Readability levels of 30 items from Child Development Abstracts and 30 passages from their corresponding journal articles were compared by a CAL SNOBOL computer program referenced to a cloze criterion. Results supported the hypothesis that abstracts were more difficult to read than their source documents. (Author)

The use of readability principles in the ERIC guidelines for abstracting suggests that abstracts should be more readable than source documents. However, information theory suggests that the compression of information would result in less readable abstracts. Abstracts and their source documents were selected randomly from each of four…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 16 titles deal with the following topics: the effects of teacher-directed lessons on fourth and fifth grade students; self-concept and the comprehension of scientific reading; the readability of junior college textbooks; the…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 29 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: the relationship between readability of written material and reading competency of upper middle class adult readers, the economic benefits of adult basic education…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 29 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: various factors in terms of attitudes toward reading; the effect of group counseling on self-concept and reading achievement; the effect of three modes of…