The mission statement connects vision and operations. It supports communication between organizations and stakeholders. Readability of the mission statement is important for business communication. This research examines the characteristics of mission statements. The study analyzes the readability of mission statements from several technology…

Describes a research study on the impact of readability of an annual report on the stockholders. Results of the study are presented along with implications for business teachers. Also examines the effectiveness of readability formulas. (CT)

Reports results of a survey on the readability of 12 recently published business communication textbooks. Shows that important differences in readability do exist and that the majority of texts were within or below the lower end of the undergraduate-level reading range. (PD)

Suggests that readability formulas are methodologically flawed and inappropriate measures of the readability of materials written for adults. Argues that the cloze procedure is preferable because it assesses the readability of material by its intended audience. Notes that possible users of the cloze procedure include school systems, government…

Investigates whether readability is a key criterion for college and university professors in selecting textbooks. Finds that many selected textbooks are at too high a level for the students. Suggests that students have a difficult time learning when the text is even slightly above their level. (PRA)

Investigates the effectiveness of the prose communication in contemporary corporate annual reports. Indicates that a sample of 65 Canadian annual reports for 1984 were classified as "difficult" to "very difficult" and beyond the fluent comprehension ease of 92 percent of the adult population and 56 percent of the investor…

Proposes that documents such as contracts, policies, etc. can be evaluated adequately only by analyzing how they are used by consumers and then designing a testing approach that reflects their usability rather than their readability, difficulty, etc. Tested versions of a loan contract to compare differences among evaluation procedures. (PD)

Investigates readability levels of correspondence sent out by Gulf Coast area business offices. Finds that a large majority of the correspondence sent out from the offices under study is written at too high a reading level. Finds also that the greatest problem lies in syllable intensity--the use of "big" words where everyday words would have…

Outlines the current uses of readability measures in education, business, and government. (SRT)

Points out that readability indexes can serve a useful role in the teaching of writing when used as they were intended to be used. Focuses on Gunning's Fog Index. (EL)

Examines reading ease between the English and Chinese versions of 65 corporate annual reports in Hong Kong and the English and Malay versions of 53 annual reports in Malaysia. Notes that the English passages in Malaysian annual reports are easier to read than the English passages in Hong Kong annual reports. Suggests that different language…

Doubts the ability of formulas to predict readability and questions their use as aids in writing readable prose. Points out that formulas also hamper the teaching of business writing because they emphasize written products instead of the writing process. (PD)

The Gunning Fog Index of readability indicates both the average length of words and the difficult words (three or more syllables) in written material. This document describes a business communication course at Wayne State University in which students calculate the Gunning Fog Index of two of their writing assignments with the aid of the…