Research Matters

Empirical comparisons
Average sentence/word length
Tables 6 and 7 and Figures 2 and 3 show the data pertaining to word and sentence length, and how
they compare to the data from the previous studies.
Table 6:Average word length (letters per word)
Year
Grade
——————————————————————————————
A* A B C D E F G
Males 1980 4.5 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.2
1993 4.1 4.5 4.2 3.9 4.0 3.8 3.8
1994 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 3.9 3.9 3.7 3.5
2004 4.9 4.3 4.1 4.3 3.9 3.6 3.7 3.6
2007 4.3 4.5 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 3.9 3.9
2014 4.1 4.1 4.2 4.0 3.9 3.9 3.6 3.9
Females 1980 4.2 4.3 4.1 4.0 4.1
1993 4.1 4.3 4.2 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.8
1994 4.1 4.3 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.8
2004 4.4 4.6 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.0 3.7 3.9
2007 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.0 3.9 4.0
2014 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.7 3.7
All 1980 4.4 4.3 4.2 4.2 4.2
1993 4.1 4.5 4.2 3.9 4.0 3.8 3.8
1994 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 3.9 3.9 3.7 3.5
2004 4.5 4.4 4.1 4.2 4.0 3.9 3.7 3.7
2007 4.3 4.5 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 3.9 3.9
2014 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.0 3.9 3.9 3.7 3.6
Figure 2: Average word length
Mean No. of letters
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
G F E D C B A A*
Grade
1980 1993 1994 2004 2007 2014
20 | RESEARCH MATTERS – SPECIAL ISSUE 4: Aspects of Writing 1980–2014