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From: weave@chopin.udel.edu (Ken Weaverling)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Us Mac Yoosers R Stoopid
Keywords: Mac Bashing
Message-ID: <16405@chopin.udel.edu>
Date: 12 Feb 91 19:28:51 GMT
References: <7285@tekgen.BV.TEK.COM>
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Delaware
Lines: 36

In article <7285@tekgen.BV.TEK.COM> brucec@tekgen.BV.TEK.COM (Bruce Cheney) writes:
>

>The Halio study says that DOS users in the freshman writing class turned in 
>papers with an average "readability scale" of grade 12.1 - that is, they 
>wrote college-level papers.  Applying the same measure - the "Kincaid 
>Scale" - to Mac-written papers, the average grade level was a little below 
>eighth grade.

I don't see where this is much of a problem.  User manuals I write tend
to be on the sixth grade level, and user's still can't figure out stuff. :-)

>The report also says that DOS users were more apt to write about "serious" 
>issues, such as war, pollution, teen pregnancy, than the Mac cohort, who 
>wrote about such weighty topics as fast food.

Here lies the key. Obviously, the computer doesn't influence your topic.
The point is that the Macintosh probably attracts a different type of
student due to its reputation for being easy. A less driven student will
always take the easier way out of anything. 

Another factor is that a computer illiterate student again will pick the
Mac.  This same student probably doesn't realize that there is a spell
checker within the program, therefore gets more spelling errors.

Another consideration is that here at the University of Delaware, Macs are more
popular and it is harder to get open lab time on a Mac than a PC. There-
fore, the Mac students may have had less time on the computer to do the
there paper.

This *study* draws its conclusions based on a simple statistic. It's 
about as ridiculous as saying that since prisons are populated with
such a high percentage of minorities compared to the general population,
therefore minorities produce criminals. Which is bunk.
-- 
>>>---> Ken Weaverling  >>>---->  weave@brahms.udel.edu