
to
the
students• current interests and concerns. The traditional
courses of study
and
accompanying
textbooks were said to
be too
far removed from
what really
went
on in
the non-academic world.
One
attempt to
deal with
this situation has been
the
introduction of popu-
lar Iiterature paperback books, newspapers,; and magazines into
study plans for
classes in English, Iiterature
and
reading. Some programs using a
combination of
paperback
books
and
magazines
have
been school-wide attempts to develop I
iter-
'
acy where previously used curriculum plans had
not
been successful. Daniel Fad-
er•s program for the W.
J.
Maxey oys• Training School
in
Michigan was one
such
example.
Some other uses of magazines have been to rei
ieve
tedium in the
classroom or to reward the
student
between
other
tasks. Teachers in fields of Eng-
I ish and social studies have used magazines and newspapers as
sources for begin-
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ning
research for
student
papers.
Appreciation
values, and critical skills have
been
taught through the examination of newspapers (Horghton, 1971)
and maga-
zines (Walters, 1968). Newspapers have been used for teaching
simple to complex
reading skills by Sailer (1969). Odom (1971) found newspapers
useful for his most
basic students, and Johnson (1970) described a room stocked with
a good supply of
imagazines newspapers, and paperbacks as irresis table.
A current study of readability levels of magazines which
are
easily avail-
able
and
which
have
popular
attraction could
help
a
teacher
to
plan
and
develop
a reading unit. This unit might be of interest to students of
senior high and con-
tinuation
school age who are tired of the more common workbooks and
packaged
kits. A comparative study of magazines would
help
systematic planning • .Studies
of Fry (1968b), Barganz and Dulin (1970), and Dulin (1969) show
that changes
occur
in readability levels of magazines. Availability
of
magazines also changes
over a period of years. New studies of current readability
levels of magazines
now
available
need to be made.
Purposes of This Study
The purposes of this study
were:
1. o survey the readability Ievels of a variety of current
mag
azines
which were
available during the school
year
1973-1974.
2. o determine if magazines were ~ i l b l e at different
readabil
ity levels which share a similar content.
3. To
determine
the readability level of magazines intended to be
read by high school students.
4. o compare a large number of magazines to find ones
suitable
for class room use. ·
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--------------- ----------·· --------
----------
·
· · · ·
· -------...,
attractive
materials
are used for reading materials in the classroom, some students
:
:
I
who previously may not have been interested in reading may be
motivated to learni
to read. Interest in new materials may motivate additional
students to want to
learn to read.
Johnson (1970)
cited
a student who was
attracted
to read True
magazine because it said it was a magazine for men on the cover.
Fader (1968)
described
girls from
incorrigible
families fighting over a
copy of
Ladies Home
Journal. A supposed terminal
student in a junior level English class who could
not
read (according
to his
teacher)
was found
to
be
quietly
reading
Hot
Rod
in -
stead of
paying
attention
to
the work in class. If these materials became part of
class work, perhaps more students would actively
participate.
Comprehension has been found to have some relationship
to
interesl I
evel.
Shayner (1968) and many others
have
noted that sometimes a student could read
driver s I icense manuals to get a I icense when it was assumed
he could not read.
Some students who
were rated
as poor readers could read
and
follow directions
to
build or assemble campi icated models. Shayner (1968) found
that
reading
interest
may
help the
student
to
read beyond his m e ~ u r e d
ability.
The use of magazines
r n ~ help
increase
comprehension skills of students and increase the number of
stu-
dents who enjoy
and
see value in
reading.
This study
examined
some
current magazines with
the
Readability Graph
developed
by Edward Fry (Readability, 1970)
and
compared
the
magazines for
difficulty
and
possible usage
in
classroom
reading
instruction. Additional factors
of
readability by
Blair (1971) and
Dechant
(1970) were
described
when possible.
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Rationale
The use
of magazines
has
demonstrated motivational
value for the
student.
· Magazines can be used in reading instruction to develop many
types of reading
.
skills.
Magazines
have been
used by
teachers
very successful I y,
but
changes m
pub Iication practices and availability
necessitate
fresh readability studies.
Statement of
the Problem Situation
Many
magazines
were available on many subjects. o aid the planning
and using
of magazines in the
classroom, brief descriptions
of magazine
contents
and
studies
of their
readability
levels
would make this mass
of
material more
man :
ageabl e and useful to the class room teacher.
Definition of Terms
The following definitions facilitated
the
understanding of this study
and
were used in the preparation of it.
Readability
Formula
A
probability statement
dealing
w i t ~ the
grade Ieve I
at which the average
stlfdent
of
that grade will have
little
trouble reading material Blair, 1971).
Popular
Magazine
Magazine available
to the
general public
dealing
with
many
subjects
in a
non technical
way.
Special interest
magazines
may have
vocabularies
which re
late to the topic discussed.
Motivation
is an energy change within a person characterized by
affective
arousal andanticipatory goal reactions. Themotivated person m ~
e s responses
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------------------------------ ---------- ------
which lead him to a goal which
is
to reduce the tension created
by
the energy
I
change. Motivation leads to goal seeking responses (McDonald,
1965).
Del imitations
of
the Study
The del imitations
of
this study
were:
1. Thirty one magazines were used. This study sampled the
field.
It was not a comprehensive survey.
2. The magazines sampied were assumed to be of interest to
those
of
senior
high school age and older.
3. A single reading formula was used. It rated only first
through
twelfth
grades
and indicated only generally
which
part
of the
grade
I
eve
I applied to the passage.
Limitations of the Study
The I imitat ions
of
this study were:
1. The results
of
this study may be rapid y outdated as future pub
1 cation practices change.
2.
Many individual judgments had to be
exercised
in
applying
the Readability Graph. The magazines were rated by
one
per-
son. Internal consistency does exist. Replication by another
might
not
be
exact in t.he
areas
in
which these judgments had
to
be
exercised. Some "of these areas
were:
ciJJ Designation
of
the size
of
the
fraction of
a sentence.
b. Estimation of
readability levels
above 12.9 which can only
be projected from the Readability Graph.
c.
Assignment
of
word number· values for initia ls
1
e.
r
p.m.
d. Assignment of
syllable
number values for numerals.
e. Assignment
of
the number
of
syllables in an abbreviation.
f.
Syllabication of occasional
foreign words unknown to the
investigator.
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g. Determination of the
correction
to be made for occasional
typographical errors.
Outline
of
the Project
Chapter
I dealt with the problem, its background and purposes, as well
as
its importance within the field of reading. Chapter
deals
with a review of re-
.lated I
iterature
in the field.
Chapter
ll deals with procedures related to
the
study: research design, selection of the formula and its use,
selection of the
mag-
azines application
of the formula,
and obtaining the sample. Chapter
V
presents
findings: analysis and comparison of the magazines. Chapter V
contains a sum-
mary, conclusions,
and the
recommendations
developed
from this study.
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CHAPTER
II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter
is
divided into three sections:
1. Readability and Methods of Measuring
lt.
2.
Prior
Readability Studies
of
Magazines.
3. Reports of Classroom Teaching Using
Magazines
and Their
Motivational
Qualities.
In
the majority of the cases, the Iiterature was taken from
publications of the last
ten years.
Readability and
Methods of Measuring It
To
describe the
use
and function
of feading formulas, Blair (1971) made
any
generalizations.
Among
these
are:
1. Reading formulas are probability
statements
that
is
they are
estimates of
what
grade most students would
have
to be in in
order to have few problems with an item or a passage.
2. Reading formulas usual I y concentrate on sentence
length
and
vocabulary
and do
not measure
contextual difficulty
abstract-
ness of idea or style appeal.
3.
Length, common y an
important factor
in
readability
formulas,
is
often
an
inaccurate
guide. Long
sentences
are
not always
the most difficult to read and many short choppy sentences
l()wer r ~ d ~ b i l ity.
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· ·
4. ll formulas do not yield the same grade score.
5. Word I ists, a prominent feature of some readability
formulas,
do not
consider
words
in
context and do not consider morpho
logical difficulty.
6. Some word I ists used
in
obtaining some scores may be
subject
to regional influence.
In contrast,
it was
stated that
real
readability
should
include
the qualities
of
excitement,
force,
color,
variety, and appeal. Readability should be a famil-
iar language style with which
the
reader is comfortable. Readability should be
clarity--a
low
percentage
of
abstract
words
with
difficult
ideas
explained
and
not
clumped
together. Readability
should include paragraphs of good
length and
ideas
in
logical order.
Dechant
1970)
stated that since
1923, more than thirty
readability
for-
mulas
were developed.
Factors
generally included
in formulas were: a) word
I
difficulty
or vocabulary, b)
frequency,
and c) some aspect of
sentence
difficulty,
usually length of sentence and number of prepositional
phrases.
Klare
1973)
noted
occasional
unusual letter or word counts to determine
readability.
These
included
such things as counts
of
words
e g i ~ n i n g
with w, h, and b, as opposed to
- - -
those beginning with . ._or:_, or counts of structural words per
noun. Word diffi-
culty and sentence difficulty
were
most frequently measured. Spache 1963)
stated
that vocabulary
diversity
was probably
the
mo;t
significant
factor
in
deter-
mining a child s reaction to reading difficulty.
Dechant
1970) observed that the
interest and purpose of the reader, and the information
background of the reader,
influence
the
material s
readability for him as an individual. These factors,
although significan t, have not been incorporated into
readability formulas.
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· · ~
Spache (1963) also noted that formulas do not reflect
style, content,
Iiterary
I
I
quality, or interest. Dechant (1970) stated that the most
frequent used formulas
1
i :
.
were
those
of
Flesch suitable
with
adult
material), Dale-Chall
and Yoakam
(suitable for middle and upper grade material), and Spache and
Vogei-Washburne
formulas (suitable for primary level materials). Dechant (1970,
p. 280) and
Grade Teacher (Readabi lity, 1970) recommended the Fry Formula
for its simp icity.
Dechant (1970) noted that
cl
oze procedure was a
recent
development in measuring
readability.
This procedure deletes words in a prose selection and measures
the
student•s success in resupplying them. Fry (Reading Teacher,
1969) felt
the
doze
procedure could make
fine
distinctions in grade levels, but was
difficult
to use in
some cases.
Both Blair (1971) and Dechant (1970) stated that factors such
as
visibility
and eye comfort should be part of a readability concept.
Dechant
(1970) stated
that I egibil ity
qualities
should also be
considered.
These
qualities include
type
size, kinds of type, leading, illumination, and color and
contrast. Type that is
either
too large or too smal I results in more Jixations, more
regressions, and
.,
sm&ller
perception
span. Lightface, lower
case
book
print
type has generally
been
found to be more legible. Length of printed I ine can influence
number of
fixations and words per
fixationi
Iong I ines make a return sweep difficult, and
short I ines tend to make
reading
choppy, losing effective use of peripheral vision.
Assessing
readability
of a passage, using word I ists, cloze procedure, or
considering physical factors I ike those
above,
could be a very complex
project.
A brief
article
in
Grade
Teacher (Readability, 1970, p. 14) pointed out what a
mind-boggler some of the
better
known reading formulas
can
be to apply: At
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11
the best the formulas are tedious, at
the
worst,
impractical.
To help the teacher
determine readability levels, the
Graph
for Estimating Readability developed by
Edward Fry of Rutgers was brought
to the
reader
1
s
attention.
This graph was rec-
ommended to help the
teacher
match the reading needs of a child to
an
appropria
book.
Edward Fry l968a, 1968b)
described the fact that
he first de vel oped his
Graph for Estimating Readability while working in Uganda, and it
was
accepted
by emerging nations. He
began
to
introduce
it into
the
United States
to
be used
to encourage
teachers
to rate materials, who
were
discouraged from this process
by
the
complexity of other formulas. Fry described the Dale-Chall
Formula as
fussy
to obtain a result. The Dale-Chall Formula covered eighteen
pages of
printed
material, while
the Fry Readability
Graph
and
directions
covered about
two pages. Fry stated that while the SR Reading Level
Graph
was simple to use,
one must buy a plastic gadget costing several dollars to work
the formula. The
SR
Formula yielded only four grade levels
when
one was through calculating.
Fry hoped that the simplicity of application,, the costlessness,
and the large num-
ber,of grade scores
of
his formula, would encourage its use.
Fry (1968b) stated that his graph was
accurate
within a grade level;
how-
validity was a more difficult problem. Fry s method of
construction
of
his
graph was to
plot
lots
of
books
for
sentence
lengthc:md
syllables,
comparing his
results with the reading levels claimed by publishers for their
books. He looked
for clusters
and
smoothed his
curve.
He noted that not
an
equal area was
allowed
each grade and
stated
two possible reasons for this: (a) not as much change wa
cted in some
there
was
inaccura
in the data. F noted
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----
----------
- -
i
that his graph
rated
material lower than other formulas. He
said that
newer tests
were more difficult and expectations in performance had risen.
Fry (1968b)
:stated that
there were
no rigorous standards to
define
grade levels;
some of
the
·determination had
been
done by means of subjective judgment. Other formulas
depended
on this, for example, the Dale-Chall Formula included
teacher
and li-
brarian
judgment. A
partial
answer to
the
problem was to consider relative rank-
ing. Fry stated
that
his graph compared
very
well
with
other formulas in relative
ranking of items or works.
Fry (1968b)
stated
that his Readability Graph
correlated
highly with Dale-;
Chall (. 94), SRA . 98), and Flesch (. 96). The correlation with
the Betel Formula i
was the lowest(. 78) probably because Betel only considered
vocabulary difficulty
and ignored sentence structure. Fry cited a study of Kling and
Haimowitz which
concluded,
there
is very close
agreement
between the readability levels of
both formulas [
Spache and
Fry].
It
is
probably
more
efficient
to
use the Fry
Readability Formula at primary grade levels
11
(Fry, 1968b, p. 202).
A later study by Thomas Rakes (1972) f
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ · · · -------------
-------------------
· --· ·
··
· ------·- - ---------- · ----
1
therefore teachers should help students
develop
skills and taste in relationship to
these materials.
Cyrilla
Walther (1943) was a classroom teacher who felt that
readability
levels should be studied among general interest magazines. She
noted a persistent
tendency of
her students to choose True Story, comics, Western Story,
Saturday
Evening Post, Women•s Home Companion, and Ladies Home Journal.
The tech-
n ique she employed was
to study the September
1941,
January
1942, and
May
; 1942 issues
of twelve magazines and plot
them on
the Winnetka Chart.
Her
find-
ings corresponded rather closely to a prior study done by Morgan
Lehy Rating
which
was more
subjective.
Findings of the Walther (1943) study
are
I isted as follows:
1. The magazines maintained a consistent level of difficulty
through
the
school
year
studied.
2.
There was a high
correlation between
issues
of
the
same
mag
azine.
3. Magazines of
the
True Story class were too easy for ninth and
tenth grade reading ability. She added
the
thought that men
tal indolence
might occur.with
continued reading
of
these
m a g a z i n e ~ even if the facfors of possible
undesirable
emo
tional
stimulation
were ignored.
4. Most popular magazines were well within high school
reading
ability.
5. There was
great
difficulty in
rating
popular digest and news
type magazines; many contained common I y known words
which were not on current word I ists.
6. Reader•s Digest was easily
read
by senior high school
students.
but Harpers, Scientific American
National Geographic
Time, and Newsweek were too d i ffi cui t for easy comprehen
sion.
7. No magazine was so far above high school reading level as
to
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- - - - ~ - - - - - · - - - - ~ - - - · - - - · --------------
I
I
I
be
unintelligible particularly
if some purpose provided
mo
tiv9tion
for understanding.
Reports
of
Classroom
Teaching
Using
Magazines
and Their
Motivational Qualities
Brooks
1972)
made the point that the first failure
of
many programs was
the failure
to
see the student
where
he real I y was. The second
failure
was to
ac-
'
cept
the world
of
the alienated person or student. She had begun motivating
pupils
in reading
through the use of music and photographs.
In
these the
student
could
find
out
something
about
himself.
Magazines
were
among rei
evant
materials
which attracted students.
Sidney
Shayner
1968)
found
that
sometimes a poor
reader
could
r ~ a d
directions
to
complicated
models and sometimes a
child with
a reported low second:
grade reading
ability
could do research on dinosaurs. This suggested to him that
there
might be a
relationship
between
interest
and ability to
comprehend. The
personal feelings
of
the
child about
the material might be the
key to whether
the
child will or will
not
understand, or will or will not
read.
He quoted Witty as
v
s a y i n ~ interest increased reading efficiency i• and Strang
as having
pointed
out
that
reading
formulas do not
include interest
factors. Shayner
1968)
tested
578
subjects and found that the subjects got higher comprehension
scores on
material
they
found
interesting.
Reading interest
may.belp
students
to
read
be-
yond their measured ability. High ability students were less
affected by the
in-
terest
factor than low
ability
ones
in
Shayner
1
s study. Shayner suggested that low
interest material may have a
cumulative negative
effect.
Klare
1973)
felt that
readability
levels were relatively unimportant
to
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comprehend a more
difficult
version
of
material almost as easily, if not as easily,
as a less difficult version of the same material.
If
motivation is high enough,
readability is
not very important
to
a reader of moderate competence. An exam-
pie
of
this was the public s
ability
to deal with Federal Income Tax returns.
Klare
felt that the
more motivated but less competent
reader
may reread or
get
outside
help
in order
to
read something
of
high
interest to
him.
Johnson (1970)
described
a successful
reading
program
and
found, I ike
Brooks (1972), that pictures encouraged a poor reader. He quoted
a student say-
ing to him, 1 I ike True magazine because it says on the cover
that it's a man's
magazine.
11
This student began to read when this magazine was among his
possible
choices. Johnson (1970)
emphasized
that
materials
should recognize the maturity
of the student and help
him improve his
self-image.
Newspapers were brought to
class and student interest, originally focused on the sports
section,
expanded
to
other areas.
The
principle
Johnson
applied
was
that
a
student
brought his own
readiness to things which seemed
up-to-date aod
timely. Newspapers were useful
becatse
they could
be cut
up
and taken
home.
Non-current
magazines could be
taken
apart.
Magazines
successfully used in Johnson s Program were Hot Rod
Sports Illustrated, Teen, Jet, Seventeen, Ebony, and Life.
Johnson (1970)
found that many students experienced enjoyment from ~ a d i n
g
with
his program
who had missed this pleasure using more
traditional materials.
Daniel Fader (1968) successful y used
paperback
books and popular I
itera-
ture to promote enthusiasm for reading. Magazines and
newspapers
were
strongly
recommended because they were easy to handle
and
easy to read. These materials
17
.
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18
he
felt
hostile. Fader•s five most frequently
read
magazines
were
Ebony,
1
Teen,
Reader•s Digest, HairDo,
and
Popular
Mechanics.
His
other frequently
read
mag-
azines included magazines
for
younger children such
as Jack and
Jill
and
High-
I ights for Children. Also
very popular were magazines
in
the
categories of
car
•magazines such as Hot od and Motor Trend, and
scientific
magazines
such as
Popular Science and
Scientific
American. Sports magazines were popular,
with
:Sport the most often read. Other magazine categories were
picture news, digest,
teen-age home, and prose magazines. Some
magazines
did not fit
easily
into
one category
but
the
general
description was useful. Fader 1968) stated that
students
will learn from
magazines
and newspapers and that teachers can eas.ily
teach from them. He felt no
higher
recommendation could be given.
A study
of
5,
073
interviews
of
adults
about
reading
habits
was
reported
by
Donald
Trismen 1970). The most
consistent
response was
that
there
was no
read-
ing
difficulty experienced at all levels. Newspaper
front pages
were read
by
seventy-three percent
of those responding. Mq.il,
bills
and advertising was
read
by fit\y-three
percent
of those responding. Magazines mostly
general interest
and news,
were
read by thirty-nine percent of those responding. General
reading
activities
included
menu reading words on a television screen and phone book
.
use. School notices billboards and shoppers• display reading
was
also
common.
Reading
connected with television
was the
largest free
reading
activity.
Thomas Walters 1968) developed a magazine teaching unit
with
an ad-
vanced group of
students.
This unit was developed to teach Iiterary criticism and
responsible
~ : l ~ _ r e w a r d i l 1 g selectivityof
printed
materials. The basic
magazines
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[
-- - --------
·
- --------
;used
were
Saga True Confessions, oi iday, and the Atlantic. The students
were
I
I ed
by steps,
with clearly
stated goals and
deadlines
to consider such things as
I
• the purpose of the magazine and the publ isher
1
s
attitude
toward the reader, the
taste of art and photography in the magazine the rei iabil ity
of the non-fiction
the
quality of
the editorials and the
type of bias or
point
of view
which
might be
present in
the
magazine. The class developed a game of guessing
what
magazine
:an
unlabled
passage came from. This game was based on an increased
sensitivity
:to vocabulary emotionally loaded
phrases, supported or unsupported statements,
and general type of prose. The class original y expressed
an
interest in subscrib-
ing to a
hair-do magazine.
After this unit, it became more
aware
and excited by ;
the more sophisticated magazines
and
issues.
Summary of Literature Reviewed
Readability has
been
described and measured in many ways. One practical
means
of
describing
readability can
be
obtained
by
using Edward Fry's
Graph
for
Estimating Readabil ity. Studies of magazine readability have
been done for many
years. The general tendency has
been
for maga.zines to increase their level of dif
f i u l t ~ over the years. Within an individual issue of a
magazine a range of
read-
ability was found. Motivation
of
the reader has affected his ability to read ma-
terial and his desire to
read
material. A highly motivated reader may read above
the
level at which it had been presumed he could read.' There was
evidence
to
suggest that motivation
and interest
not only affect readability I evel but compre-
hension. Teachers have built successful programs based on this
data. Magazine
re,ading was a worthwhile
activity which
was
continued
by many
adults
beyond
their school
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Chapter Ill
METHODOLOGY
The
chapter
on
methodology
consists
of
six sections:
{a)
description
of
re-
search
methodology, b) research design,
{c) selection of
magazines, {d) selection
of the
readability scale,
{e) description of the instrument, and f) procedures used
in using the scale
and
obtaining
the
sample.
Description of Research Methodology
The
research
methodology was an analysis
and
comparison
of
readability
ratings
of current
popular
magazines.
Three separate issues
of each
magazine
were rated: a) four articles from
each
issue were analyzed, b) an average read-
abil
itr
rating for each issue of
the
magazine was found,
and
{c)
an
average
read
ability rating
for the total
magazine
was made from the
average of
the three
is -
sues. Distribution by graCJe level
of the twelve
analyzed
articles
was considered.
Magazines
sampled
were
published
during
the
school
y ~
1973-1974.
Two types
of comparisons were made: a) magazines of the same general
type
were
compared
for
readability
rating, and b) all
magazines
within the study were compared for
readability
rating. Comments concerning unique factors which would affect
read-
ability
of each magazine
were ~ d e as well as comments concerning general con-
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-
--------
tent
or apparent audience for which the magazine was designed.
Research Design
The study was designed to
yield
data in several ways. One goal was to
determine which magazines in the study were easier to read and
which ones were
more difficult to
read.
For this purpose, a broad comparison of reading ranges was
, made so that
generalizations
such as,
11
Biack World was harder to read than Me-
[Calls
11
could be made.
Another type
comparison made was among
magazines
of
the
same general
I
mterest area. This all owed such generalizations as,
11
Jet was easier to read than
I
Newsweek.
11
Magazines
written
especially for the high school age person
w_ere
i
compared in this
way.
I
A third type of data desired was information about content which
would
1
ample of this type finding was articles in People tend to be
short, often a few hun-.
dred words or less in length. Some magazines had many
illustrations; some used
_·
·color;
Several different qualities
of paper
were found. Page size
and
column
length varied. This type
descriptive
data added to numerical data in determining
classroom readability as well as suitability.
Also considered was
the
general
content of eacb
magazine
so
that
student
and interest areas could be matched. Type of products advertised
was noted to
more fully describe
the
impact of the magazine.
Selection of
the Magazines
The
largest single source
of suggested magazines
came
from
the
magazines
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22
-------
--------------------
------
-----·--------------------
-·· - · - - - ---. ----------- ------ -- 1
discussed in Fader•s Hooked on Books (1968). These magazines
were used success-:
fully at
Maxey
and Garnet-Patterson Schools. Fader suggested some
flexibility
for
each specific
use; in this study some magazines were deleted from his I ist
and
others were added on the basis of successes of
other teachers.
The magazines rec-
ommended by Fader and
not
used in this study
are
discussed below. A description
of why
each
of the
additional
magazines were studied will then follow. Fader
recommended magazines not studied because of
their clear
orientation for the
young child which would not attract the senior high or
continuation
student: The
Golden
Magazine Jack and Jill
The Children
1
s Digest Highlights for Children
and Humpty Dumpty.
Several magazines have changed
publication practices
since the publica-
tion
of
Fader•s (1968) work. Life, Look,
and
Saturday Evening Post no longer
publish weekly as they once did, although Life and the Saturday
Evening Post cur-
rentl y have published on an occasional basis. These three
magazines do not ap-
pear
in this study. Negro Digest has become Black World and HairDo
became
HairDo and Beauty,
then
Beauty; they a p f ~ a r in this study
.
Reader
1
s Digest was rejected even though recommended
because
of the
large
number of teaching aids and graded readers produced by the
company
and
currently in classroom usage. In was not used because of
lack
of availability.
The following Fader (1968) recommended magazines are
contained
in this
study: Ebony, Jet Sport, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek
Black World,
--
Beauty, Ladies Home Journal Motor Trend, Hot
Rod Outdoor
Life, Popular
Mechanics Popular Science Science Digest, Scientific American,
Field and
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Many other magazines were added for specific reasons. TV Guide
was
.
added because
of its extremely high circulation figures
and
because of
the
findings
of
the Trismen (1970) study which showed that a
great
deal
of
adult reading is re -
lated to television use.
True Story and Photoplay had been known to have specific
motivational
value to students in a penal institution who up
to that
time,
were not able
to read .
.at all. McCalls and Redbook
were added
when high circulation and occasional
. easy-to-read articles
were
found. FaV
and the New
Ingenue
were
studied when
apparent high circulation among teen-age girls and apparent easy
readability were
1
• found.
Added
to
the study to broaden the motor interest category was
Cycle
:World; it seemed to be a leading example of magazines
written
for motorcycle
enthusiasts . Saga, was added when its popularity in the Walters
(1968) study was
noted,
and
True was added after Johnson
1
s {1970) study.
Publications from the school year 1973-1974 were selected to be
as current
,as possible. Barganz and Dul in
1
s study (1970) showed a continuing rise in
read-
. w
i
a b i l ~ t y
levels over a
thirty-year
period. Fry (1968a, 1968b) also commented upon
1
this phenomenon. For this reason,
there
was less than a one-year period
between
I the
publication
of the first magazine sam pied and the conclusion of this
study.
Selection of
the Readability
Scale
I
A readability scale which could be used by one person, be
accurate and
Imanageable
without computer
help be
subject to Iittle need for individual or
\subjective
judgment,
and rate
materials by individual grade levels over many
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24
------- -------. ·
grades was
selected. In
addition, a
readability scale with
high
correlation
to
other scales was desirable so
that
comparison with
other
studies could be made.
The Graph for Estimating Readability developed by Edward Fry was
chosen.
It correlated substantially
with
the Dale-Chall, Flesch,
and
Spache Formulas
. Readability, 1970 . It is manageable for
the
individual researcher. It yields a
grade level for the first through
twelfth
grade for many combinations of syllables
and sentence lengths. It did not
rate
readability above the twelfth grade level.
This
produced
some problems
with
more
difficult
magazines
in
this study. How-
ever, estimates were projected if needed. Subjective judgments
were necessary
in
determining fractions
of
sentences and values
of
abbreviations. Other areas of
judgment included numerals
and
foreign
and
technical terminology.
Description of
the
Instrument
A
grade
level
rating
was
obtained
by
counting the
number
of sentences
in
a 100-word sample
and
counting
the
number of
syllables
in the same sample.
These two counts were
pi otted
on
the
Fry Graph
and
an immediate grade I
eve
I
rat-
ing was obtained. Proper nouns were omitted f ~ m
the
syllable
count and
addi-
iona I words
were added
to
the
sam
pie
so
that it
would total 100 words. The
gen-
eral principle of the graph is that the more sentences and
fewer
syllables
contained
in a
100-word
sample, the
lower
the grade level the maJerial must
be.
Short sen-
tences and
short words
were
rated lower in reading level
than
long
sentences
with
words of many syllables. No allowance was made
in
the calculation of the for-
mula for physical
lay-out
or total length
of the article
or book.
The method for
determining
the grade level of material was to take
three,
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1
00-word
sam pies spaced through
the
material. The number
of
sentences
in the
100-word sample was calculated to one-tenth
of
a
sentence.
The number
of
sen-
tences
in the
three
samples was
averaged.
The number
of syllables
(one per vowel
sound) was averaged for
the
three samples. These two averaged numbers were the
numbers which
were plotted
on the Graph.
Fry s
Graph
was
capable of dealing with
passages
of
100 words of
3.
6 sen-
tences to 25 sentences
in
length.
It anticipated syllable counts ranging from 108
to 172 syllables. First through twelfth grade levels could be
plotted within this
range.
Procedures Used in Applying the
Scale and
Obtaining
the
Sample
Four
articles were sampled
from each
magazine
issue. The
articles were
selected
by
reading the Table of Contents and picking
articles from
varied cate-
gories; through this procedure,
an
article s apparent qualities did not influence
selection.
Selection
of articles
followed
a pattern developed to
gain
as broad a
sample
of
the total
magazine
as possible. At least two articles featured on the
cover of the magazine
were sampled. In
the case of news-magazines, the
cover
tory pi us
the
lead article were used.
One
regular columnist or department
was
sampled--a dif ferent one from each issue. The fourth choice was
either a
piece
of
fiction
(if
carried by the magazine),
or
one further
f ~ t u r
such as:
beauty,
homemaking,
cinema,
or
conservation
news. In
the news-magazine field, the
goal was to distribute article selection over as many total
fields as possible for the
total of
the three
issues. Occasionally a selection was
inappropriate
for readabil
ity analysis; a p o r t ~ n of it had to be
skipped
or a new
article
had to be
chosen.
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Recipes and fashion
articles
included a disproportionate quantity of numbers and
proper names,
but
a few were sampied when they seemed to be especially
repre-
sentative
of the contents of
a
particular magazine.
The technique used in obtaining three
100-word
samples was to take the
first 100 words,
the
401st to 500th word,
and the
901st
to the
1,
OOOth
word
of an
article. Some articles
were
so short
that
this was
not
possible. In this case,
the
three
100-word
selections were chosen from the beginning middle,
and end
of
the
article. Occasionally
a
100-word
group was
inappropriate
for use when it
was heavily
dominated
by numerals or proper names; in this case an adjacent
100-word
sample was used.
Some individual judgments had to be made for which guide ines
from Fry
were not
found. It
seemed unreasonable to
assess numerals for
their spelled out
syllable
count. General I y they
were
assessed
at one syllable
per
three
or four
digits. If a single numeral was followed by a group of
zeros
one syllable was
allowed
for
every
five or
six digits.
Initials
and abbreviations
such as
TV
and
m.p.h. were
counted
as
one syllable
per
l t t · ~ ~ or
ignored if they
were an
un
famil ar abbreviation or part of a proper noun. In the case in
which words had
to be ignored,
the
sample was
adjusted
to contain
the
proper
total of
words.
I
Recounts to
check
accuracy
were done
on a
spot-check
basis if
any ques-
tion arose. I though grade levels were computed to one-tenth
final results
stated
in terms
of
low, middle and high portions
of
a grade
level
would more
accurately reflect the I imits of this imprecise instrument and
the method in
which
it was applied.
26
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CH PTER IV
FINDINGS
This
chapter
is
concerned
with findings
of
the study; therefore, it
is
ap-
propriate to
restate
the five questions which were
stated in
the introductory
chap-
ter. The questions answered in this study were:
1. Could a wide range of readability levels be found among
pop-.
ul.ar
magazines?
2.
Were some subjects or general interest
areas available at
more
than
one
readability
level?
3.
Were magazines
written
for
teen-age
readers
written at
real is-
tic
readability levels?
4. Were
there
magazines avaUable which would be of interest
to
the high school
age
student in
variety
of
readability levels?
5.
Were
there
magazines available among popular I iterature
which
were written t
a low readability level that would deal
with
subject matter of interest to
the older student?
Findings examined
in Chapter
IV
are
as follows:
.
1. Each magazine was discussed
in
terms of content and general
readability
qualities
as well as readability
rating
determined
from the Fry Graph.
2. Each
magazine
was
briefly
compared to other magazines within
the same
category and
other magazines
within the
whole study
with which comparison could be made.
27
I
<
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29
· ~ · · ~ · · . ~ · · · ~ · - ---- - - · - - ~
articles about
cooking
home decorating personality and appearance improve-
1
ment, family--both idealized
and of well-known
people--advice columns, fie-
tion and reviews. Many articles contain instructions for making,
doing, or im-
proving things in the home.
Advertising
products are mostly for home use or are
beauty related products. Illustrations, often in
color
are on many pages. Print
is two to four columns
per page
of varied size
usually
black on glossy
white
. paper. Pages are about 8-1/4 x
10-3/4
inches, and an issue averages 125 or more
:pages.
The readability
level
for the average of the total
twelve articles
was low
I
ninth
grade.
Three
fiction selections were at sixth grade
level. The highest read-i
I
ability
level
about
twelfth grade
was found in articles
about
money management,\
divorce zoning laws,
and
an interview
with
Ted Kennedy. Fashion
and cooking
articles were at eighth and
ninth
grade I
evels but
were quite
brief
for a good
sample to be analyzed. Articles featured on the cover of McCalls
were not more
difficult to read than the average for
the
magazine as a whole.
Ladies Home Journal
Ladies Home
Journal
is
published monthly
and costs
60 cents
per issue. It
reduced the size of
its pages
during
this
study to
the more common 8-1/4 x
inches. It features articles about homemaking, famous p ~ o p l
e beauty
and
fashion,
food
preparation
family and personal relations
sewing
advice columns, reviews, ,
and
fiction. Print
is
in two or three columns,
clearly separated and
on glossy
white paper. Color is
used extensively in
advertising and illustrations.
An issue
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. ~ ~ · · · · · · · ·
· · - ~ · - .
· · .
· · · - - - ~ - ..
- - - · · · · · - - · - - · · · - - · - - - ~ - ~ · · · - · · ·
· · · · ~ .
f
home products. People of
current
note or newsworthiness are subjects of articles;
I hey
also contribute
articles to
the magazine.
No double page was without a
:color
picture
advertisement
on one
of
the two pages.
The readability level for the total
twelve
articles was middle
eighth
grade.
A low fifth
grade fiction
item was found.
Only three of the twelve
articles
were
above the middle eighth grade Ievel; two of these were written
by guest experts.
Seven
of
the
twelve articles were in
the middle seventh
to
middle eighth grade
range.
Red
book
Redbook is published monthly; it costs 60 cents per issue. Its
contents in -
elude meal planning contests, baby announcement contests,
advice
on how to do
things cheaply, and articles submitted by readers about personal
insights or family
experiences. The contents
include how-to-do-it articles,
homemaking help,
fic
tion, short articles about family or personal
relations,
articles on how opinions
:are developed, and items of general interest. Print is in two
or
three
columns per
page,
rostly on
white
paper, with many pages containing color illustrations or
'
:col or advertisements. Advertisements
are
for home
and
beauty products, books,
I t
Icigarettes, and food connected items.
I
i
Readability
level
average
for
all twelve
Redbook-articles was upper
tenth
i
grade.
Fiction was found
at the
middle fourth
grade
Ievel,
although
most material
i
iwas more difficult than this. Most difficult to read,
according
to readability
I
llevel, was a factual account of how two families celebrated
Christmas. This ac-
i '
count was rated at middle twelfth grade level. Seven articles
were in the middle
L_
- - · · -
30
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fourth grade to middle eighth grade readability range. The
remaining five articles
were
in middle ninth grade to middle twelfth
grade
level
range.
This magazine
had a
very
broad
distribution
of
readability levels ranging
over
eight
grade levels.
True Story
True Story is subtitled A Woman
1
s
Guide
to Love
and
Marriage. It is a
'month I y
publication selling
for 50 cents
an
issue.
Subject
matter of
articles
was
in two broad categories: (a) homemaking interests, and (b)
romance, sex, and
heightened emotion. There are many articles containing recipes
suggestions for
home improvement,
decorating
advice and
advice about children.
Articles fea-
tured on the cover and illustrated with eye-catching pictures
concern a variety of
[sexual experiences disappointments,
and
involvement, in issues such as suicide
(drugs, or law breaking and its results . Products advertised
include household
products,
beauty
products,
and
many
self-improvement
items. Illustrations
and
advertisements are
either
in color or black and white; print is black on white
glossy and newsprint. n some instances, a story was continued by
turning forward
[rather than toward the back of the magazine.
.
An
average readability rating
for all twelve
articles
from True Story was
middle eighth
grade.
I
Fiction
(classified stories
) was at fourth grade
level.
Most difficult reading was
an
article entitled Male M ~ o p a u s e M y t h or Mar-
riage Killer which was
at
low eleventh grade
level.
If this single
article
is
I
not considered the readability average
for
the
remaining
eleven articles is
low
lseventh grade level. The other more difficult to read articles
were a middle
i
I
n i ~ t h
grade
article
concerning women•s role
identification
and a high
eighth
3
l
i
i
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3
grade level
article
on
nutrition.
Photoplay
The contents
of
this
magazine
focus on descriptions
of
occurrences, or in-
ferred feelings of people in the entertainment field, or people
who are members of
politically
prominent families. There
are
columns by eel
ebrities
as well as
col-
umns entitled
gossip.
Subjects of the
articles
often
concerned
marriages or
romance of a speculative
nature.
The major portion of the magazine is on news-
print weight paper; print was in three columns. The magazine is
published
i
month y; it costs
50
cents an issue. Advertisements in Photoplay
are
for
beauty
:products, self-instruction,
figure
altering
products,
and
money-making or lending.
1
Typographic errors
were
found.
The average readability rating for the twelve articles in
Photoplay was
low
seventh grade. Seven
of the
twelve
articles were below this level in
read-
,
ability rating.
The highest
rating
was low ninth grade
level
on an
article con-
1
cerning plastic surgery assumed
done
on Dean Martin. Similar stories were
re-
1
peated
more than
once;
stories about the
s a m ~
illness
and hospitalization of
Elvis
: '
· Pressley were published in January and February issues.
Both
articles
had high
I
.
eighth
grade readability I evel ratings.
Summary of Women
1
s
a g a z i ~ e s
Of the six magazines analyzed,
two general types
are apparent.
1. Homemaking
dominated
magazines:
McCalls,
Redbook, Ladies.
Home Journal, and Good Housekeeping.
2. Romance oriented magazines: True Story and Photoplay.
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In
the first category the homemaking magazine Redbook, had the
greatest
vari-
ety of
readability
ratings . It had the most features that
invited
reader
participa-
tion. It seemed to be written for young women. Good Housekeeping
seemed to
be written for
the
more
established
homemaker with more money to spend.
Me-
Calls and Ladies Home Journal had many features in common. There
was slightly
more than
one-half
year readability level
difference
among these four magazines.
Photoplay and True Story were one year
to
one year
and
a
half
lower in
:readability
level than
the
above.
The
reader
for whom
they were written
has
dif-
ferent
needs
and
interests.
Men•s
Magazines
Saga is published monthly. During this study, Saga increased
its
price
:from 50 cents to 75 cents
per copy.
The February issue
also contains
a publ isher•s
statement
that
the number
of
advettisement pages and editorial type size was
to
be
,reduced as an economy measure. Color
p i t u r e ~
and print on opposing pages are
i p r i n t e ~ on
white
smooth paper; over
half
the magazine is on newsprint
quality
;paper. The total length of the magazine is about 80 pages.
approximately 8-1/2
ix inches.
I
Saga is subtitled The
Magazine
for Men. Features
include articles
1
about hunting, people who have made large amounts of money, auto
racing and
cars, movie stars, and articles of a
speculative
nature such as, location of buried
'
treasures or interviews concerning unidentified flying objects.
Products
advertised
include
self-instruction
courses,
devices
for improving
appearance and
programs
33
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- --
1
designated to be
income producing for "fun
and
profit.
11
i
i
i
An average readability level for the twelve articles reviewed in
Saga was
high
eighth grade.
The single highest
rating
was for an
article containing
short
book reviews. This
article
rated at about eleventh
grade
level but could not
be
exactly rated by the Fry Formula. Omitting these book reviews
from the calcula-
tion of the average level the
new
average
became middle eighth grade
level.
The easiest to read articles concerned a Mafia secret
air
Iift and Viet Nam de-
serters. The most
difficult article
to
read
aside
from
the
book reviews,
concerned
discoveries
which were frightening to
astronauts
in their moon exploration. Six
of
the
twelve
articles
rated were in the eighth or ninth grade
readability level.
True, published monthly,
is subtitled
"For
Toda/s
Active Man.
11
Its
edi
torial
position
as
stated
in
the
March
1974 issue,
is
that
it
is
one
of
only
two
:men
1
s magazines ( Saga is not the other] whose
11
success does not rest
heav
ily upon the
pneumatic
charms
of
naked females.
11
The
editorial
states
that the
best-skimmed
magazines are not necessarily best
read.
True states that its position
'
is
to publish
articles
on
national
affairs health
science
crime
adventure
cars,
iboating, crafts, men
1
s fashions,
and sex.
Advertised products
include
cars,
cigar-
'
;ettes, clothes self-instruction courses, money-making programs,
grooming aids
sports
related
products and assorted products. True sells for 60 cents an
issue,
is
'printed on white paper has type in two or
three
columns, with illustrations in
I
[color
and black and
white.
i
i
\ An
v e r g ~ readability rating
for the
twelve
True
articles
was
about tenth
L_
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graae-Tevef.- lh mostd iffi cuTfart i f e s ~ n o t h ~ r
a t e c f fn upper-tWelfth- grade; con H
I
I
cerned the strength
of
medical and legal
societies
and an article concerning at-
:titudes
toward work and jobs. Easiest articles, rated in the middle
seventh grade
,range, concerned tips on how to keep a house warmer and
details
of
the Getty
·kidnapping. A sampling from the humor and joke page was at the
seventh grade
,
readability
Ieve I also.
Summary of Men
1
s
Magazines
Of the two magazines
analyzed,
the readability level
of
True was one
year and a half higher than that
of
Saga. True provided a greater range in both
reading difficulty and in subject matter.
;
News Magazines
Jet
Jet is
pub I ished weeki
y..
It costs 50 cents per
copy and is
approximate y
100 pages in length; pages
are
about
5-1/4
x 7-1/2 inches and print is
either
one
:or two columns in
width.
Illustrations are mostly black and white photographs;
.
'there
~ r e few color advertisements. Articles concern_.activities,
honors, and
'problems
of people
in
the
Black community.
Jet
covers news
of
Blacks on national
I
:and
international levels,
in a
wide
variety
of
areas
such as crime,
entertainment,
law, sports, couples, education, labor, people, and m'edicine.
Advertisements
·are for cigarettes, I iquor,
clothes,
grooming products, and things
of
special in-
:terest to Blacks. Jet is printed on
slick
white paper.
Jet has an average readability rating for all twelve
articles
of low ninth
- '
grade. Many articles
were only
a few hundred words in
length.
Few
articles
were
L . . . -
- - ·
· ··· ··
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6
over 1, 000 words I on g. Most articles were
accompanied
by one or more
black and
white photographs of the subject
being
described. The most difficult to read arti-
des with the highest readability rating, were a series of
short
articles
concerning
various political activities. This group of paragraphs could
not
be exactly mea-
sured by the Fry
Graph,
but
had an approximate rating of
high
twelfth grade.
The
lowest
readability rating
was on an
article concerning
Jermaine
Jackson
and his
marriage. This article was at sixth grade level rating. Seven of
the twelve arti-
cles
sampled
were
at the eighth
and ninth grade
levels. Cover articles,
featuring
entertainment related
figures,
averaged
lower in
readability rating than
the
mag-
azine as a whole.
Newsweek
Newsweek is
a weekly
publication which
sells for
50
cents an issue.
Pages are about 8-1/2
11-1/4
inches. Print is mostly
three
columns wide; an
issue
is
about
100 pages long. Illustrations
are
usually
black and white photo-
graphs. A few color prints are published and
color
is used in occasional charts
and graphs. Advertising, in
color
and black
and
white,
is
for cars, cigarettes,
iquor, travel, insurance, and a variety of other items. Subject
matter covered
I
in the news articles
is
current
events
for the preceding
week
or further
back and
reviews and general articles in such areas as books,
jus:t1ce,
entertainment, art,
rei igion, sports, business,
education, and
science. Opinion columns
and
short
news items
are
also to be found.
The total average readability rating for
the twelve
articles
analyzed
from
Newsweek
was high
tenth
grade. The
single
lowest
rating
was a sports article
t
.
.
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rated
at
seventh grade
level. When this
single
article was excluded from the
av-
i
erage,
the
remaining
eleven
articles averaged low
eleventh
grade
in
readability
rating.
Four
articles were
at
ninth
grade difficulty.
No
articles were
at
eighth
or
tenth
grade
difficulty. The six
remaining
articles were
rated
from middle
eleventh
grade to above high school in grade
level
difficulty. Cover stories did
not
average higher readability scores than the total
magazines.
:Time
Time magazine is
published
weekly. It costs 50 cents an issue and aver-
ages
100
to
110 pages in length. The 8 inch pages
are printed in three col-
: umns in most instances, on slick white paper. A few
color
photographs
are printed
,
and
col
or
appeared
in
advertisements and
occasional
charts and graphs. Time
re-
·views news
and
events
of national and international interest.
It
also contains
i
editorials
and
reviews of books, entertainment,
and events
in art, medicine,
:sports, law,
environment,
economy,
and behavior.
Products
advertised include
l
: cars, appliances, I iquor,
insurance,
cigarettes, office
machinery, travel, and
.
other
general
items. Most articles are accompanied by a picture. Time has
re-
gional
and special interest editions, including
a classroom
reading
program for
i
i
both
English
and
social
studies.
:
An average readability rating for all twelve arti-cles
analyzed
was low
; eleventh
grade.
The lowest
rating, middle eighth grade,
was for a
lead
story, a
·sports
story,
and
a music
review.
Highest
readability
ratings,
estimated at
middle:
college level, was an article from the business section. The
remaining
eight
ar
ticles averaged
from low
tenth
to
middle twelfth grade
in
difficulty.
Cover
and
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-----------------·--- ---------------------------
-·----------
-----
---------·
i
lead
stories averaged slightly more difficult
than the
total
magazine average.
'
Summary
of
News
Magazines
Of the three news
magazines
studied, Time had the highest readability
rating, but this was only half a
grade
or less higher than
the rating of
Newsweek.
Both
of
these magazines offered opportunity for graph and chart reading
skills to
be used. Jet was the easiest to
read
of the three
magazines. Jet
was physically
smaller and
had short
articles.
All
three
publications had many items which were
• complete in a few hundred words or less. Time and Newsweek had
many similar
i
i features
and
even
had much
repetitive content.
Science Magazines
' Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics is publ ished month y; its cost is 60 cents
per copy,
· and it is
about
200 pages in length. Pages
are
6-1/2 x
9-1/4
inches, and the
text is generally
in two columns. Illustrations
are
mostly in
black and white;
: some col or is found in diagrams,
occasional
illustrations, and some advertisements.
[
o p u l ~ r Mechanics is written
for
the
man who I ikes
to do
it himself, (quota-
: tion from promotional advertisement, December, 1973, p.
6).
Articles include
automobiles and
driving, shops
and
crafts, home
and
yard,
boating and
outdoors,
science
and
inventions, aviation, electronics, radio
and
TV photography, and
1
monthly departments. Advertising is for sports equipment,
self-instruction, kits
to build or assemble, money-making opoortunities, items related
to shop
equip-
and
a
variety of
other items.
The o v e r l l r ~ q d b i l ityrating
for the
maflazine wasrniddl e ninth
wade.
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fone ~ h ~ t ; ~ l ve r t ~ ~ ; ~ ~ ~ ~
~ t - h i g h - - ; ~ ~ ~ ~ t h - g ~ ; ; d ~ T ~ ~ ~ C - - f h
i ~ ~ ~ t - i d e - ~ ~ ~ t a - i ~ ~ d l
l
a
description
of foreign cars. Four
articles
rated
in the
eighth grade range
and
. four articles
were
found to
be
in the ninth grade range. One
article
was at middle
tenth grade I
evel.
The
remaining
two artie es had to be estimated because
of
the
limitations of the Fry Graph) at high twelfth grade
difficulty.
These two most
difficult articles
concerned low cost synthesizers
and
how to build a solar power
1
watch.
Popular
Science
Popular
Science
is published monthly. It costs
60 cents per
copy and is
:about 200 pages
in
Iength. The text
is
mostly
printed
in three columns on shiny
. white paper
which
is 8-1/4 x 11 inches. Most illustrations and diagrams are
black·
•and white. Some color is used in
advertisements
and in a few illustrations. Prod-
ucts
advertised
include
self-instruction, repair and
hobby items, business
oppor-
,
tunities,
sports goods, and
other
assorted items. Popular
Science
articles
cover
areas of cars and driving, science and inventions, outdoor
recreation, home im-
. ·
provement, tools and
techniques,
photography,
space
and
aviation,
and monthly
•
, features.
The average readability rating for all twelve articles from
Popular Science
i
was Iow tenth grade. Three artie es were above the hi.gh school
I
eve
I. These ar-
t ides concerned elevated
trains, a
catalytic carburetor,
and a preview of new
'products. Easiest
reading
rated
at
low seventh
grade
leve l was a column of
I
answers
to
readers' questions about
car
care. Two
articles
were at
eighth
grade
:level
and
four,· at
ninth. The
remaining
two articles were one each at eleventh
39
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'
many fields of science. Illustrations are often reproductions of
classic paintings or
art work of historical
interest.
Charts and graphs are included to illustrate points
•or add further
data.
Advertisements
are
subdued. These
include
items of
interest
.
relating to
science and
writing.
Some articles presume a
general
background or
minimum knowledge of vocabulary
in the
field under discussion.
The readability rating for Scientific American was above high
school level.
.
Out
of the twelve
articles
considered, there was one
ninth grade
level
article
con-
, cerning the historical use of the slingshot, and one middle
tenth grade level ar-
· t ide concerning aging. The
remaining
ten articles were twelfth
grade
level or
higher.
There was no means
of
rating
the
graphs, maps,
and
charts which illus-
trated
many
articles and often
appeared to require some skill
in interpretation.
•Articles were often several thousand words
in length.
Summary of Science Magazines
There were many
similarities between
Popular
Mechanics
and Popular
Sci-
ence magazmes.
Popular
Science rated
about one
grade level
more difficult
to
·
·read contained a broader variety of subject matter.
Despite
the fact that
they
are published by different companies, they share some
of
the same styles in
illustrations and writing. Science Digest does not compare very
closely
with
, other magazines in the study. Some
science
sections of news magazines would
·compare
more
closely.
Scientific American was
the
highest
readability
rated
magazine in
the
en-
/tire study. It presumed more information
and background than
any other magazine
~ i n
the study. ts physical
appearance
would
also
suggest
that
it
attempted
to
i
L.
4
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42
appeal
to the more mature reader.
Picture Magazines
People Weekly
People Weeki y is a new publication by Time,
Inc.
begun
with the
March
4, 1974 issue. This study sampled the first three issues
and based
conclusions on
these beginning issues
rather
than a
longer
established pattern. People Weeki y
is about
60 pages I ongi it
is
priced
at
35 cents:
per
issue. The pages
are 8-1/4
x
11
inches,
and type
is
printed
in
two or three
columns. Wide
spacing and
many
illustrations provide
variety.
All illustrations
are black and white
photographsi
the only use of color is a single advertisement sheet and the
cover. Each
article
or news item, some as shor t as 100 words in length
is illustrated
by at Ieast
one
photo. Over half
the
entire
content
is illustration. Cigarettes I iquor,
and the
phone company advertisements appeared in this new
publication.
People Weekly
describes
news or
events about individuals which are either
unique or
peculiar
or
of news
interest.
Few individual items are 1, 000 words
in
length. Some
articles
analy ed
were
sampled
in
their
entirety
for this reason.
Each
of
the
three
magazines sampled had
an average readability rating
of
low eighth grade. No other magazine in this study was quite
so
consistent
in
readability
rating.
The total
range
for
all twelve
articles
was from middle sixth
grade to middle ninth grade a total range of under three
years
maximum. Sub-
ject matter
for the easiest
articles were Lucille
Ball s latest movie, an interview
with Martha Mitchell
and
an interview with William
P
Blatty. Highest read-
_
1
ability rating was on articles such as excerpts from writings of
Stewart Alsop,
and
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-
review
of
Black
achievement
in politics.
Summary
of
Picture
Magazines
Of
the two picture magazines studied, Ebony was two years more
difficult
to
read
than People
Weekly.
These
magazines were comparable because of
the
d
