The Proper Study of Readability: A Reaction to Carver's 'Measuring Prose Difficulty Using the Rauding Scale'
Michael W. Kibby · Reading Research Quarterly · 1975
CHALLENGES THE VALIDITY of Carver's Rauding Scale on both theoretical and procedural grounds. Although an interesting and possibly relevant technique, the Rauding Scale has not been demonstrated well in Carver's study. Although vocabulary and style are considered in the Rauding Scale, Carver advances this scale as the only technique that 1) assesses the reading difficulty of material as reflected by the idea or concept difficulty of the material and 2) is useful in revising written material. No theoretical rationale is provided for idea or concept difficulty. The construction and content of the Rauding Scale are challenged because the actual reading difficulty of the passages are in question. Procedurally, all 3 of Carver's reliability and validity studies are challenged as flawed by poor conceptualization, inadequate sampling, poor control, skimpy or inaccurate interpretations of data.