What do comic books, Mark Twain and Shakespeare have in common? Would you believe FOG? The FOG Index, that is! If you’re an Instructional Designer, chances are you’ve heard of The FOG Index. The FI is a useful method of analyzing written material to see how easy it is to read and understand. It “translates” the number of years of education a reader needs to understand the material. The “ideal” score is anywhere from 6 to 8. (USA Today is written at an approximate 6th grade level, for instance.).Anything above 12 is usually too difficult or involved for most people to read. The FOG Index was devised by Robert Gunning in 1952. His goal was to make newspapers more readable.
For many years, Langevin has been teaching Instructional Designers to consider the reading level of their audience in regard to any written training materials (participant manuals, hand-outs, etc.). In theory, this means avoiding many multi-syllable words, unusual words, or long and awkward sentences. So, as training professionals, what grade level do we write at and how do we use The FOG Index to ensure our learners can read & understand our content?
Use the following calculation to determine the Index on any written work:
- Take a 100 word extract (ending at a full stop).
- Count the number of sentences in the selected section.
- Divide 100 by the number of sentences in the selection. This will show the average sentence length (ASL).
- Count the number of words (NW) that have 3 syllables or more.
- Add the ASL and NW and then multiply by 0.4. This will give you the FOG Index.
The FI gives comic books, Mark Twain, and Shakespeare a rating of around 6.
Now – if all this sounds like too much effort, technology makes determining the readability of your written materials effortless. There is another tool, The “Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Formula,” that assigns a U.S. grade-level to your writing as well – and best of all, your computer does all the work! To turn on the readability stats feature in Word:
- Choose “Tools” from MS Word menu.
- Select “Spelling & Grammar” from the drop-down tools menu.
- Click on the “Options” button.
- At the bottom of the grammar menu, click on “Show Readability Stats” to turn it on (look for the check mark to indicate it is on).
- NOTE: In some versions of MS Word (including MAC versions), you must select “Options” first, then “Spelling & Grammar.”
And just in case you are wondering, the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level rating on this article is, 7.6.
So remember, less really is more, when it comes to helping learners read and understand our content – and The FOG Index or The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Formula are two tools that can help us do just that.
I’d love to hear about your experience in using either of these techniques. Feel free to share your thoughts!
Melissa
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Really is this what a training organization has to be weary of for teaching instructional design? The grade level a readability for participants. I understand if you are teaching trainings how to develop content for people who have below college educations etc..
Yet when training trainers wouldn’t one want the language and style to be challenging?
This is like dumbing down exams for students.
Additionally I understand knowing your audience. Yet if people cannot understand multi-syllabic words then perhaps there is more to be worried about than the fog.
Michael, you make some excellent points. Reality is, education and litercy levels don’t always match up! As an Instructional Designer, you want to ensure that your written materials (hand-outs, any kind of written job-aid) can be read and comprehended by your learners. That’s the bottom line. You know your audience better than I, but typically, we write at 3-4 grade levels below the grade level required to do the job. This standard has been around for many years and is widely used in the literary community. Thanks for your comments!