Readers Background Characteristics and Their Feedback on Documents: The Influence of Gender and Educational Level on Evaluation Results

Jong de, Menno and Schellens, Peter Jan (2001) Readers Background Characteristics and Their Feedback on Documents: The Influence of Gender and Educational Level on Evaluation Results. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 31 (3). pp. 267-281. ISSN 0047-2816

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Abstract:	What is the influence of demographic variables such as gender and educational level on the reader feedback collected under the plus-minus method? To answer this question, an analysis was made of the problems detected in four public information brochures. The average amount of feedback per participant did not vary among the four brochures, but the severity of the problems did. Male participants mentioned more problems than female participants, but the problems detected by female participants were on average more severe. Highly educated participants detected more problems than participants with a lower level of education. No differences in problem types mentioned were found between male and female participants, and only one difference was found between the two educational levels: Highly educated participants focused more strongly on the structuring of information. In general, brochure characteristics had more effect on the types of feedback collected than the two demographic participant characteristics.
Item Type:	Article
Copyright:	© 2001 Baywood Publishing
Faculty:	Behavioural Sciences (BS)
Research Group:	Technical and Professional Communication (TPC)
Link to this item:	http://purl.utwente.nl/publications/58763
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/0XJ7-4044-G7LC-AT8Y
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