State of the Union registers at 8th grade reading level

[miles]

President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934.

The University of Minnesota's Smart Politics conducted an analysis on the last 70 State of the Union addresses and found that President Obama's three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. "Obama's average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors," they conclude.

"The Flesch-Kincaid test is designed to assess the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level. Longer sentences and sentences utilizing words with more syllables produce higher scores. Shorter sentences and sentences incorporating more monosyllabic words yield lower scores," the University of Minnesota's Eric Ostermeier explains.

Obama's use of simple language is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it's part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event.

http://www.politico.com/politico44/...gisters-at-th-grade-reading-level-112236.html

 

[Sean]

Americans are stupid. This is news now?

 

[RobDownSouth]

Can someone please quote me so miles can see this?

Got all 90 on your ignore list yet, Miles?

 

[Sean]

Got all 90 on your ignore list yet, Miles?

Wouldn't be a lot of point me doing it.

 

[mercury14]

Why is this bad?

Next up: Obama used a teleprompter because the moron didn't devote weeks to memorize 30+ minutes of speech. Any REAL president would have prioritized his time better and stopped being president during January just to memorize some words.

 

[Peregrinator]

This might be helpful to many of you.

How To Stop Obsessive Behavior

Educate yourself. This is probably the most important step in lessening the affects of Obsessive Behavior. Knowledge is power and understanding the problem will help you deal with it. Check out books at the library, read articles on the Internet and learn all you can

Most people believe that in order to stop obsessing over something they need to think about something else entirely. This isn't necessarily true. Allow yourself to think about whatever you're obsessing over, but don't allow yourself to act on that obsession.

Telling yourself you won't think about something is like holding candy in front of a small child. Your brain will dwell on that subject all the more because you've told yourself not to think about it. Go ahead and think about it, and then write about it.

Keep a journal just for your obsessive thoughts. Once you have written about what is hounding your mind go on to do something else. Writing about your obsession will not totally wipe out that anxiety, but it will lessen the relentlessness of it.

Stop yourself from reacting to obsessive thoughts and this will reduce obsessive thinking. A good example: when you get ready to leave the house, if you feel the need to check the front door to make sure it is locked, allow yourself to check it only twice today. Tomorrow, check it only once. Do this type of exercise with your obsessions and over time you will find they will become less intense. With each success you will feel more in control. This is called behavioral therapy.

Try family therapy. Getting your family involved will give you support and help. Once they learn about your disorder and understand what you are trying to do, they can help remind you of the treatment and planned outcome. Get your closest friends in on this too. The more support you have the better.

Spend more time with family and friends. An obsessive disorder can lead to isolation. Don't allow this to happen.

Do things that help you relax such as yoga, meditation, getting a massage or reading. These are mentally calming relaxation practices and will help you eliminate unwanted thoughts

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/milesObamaObsession.jpg




Make that 144.

 

[bronzeage]

Why is this bad?

Next up: Obama used a teleprompter because the moron didn't devote weeks to memorize 30+ minutes of speech. Any REAL president would have prioritized his time better and stopped being president during January just to memorize some words.

Mile can only understand half of it.

 

[CandiCame]

I don't believe that for a minute- I've been in politics my entire life and you never, ever go above a 5th grade comprehension level. The average American has a 5th grade reading level- it's the magic number and it's drilled into your head. Newspapers are written at a 5th grade level, and all information is supposed to be around that. There's no way it went up that high. His advisers would never have let that happen.

It even has a name in politics- "Plain language politics" and you're never supposed to go over it because it makes you look like an intellectual elitist. I don't know where you're getting your information about the 30s, but it's simply not true.

There's no way his speech writers or advisers would have let him do that. There are people who's entire job it is to find out about cultural literacy and vocabulary for what the current year's fifth grade reading level is.

For example, during my grandfather's last election, the following table was used for his campaigning. He started running in the 60s, so that's when his research started. I'm not going to copy the entire thing, but just to give you an idea...



Text source Date/N LEX MeanU*

Nature--article on transhydrogenase 1960 58.6 44

Cell--research articles 1989 41.1 91

Nature--main research articles 1990 34.7 107

J. Amer. Chem. Assoc.--articles 1990 33.3 94

New Engl. J. of Medicine--articles 1990 27.0 126

Science--main research articles 1990 26.9 120

Scientific American--articles 1991 14.3 158

Watson-Crick DNA model in Nature 1958 11.1 164

New Scientist--articles 1990 7.2 191

Popular Science--articles 1994 4.6 197

Time magazine--articles 1994 1.6 211

Economist--articles 1990 0.9 210



NEWSPAPERS: English-language, Intl. N=61 0.0 216



Nature--research articles 1900 -0.5 226

National Geographic--articles 1984 -0.6 199

Discover--articles 1990 -2.6 229

The Times (London) 1791 -3.0 233

New Yorker--articles 1994 -3.9 231

Colonial American newspapers (3) 1720-1730s -4.3 236

Smithsonian--articles 1988 -9.1 264

Will. Shakespeare's plays(w/o archaics) N= 37 -12.0 292

Adult books--fiction, USA N= 34 -15.8 282

Comicbooks--GB & USA N= 37 -23.7 318

Child books, read at ages 10-14, GB N=261 -24.3 312

TV--cartoon shows N= 26 -28.6 339

TV--primetime shows N= 44 -36.4 371

Pre-school books read to children N= 31 -37.0 360

Adult to adult conversations N= 68 -37.5 375

Legal wiretaps on a cocaine dealer 1990 -42.2 387

Winnie the Pooh--Milne -43.3 381

Mothers' talk to children, age 5 N= 32 -45.8 394

Dairy farmer talking to his cows -56.0 520

Pre-Primer--Houghton Mifflin 1956 -80.5 640




Now, you can see that going over a .05% margin of error, the average American in the 90s was more literate then the average American in, say 56, but the fifth grade comprehension level has maintained the industry standard. Fifth graders comprehension is a little higher, but I don't see that standard changing anytime soon.

 

[Disgustipated]

I don't believe that for a minute- I've been in politics my entire life

Do you ever stop lying? It's like you have a nervous tick or some shit.

 

[CandiCame]

Do you ever stop lying? It's like you have a nervous tick or some shit.

Yeah. My grandpa was a politician before he retired. I've actually stated that before. I've also bitched about it. If he found out I ever voted anything other then strait democrat it would be a much bigger issue then if he found out I such cock- and that'd be a HUGE thing.

I was the little kid on the radio going, "I'm adorable! Vote for my Gramps! I don't know shit about politics, because I'm 4, but damn I'm cute!". I was the child making signs. I was the teenager handing out balloons. I've had to sit through so many rallys. I don't like politics. But I know more about it then I ever wanted to.

You want me to paint a donkey on your face? Because I can do it with my eyes closed...

Democrats love face paint, for some reason. And funnel cake.

 

[Liar]

President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934.

The University of Minnesota's Smart Politics conducted an analysis on the last 70 State of the Union addresses and found that President Obama's three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. "Obama's average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors," they conclude.

"The Flesch-Kincaid test is designed to assess the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level. Longer sentences and sentences utilizing words with more syllables produce higher scores. Shorter sentences and sentences incorporating more monosyllabic words yield lower scores," the University of Minnesota's Eric Ostermeier explains.

Obama's use of simple language is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it's part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event.

http://www.politico.com/politico44/...gisters-at-th-grade-reading-level-112236.html

Using the Flesch-Kincaid to assess a speech is like assessing the quality of an egg by how high it bounces.

 

[CandiCame]

Using the Flesch-Kincaid to assess a speech is like assessing the quality of an egg by how high it bounces.

That has to be what it was. I just can't believe he would have violated such a golden rule of politics. They used the wrong scale to grade it.

 

[GracefullyYours]

So? The New York Times and Wall Street Journal are written on an 8th grade reading level too.

You write - and speak - to a target audience. At an 8th grade level, some will be bored and some won't understand....but the majority will get the message.

 

[badbabysitter]

and the funny thing is... he's called an elitist due to his education....so what miles is really upset is that the President had to dumb down his speech for someone like Miles to get it.. and miles still didnt get it

 

[miles]

Mile can only understand half of it.

Apparently your spelling is third grade level.

 

[Comshaw]

President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934.

The University of Minnesota's Smart Politics conducted an analysis on the last 70 State of the Union addresses and found that President Obama's three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. "Obama's average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors," they conclude.

"The Flesch-Kincaid test is designed to assess the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level. Longer sentences and sentences utilizing words with more syllables produce higher scores. Shorter sentences and sentences incorporating more monosyllabic words yield lower scores," the University of Minnesota's Eric Ostermeier explains.

Obama's use of simple language is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it's part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event.

http://www.politico.com/politico44/...gisters-at-th-grade-reading-level-112236.html

Ernest Hemingway's novels and short stories were written at a 6.4 grade level. I really don't think you can convince people he was a literary hack because of that.

A lower level of comprehension doesn't mean it isn't effective, it does mean that more people will understand it faster without misinterpreting it. As the article points out, the way it's written is because of what the State of the Union speech has metamorphosed into. Is that bad? Yes and no.

Comshaw

 

[CandiCame]

Apparently your spelling is third grade level.

Wait a second...
Out of curiosity; is your name surname Prower?

http://unbreakable-bonds-2.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/chara_tails.gif

 

[semen4her]

Obama probably had to dumb it down so the other half of the US could understand it.

 

[miles]

So? The New York Times and Wall Street Journal are written on an 8th grade reading level too.

You write - and speak - to a target audience. At an 8th grade level, some will be bored and some won't understand....but the majority will get the message.

Well that's working out well for the NYT...it's a worthless publication dying a slow death. Where did you get that info on the WSJ?

The majority gets Obama's message - hence his approval rating.

 

[RobDownSouth]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/milesObamaObsession.jpg
Make that 144.

144 threads by miles demonizing Obama. That's just gross.

 

[Beco]

I need to take Nipples off ignore.....................Naaaaaaaaaaaa

 

[semen4her]

144 threads by miles demonizing Obama. That's just gross.

It's a very unhealthy obsession which may lead to a heart attack.

Keep it up, Miles, you douchebag.

 

[RobDownSouth]

I need to take Nipples off ignore.....................Naaaaaaaaaaaa

If you didn't routinely ignore nipples, you might be a bit more popular with women. Just sayin'.

 

[Beco]

If you didn't routinely ignore nipples, you might be a bit more popular with women. Just sayin'.

really?

 

[miles]

I need to take Nipples off ignore.....................Naaaaaaaaaaaa

Take a shit instead.