Jan H. Spyridakis

Signals in Expository Prose: Effects on Reading Comprehension.

THE AUTHORS examine the effects of three signal types on relatively sophisticated readers and their comprehension of technical expository prose. A signal is generally described as a word, phrase, or statement that preannounces content and/or reveals relationships in content. Previous studies have failed to show consistent effects for signals with good comprehenders. Approximately 300 college-level subjects (pre-engineering majors) read one of four passages and then answered questions examining detail information, superordinate information, and implicit relationships. The passages were of different lengths and reading levels and covered four technical topics (nitrates, corrosion, algae, and biomedical research). Eight versions of each passage were constructed through addition, deletion, and combination of the three signal types: (a) headings, (b) previews, and (c) logical connectives. The authors conclude from the results that all three signal types can enhance comprehension, but that such facilitation depends on passage length and difficulty. In this study, the passage that was most appropriately challenging for the readers, neither too easy nor too difficult, produced the clearest effect for signals.

SIGNALING EFFECTS: A REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH-PART I

This article reviews previous research on the effects of certain structural cues, called signals, that affect a readers comprehension of expository prose. It concludes that the inconsistent results of many studies may be due to inadequate methodologies that have failed to control for confounding variables, such as text length and difficulty, reader familiarity with the topic, and timing of comprehension tests. Further, accepted signal types (headings, logical connectives, and previews) have not been sufficiently examined for their individual effects, perhaps creating unidentified disordinal interactions that could preclude the possibility of researchers identifying significant effects. This article concludes with recommendations for more valid research methodology to be used in prose assessment studies. The next issue of this journal will present Part II of this article, which details a new study of signaling effects for readers of expository prose, a study that is based on the refined methodology suggested in this article.

Internet-based research: providing a foundation for web-design guidelines

In this article, we propose that remote, internet-based studies of real users interacting with real websites on their own computers at a time and place convenient for them will provide a solid empirical base from which researchers can extrapolate reliable and valid web-design guidelines. After a discussion of research methods that have been used to support the principles that underlie web-design guidelines, we review some of the methodological issues associated with internet-based research and tools for supporting such work. Given advances in technology, the multitude of users online, and emerging technologies with new interfaces, the time has come for technical communication researchers to enter the arena of internet-based research and conduct remote experiments to support the web-design guidelines that they espouse.

Surveying commuter behavior: designing motorist information systems

Abstract A “Motorist Information Survey” was conducted by University of Washington investigators as part of a project sponsored by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration under the States Freeway Arterial Management Effort (FAME). This survey, with responses on 62 variables from 3, 893 Seattle commuters, gathered information about motorist behavior and decision processes, particularly as they relate to the design and delivery of motorist information. Results showed that motorists have greater flexibility as to the ime they leave work than the time they leave home, experience some stress during their commute, and most value saving commute time. Motorists are more likely to change their routes from work than from home, to divert to known routes sooner than to unknown routes, and to be influenced by traffic information, congestion, and time of day. Motorists prefer to receive traffic information before entering the freeway as traffic information has the greatest influence on route choice and departure time and all motorists rely most on commercial radio for receipt of traffic information and find it most useful. A majority of motorists want to see highway advisory radio developed first, followed by a phone hot-line, and a dedicated cable TV station.

Content analysis as a best practice in technical communication research

Content analysis is a powerful empirical method for analyzing text, a method that technical communicators can use on the job and in their research. Content analysis can expose hidden connections among concepts, reveal relationships among ideas that initially seem unconnected, and inform the decision-making processes associated with many technical communication practices. In this article, we explain the basics of content analysis methodology and dispel common misconceptions, report on a content analysis case study, reveal the most important objectives associated with conducting high quality content analyses, and summarize the implications of content analysis as a tool for technical communicators and researchers.

Integrating commuter information needs in the design of a motorist information system

Abstract This paper presents the results of a large sample survey designed to investigate the response of commuters to the delivery of traffic information. The main purpose of the survey was to investigate the impact of traffic information on commuters route choices, mode choices, and departure times in order to provide functional requirements for the design of a real-time motorist information system. The surveyed population consisted of 3,893 freeway motorists who routinely commuted to a central business district. The results of the survey indicated that four distinct commuter subgroups existed with respect to their traffic information needs: These groups were: (1) route changers, those willing to change route, or mode before entering the freeway (20.6%), (2) nonchangers, those unwilling to change time, route, or mode (23.4%), (3) time and route changers, (40.1%), and (4) pretrip changers, those willing to change time, mode, or route before leaving the house (15.9%). In terms of receiving traffic information, commercial radio was rated as the most useful and preferred medium both before and while driving. However, only a small, discrete group of commuters were likely to be influenced to change transportation mode. Implication of the survey results for the design of a real-time motorist information system are discussed.

Surveying commuter behavior as a basis for designing motorist information systems

A motorist information survey was conducted by University investigators as part of a project sponsored by the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. This survey gathered information about motorist activities and behaviors, particularly the potential for changing these behaviors through the design and delivery of motorist information. Of particular interest were the commuter-based methodology designed to allow application of multivariate techniques to data analysis, and the use of cluster analysis to determine discrete groups of commuter types. The design and administration of the survey, the cluster analysis methodology and its preliminary results are described.<<ETX>>

The Comprehensibility of Simplified English in Procedures

Anecdotal evidence suggests that using a restricted language called Simplified English (SE) to write procedural documents is the best method to accommodate specific audiences. Providing empirical data to prove or disprove this hypothesis is the point of the experiment reported here. This study examined the effect of document type (SE versus non-SE), passage (Procedure A versus Procedure B), and native language (native versus non-native English speakers) on the comprehensibility, identification of content location, and task completion time of procedure documents for airplane maintenance. This research suggests that using SE significantly improves the comprehensibility of more complex documents. Further, readers of more complex SE documents can more easily locate and identify information within the document. For the documents tested in this experiment, the SE and non-SE documents took essentially the same amount of time for subjects to read and complete the test. Finally, while the difference between native and non-native English speakers could not be tested statistically because of extremely different cell sizes, the comprehensibility and content location scores for the native and non-native speakers appear to be quite different, with the non-native speakers benefiting from SE more than the native speakers.

Explicitness of local navigational links: comprehension, perceptions of use, and browsing behavior

This study investigated the effect of explicitness of navigational links on comprehension, perceptions of use, and browsing behaviour in an informational web site. The purpose was to determine whether link explicitness would assist users in overcoming cognitive overload and disorientation. Subjects took a pre-knowledge survey, browsed web pages in one of four link explicitness conditions, and took a post-browsing survey on comprehension and perceptions of use. Link explicitness differentially affected the outcome measures. Organizationally explicit navigational links resulted in lower scores on the post-comprehension survey. A combined condition of semantically and organizationally explicit links resulted in subjects reporting that they followed more embedded links. Traditional links and semantically/organizationally explicit links resulted in subjects exploring more of the study web site. These results, together with subjects’ comments and webserver log files, indicate that navigational link labels clearly affect user performance - ambiguous link labels degrade comprehension and constrain browsing; traditional navigational links and links that provide dual signaling encourage broader sampling of a web site.

Influencing web-browsing behavior with intriguing and informative hyperlink wording

Textual hyperlinks are important mainstays of the navigation systems of websites. The study presented here examines how the wording of hyperlinks in a navigation menu and embedded within the body text of a web page can influence users’ browsing behavior, perceptions, and comprehension. Five experimental conditions were tested that varied hyper-link wording (generic, intriguing, and informative) in a navigation menu and in embedded links. Significant differences were found between the experimental conditions concerning number of links clicked, number of pages viewed, and inferential comprehension, with higher scores for study participants in conditions that had a navigation menu with generic hyperlink wording and embedded hyperlinks with intriguing or informative wording.