- SMOG
SMOG (Simple Measure of
Gobbledygook ) is areadability formula that estimates the years of education needed to completely understand a piece of writing. SMOG is widely used, particularly for checking health messages.cite journal |last=Ley |first=P. |coauthors=T. Florio |year=1996 |month=February |title=The use of readability formulas in health care |journal=Psychology, Health & Medicine |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=7-28 |doi=10.1080/13548509608400003 |url=http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/1354850960840000 |accessdate=2008-09-20] The precise SMOG formula yields an outstandingly high 0.985 correlation with the grades of readers who had 100% comprehension of test materials. [ cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=G. Harry |year=1969 |month=May |title=SMOG Grading — a New Readability Formula |journal=Journal of Reading |volume=12 |issue=8 |pages=639-646 |id= |url=http://webpages.charter.net/ghal/SMOG_Readability_Formula_G._Harry_McLaughlin_(1969).pdf |accessdate=2008-09-20]SMOG was published by G. Harry McLaughlin in 1969 as a more accurate and more easily calculated substitute for the
Gunning-Fog Index . To make calculating a text’s readability as simple as possible an approximate formula was also given — count the words of three or more syllables in three 10-sentence samples, estimate the count’s square root (from the nearest perfect square), and add 3.Formulas
To calculate SMOG
#Count a number of sentences (at least: 10 from the start of a text, 10 from the middle, and 10 from the end).
#In those sentences, count the (words of 3 or more syllables).
#Calculate using
#:mbox{grade} = 1.0430 sqrt{ frac{mbox{number of polysyllables{mbox{number of sentences } + 3.1291A version is also given which is more easily used for
mental math and is sometimes known as the SMOG Index:
# Count the number of polysyllabic words, excluding proper nouns, in a thirty sentences.
# Take the square root of the nearestperfect square
# Add 3References
External links
* [http://www.harrymclaughlin.com/SMOG.htm SMOG calculator] from the author
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