[WikiEN-l] Academic study: Wikipedia cancer information accurate but hard to read

[WereSpielChequers]

There is also the idea that the lead should be written for a more general
audience than the rest of the article. I don't know if our cancer articles
follow that style, but I find that in many articles in subjects where I'm an
ignoramus I can grasp the lead but get lost if I try to finish the page.

If the study was analyzing whole Wikipedia articles they won't have picked
up on that.

WSC

On 17 September 2011 13:48, Fred Bauder <fredbaud at fairpoint.net> wrote:

> > On Sep 16, 2011 6:35 PM, "Fred Bauder" <fredbaud at fairpoint.net> wrote:
> >> It is difficult to balance the needs of the general public, which reads
> >> more at a 5th grade level than a 9th grade level, with the need to
> >> present comprehensive information that would be of use to an
> >> oncologist.
> >>
> >> If we addressed this problem in a systemic way we would present
> >> alternate
> >> articles at differing levels of comprehensiveness and readability.
> >>
> >> Perhaps in the future.
> >
> > If most people that have completed the ninth grade can't read at the
> > ninth
> > grade level, you need to recalibrate your scale... Either that, or give
> > up
> > on this nonsense that readability can be determined by word and sentence
> > length. It has far more to do with how engaging it is and how much prior
> > knowledge it assumes than how long the sentences are.
> >
> > If people want something that doesn't require much language skill, we do
> > have Simple English Wikipedia. I haven't visited it in a while, so I'm
> > not
> > sure how good it is these days.
> >
>
> It doesn't have much detailed information on cancer.
>
> Simple English serves those learning English who have a limited
> vocabulary, not the general English speaking public, who are literate but
> not skilled readers. Reaching that population, the masses, if you will,
> requires specialized writing and editorial skills. Governmental and
> medical organizations use those skills while crafting public information
> documents. We could also learn and apply those skills in an appropriate
> format.
>
> Fred
>
>
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