The Way We Write It Makes a Difference — Sometimes

Abstract

Seven definably different audi ences (approximately 750 sub jects) were tested in a factorial experiment to determine the effect of departures from stand ards in expression (agreement of subject and verb, sentence length, and shifts in point of view) upon the effectiveness of a 3,700-1 word test message. To the surprise of the experimenter and perhaps of the reader of this article—the variables test ed did not cause differences in the effectiveness of the mes sage. Possible reasons for this are postulated and preliminary results of a follow-on experi ment are indicated.