Fry Method Paper
A readability test is essential to audience because it determines the level of difficulty in reading materials. Moreover, it ensures that reading material is prepared in accordance with the reading skills of the targeted audience (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2012). This paper will calculate the reading level of a health-related document and compare the results with an electronic calculation (CDC, 2012).
The Document Selected
The article selected appealed to its American audience regarding being vaccinated before travelling outside the country. The document emphasized the need for vaccination especially for those travelling to developing countries or rural areas (NCIRD, 2015). The article was written to both groups of travelers because they were expected to face higher health risks in their destinations than other travelers (NCIRD, 2015). The article was retrieved from the official CDC online link (NCIRD, 2015).
Fry Method Calculation
Fry method is a formula developed by Edward Fry to calculate readability of documents (NCIRD, 2015). Readability test is confirmed utilizing the Fry graph. Three random portions of the article were chosen, each composing of 100 words. The first selection had 4.6 sentences and 175 syllables. A grade level of 15 was calculated using Fry graph. The second portion had 4.5 sentences and 144 syllables. A grade level of 9 was calculated using the Fry graph. The third portion had 7.1 sentences and 138 syllables. A grade level of 7 was calculated using the Fry graph. The average number of sentences was [(4.6 + 4.5 + 7.1) / 3] = 16.2 / 3 = 5.4. The average number of syllables was [(175 + 144 + 138) / 3] = 457 / 3 = 152.3. Therefore, from the Fry graph, grade level for the document was found to be 9 (National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases [NCIRD], 2015).
Reaction
The exercise was exciting because it added to my skills in exploring readability tests and grade levels for most articles. Doing the exercise took me several hours because it involved manual calculation of words and syllables as well as sentences. Moreover, it involved calculations to ascertain the average number of sentences and syllables for plotting in the Fry graph (CDC, 2012). Issues involved in the process, included difficulty in calculating syllables of some scientific or compound words. Moreover, long sentences and long words were complicated in calculation of reading levels. Factors that affected the calculation of reading level were scientific words, long words, and abbreviations that increased the number of syllables, thereby, increasing the grade levels (CDC, 2012).
Electronic Method
Using the Fry graph electronic calculator (BM, 2016), the following results were observed: for the first 100 sentences, the calculator showed 5 sentences and 187 syllables, which resulted in grade level of 15. The second portion showed 6.7 sentences and 154 syllables, which gave a grade level of 9. Finally, the third portion showed 7.1 sentences and 140 syllables, which gave a grade level of 7.When the three portions were applied to the electronic calculator at once, the average sentences were 5.9 and the average syllables were 162. This gave a grade level of 11 (Belyne Media [BM], 2016).
Conclusion
From the two calculation techniques, it can be noted that when sentences are divided into 100-word portions, both techniques provide almost similar answers, as observed. However, when a combination of the portions is used in the electronic calculator, results differ significantly. In essence, the calculation was accurate; however, it took lot of time. On the other hand, using the electronic calculation has the advantage of saving time but it is prone to errors, especially when more words are used.
References
Belyne Media [BM]. (2016). The Fry graph readability formula. Web.
Center for Disease Control [CDC]. (2012). Scientific and technical information: Simply put. Web.
National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases [NCIRD]. (2015). Travel smart: Get vaccinated. Web.