New to Me: Online Text Readability Calculator

[engagedinattempting]

Many of you probably know about the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and the Flesch Reading Ease tests, developed via contract work for the United States Navy in 1975. I was searching for information tangentially related to this when I found an online tool that utilizes both tests to instantly evaluate texts.

Wikipedia asserts that the Flesch-Kincaid tests are used widely by educators, but this gizmo is so quick and easy to use that it could have many other applications; students using it to self-test their assignments before submission seems a likely one.

The SOTT article below scored: Grade 10; Reading Ease 44. The Reading Ease works like this: higher scores equal an easier read, with comic books at 90; Time at 52; and the Harvard Law Review in the low 30s. A high grade and low readability is not necessarily what an effective communicator should attempt to achieve; a number of sources I don't consider authoritative (but think correct) inform me that the average American's reading level is grade 8, and that's probably the reason that President Obama, former president of the Harvard Law Review, gave three State of the Union Addresses scoring grade 8.*

Gizmo only is here: http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/index.php

Gizmo and additional info here: http://www.whatmakesthemclick.net/2011/01/23/100-things-you-should-know-about-people-54-the-average-reading-level-in-the-usa-is-grade-8/

Additional source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch%E2%80%93Kincaid_readability_test

And here's a SOTT article on the dumbing down of the US Congress as measured by Flesch-Kincaid standards:
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/245732-Congress-Is-Getting-Stupider-According-to-Lexical-Analysis*

 

[Laura]

Maybe we ought to test The Wave and such?

 

[engagedinattempting]

There is no way to measure or define the inspiration and information your writing gives to so many.

 

[Laura]

There is no way to measure or define the inspiration and information your writing gives to so many.

Well, maybe. But we COULD find out if it is accessible to a lot of people which was my intention!

 

[Cosmos]

here are the results I come up with for the Wave 1 book. I excluded the source texts on the end.
so only the headlines and the texts itself are considered.

The Wave Book 1 results (English/online edition):

Chapter 1:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 54.


Chapter 2:

Grade level: 7.
Reading Ease score: 63.


Chapter 3:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 58.


Chapter 4:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 57.


Chapter 5:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 54.


Chapter 6:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 48.

Chapter 7:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 57.


Chapter 8:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 50.


Chapter 9:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 51.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 1 in english is:

Grade level: 9,33
Reading Ease score: 54,66.

PS: It would be interesting to see how the same chapters/books result in other languages.

 

[Cosmos]

The Wave 2 book. I excluded the source texts on the end.
so only the headlines and the texts itself are considered.

The Wave Book 2 results (English/online edition):

Chapter 10:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 51.


Chapter 11:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 54.

Chapter 12:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 51.


Chapter 13:

Grade level: 12.
Reading Ease score: 45.


Chapter 14:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 52.


Chapter 15:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 54.


Chapter 16:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 56.


Chapter 17:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 49.


Chapter 18:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 54.


Chapter 19:

Grade level: 8.
Reading Ease score: 59.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 2 in english is:

Grade level:10,2.
Reading Ease score: 52,5.

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The Wave 3 book. I excluded the source texts on the end.
so only the headlines and the texts itself are considered.

The Wave Book 3 results (English/online edition):

Chapter 20:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 47.


Chapter 21:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 55.


Chapter 22:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 53.


Chapter 23:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 49.


Chapter 24:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 49.


Chapter 25:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 52.


Chapter 26:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 51.


Chapter 27:

Grade level: 12.
Reading Ease score: 47.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 3 in english is:

Grade level:10,25.
Reading Ease score: 50,38.

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The Wave 4 book. I excluded the source texts on the end.
so only the headlines and the texts itself are considered.

The Wave Book 4 results (English/online edition):

Chapter 28 Part 1:

Grade level: 13.
Reading Ease score: 44.


Chapter 28 Part 2:

Grade level: 14.
Reading Ease score: 36.


Chapter 29:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 49.


Chapter 30:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 52.


Chapter 31:

Grade level: 13.
Reading Ease score: 43.


Chapter 32:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 50.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 4 in english is:

Grade level:11,83.
Reading Ease score: 45,66.

 

[Laura]

Well, I wish it were more accessible. The majority of people operate at about grade 7, I believe, and that's what I was aiming for, trying to simplify things.

 

[dugdeep]

It would be informative to know how the algorithm they're using works. I suspect that grade level increases depending on what words are used, ie. novel or less common words make the grade level increase. If that's the case, it may just be the nature of the subject matter in the Wave series that it will end up a higher grade. I don't think that makes it inaccessible though. As I recall, the sentence structure wasn't particularly complicated in the Wave. A true seeker, when coming across a word they don't know, will look it up. I always do :)

 

[Oxajil]

Well, I wish it were more accessible. The majority of people operate at about grade 7, I believe, and that's what I was aiming for, trying to simplify things.

FWIW, I like your style of writing. I'm not a complex-text person! Sometimes I have difficulty understanding some of the excerpts (from other books) that you post in the Wave books, but you always follow with explaining the gist of it in simple terms. Then when I reread that particular excerpt, I understand it much better.

 

[Cosmos]

the Wave 5/6 book. I excluded the source texts on the end.
so only the headlines and the texts itself are considered.

The Wave Book 5/6 results (English/online edition):

Chapter 33:

Grade level: 12.
Reading Ease score: 47.


Chapter 34:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 54.


Chapter 35A:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 58.


Chapter 36A:

Grade level: 14.
Reading Ease score: 42.


Chapter 37:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 52.


Chapter 38:

Grade level: 14.
Reading Ease score: 42.


Chapter 39:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 55.


Chapter 40:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 57.


Chapter 41:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 55.


Chapter 42:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 54.


Chapter 43:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 58.


Chapter 44:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 56.


Chapter 45:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 61.


Chapter 46:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 57.


Chapter 47:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 57.


Chapter 48:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 49.


Chapter 49:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 46.


Chapter 50:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 52.


Chapter 51:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 59.


Chapter 52:

Grade level: 13.
Reading Ease score: 37.


Chapter 53:

Grade level: 12.
Reading Ease score: 46.


Chapter 54:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 51.


Chapter 55:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 48.


Chapter 56:

Grade level: 12.
Reading Ease score: 44.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 5/6 in english is:

Grade level:10,625.
Reading Ease score:51,54.

 

[paralleloscope]

If the algorithm uses the standard fomula, it would explain the 'medium to high difficulty' of the wave series determined solely by it's richer use of syllables.

From wiki:

"The Australian platypus is seemingly a hybrid of a mammal and reptilian creature" is a 13.1 as it has 26 syllables and 13 words.

A dense sentence but quite readable, though I had to read it twice (subjective of course). I would think I'm a 7 to 11 depending on context.

There seems to be a big difference at what level one is able to parse, depending on setting and material. I would think that ones reading instrument is tuned extra fine for a 'Wave' reading session, as it's not just the usual news/trivia browsing mindset, but one settles to understand deeper, or so I would think. I have a hard time imagining a more simple/accesible format for such a complex and untrivial subject as the Wave series bring. I would even say that those syllable rich scientific words and concepts used in the Wave are necessary, so that those of us without much education are readied to reach into and beyond academic studies, to gather pieces of the puzzle.

The Flesch–Kincaid readability test is a rather simplistic measuring format. Lots of stuff I could think of that would make a text more dense apart from rich syllable use, but harder to measure for sure. For instance an index of common sense or novel concepts.

 

[Cosmos]

the Wave 7 book. I excluded the source texts on the end.
so only the headlines and the texts itself are considered.

The Wave Book 7 results (English/online edition):

Chapter 57:

Grade level: 12.
Reading Ease score: 42.


Chapter 58:

Grade level: 12.
Reading Ease score: 42.


Chapter 59:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 49.


Chapter 60:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 53.


Chapter 61:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 47.


Chapter 62:

Grade level: 12.
Reading Ease score: 45.


Chapter 63:

Grade level: 13.
Reading Ease score: 37.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 7 in english is:

Grade level: 11,57.
Reading Ease score: 45.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the Wave 8 book. I excluded the source texts on the end.
so only the headlines and the texts itself are considered.

The Wave Book 8 results (English/online edition):

Chapter 64:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 55.


Chapter 65:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 48.


Chapter 66:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 49.


Chapter 67:

Grade level: 9.
Reading Ease score: 56.


Chapter 68:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 50.


Chapter 69:

Grade level: 13.
Reading Ease score: 42.


Chapter 70:

Grade level: 12.
Reading Ease score: 44.


Chapter 71:

Grade level: 10.
Reading Ease score: 52.


Chapter 72:

Grade level: 11.
Reading Ease score: 48.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 8 in english is:

Grade level: 10,77.
Reading Ease score: 49,33.

 

[Cosmos]

In a nutshell all the results of the wave books:

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 1 in english:

Grade level: 9,33
Reading Ease score: 54,66.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 2 in english:

Grade level:10,2.
Reading Ease score: 52,5.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 3 in english:

Grade level:10,25.
Reading Ease score: 50,38.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 4 in english:

Grade level:11,83.
Reading Ease score: 45,66.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 5/6 in english:

Grade level:10,625.
Reading Ease score:51,54.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 7 in english:

Grade level: 11,57.
Reading Ease score: 45.

The everage results of the whole Wave Book 8 in english:

Grade level: 10,77.
Reading Ease score: 49,33.

so we have the everage end result of all 7 wave books combined wich is:

Grade level: 10,65.
Reading Ease score: 49,82

 

[Cosmos]

The Results of "The Secret History of the World". I excluded the Preface By Patrick Riviere.
It starts at xiv (Note To The Reader About The Cassiopaeans) until page 170. (footnotes included):

Grade level: 15.
Reading Ease score: 29.

the results from page 171 until page 389 (footnotes included):

Grade level: 15.
Reading Ease score: 30.

the results from page 404 until 588 (footnotes included/page 390-403 are note included):

Grade level: 13.
Reading Ease score: 34.

the results from page 589 until 679 (footnotes included / Bibliography and Index excluded as well as the little color pictures series.):

Grade level: 13.
Reading Ease score: 35.

so the end result of all combined for "the Secret History Of The World" (exept of those few pages that I mentioned above) is:

Grade level: 14.
Reading Ease score: 32.

 

[Vulcan59]

For info - American grade levels are explained here. :)