NAME: Readability of Educational Materials for Patients with Cancer TYPE: Two independent samples SIZE: Two variables, one with 30 observations and the other with 63. The data file contains frequency distributions for the two variables over a common range of grade levels. DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACT: The readabilities of 30 pamphlets about cancer are compared to the reading comprehension levels of 63 patients with cancer. Both variables are measured in grade levels. The data are presented as frequencies of occurrence over grade levels for both the pamphlet readabilities and the reading levels of the patients. SOURCE: Cooley, M. E., Moriarty, H., Berger, M. S., Selm-Orr, D., Coyle, B., and Short, T. (1995), "Patient Literacy and the Readability of Written Educational Materials for Patients with Cancer," to appear in _Oncology Nursing Forum_, October 1995. VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS: Columns 1 - 2 Grade level 4 - 5 Frequency of occurrence for brochure readabilities 7 - 8 Frequency of occurrence for patient reading levels Values are aligned and delimited with blanks. SPECIAL NOTES: One key to the analysis of these data is the ordinal nature of the grade level data for patient reading levels. In particular, the extreme values of the WRAT R2 scale are "2", which really means "less than third grade," and "13", which really means "College and above." STORY BEHIND THE DATA: A study conducted on patients at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center compared the readabilities of brochures informing patients about cancer and its treatment to the reading levels of patients with cancer. The purpose of the data collection and analysis was to determine if existing written materials about cancer are aimed at a reading level too far above the comprehension levels of the patients. Although analysts are tempted to consider means and medians to make comparisons, the clearest conclusions are reached by the interpretation of simple graphical displays such as histograms. PEDAGOGICAL NOTES: The dataset in this example is small, but it can be used to initiate discussion of many statistical issues. The sample of patients was self-selected, which may lead to data collection issues. The methods for assigning grade levels to both readability and patient literacy could be discussed. Perhaps more importantly, the scale of measurement for the grade levels affects choice of measures of center, and the distribution of the data values calls into question whether measuring center even makes sense in this case! Finally, the clarity of the histograms and the resulting interpretations should be used to highlight the value of simple graphical displays. Additional information on the pedagogical uses of these data can be found in the "Datasets and Stories" article "Readability of Educational Materials for Patients with Cancer" in the _Journal of Statistics Education_ (Short, Moriarty, and Cooley 1995). SUBMITTED BY: Thomas H. Short Department of Mathematical Sciences Villanova University Villanova, PA 19085 short@monet.vill.edu Helene Moriarty Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center University and Woodland Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19104 and College of Nursing Villanova University Villanova, PA 19085 Mary E. Cooley Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center University and Woodland Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19104