Readability of mass mailing written material produced at the county level of the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service

The objective of the study was to ascertain the readability of mass mailing written material produced in Alabama counties. A mailed questionnaire to 100 randomly selected county agents was used with a 98% response rate. The readability was assessed using the Fry Readability Graph. Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients were calculated. Stepwise multiple regression was set at the .05 level. Findings indicated that the respondents spent about 6 hours a week writing educational materials for Extension clientele. Forty-two percent had taken no college writing course; 45% had taken only one college writing course. Agricultural material was written at a readability level of one grade above home economics materials. Two-thirds of the agents wrote for adult audiences with an average readability of 10th grade or higher, which is above the reading level of the average adult in the U.S. Three-fourths of the agents wrote for adult audience with an average readability of 8th grade or higher, while 75% of Alabama 4-H members are in grades 4-7. Readability grade level of the material tended to increase with educational attainment and with increase in communications in-services attended. The level decreased as agents spent more time writing for Extension clientele. Males who wrote only agricultural materials, tended to write materials at a higher readability level than females, who wrote only home economics materials. Conclusions indicate that Extension materials are being written at levels too high for intended audiences.