FORMATTING VARIABLES AND TYPEFACE VARIATIONS OF DOT-MATRIX PRINT AND THEIR EFFECT ON READING COMPREHENSION AND READING SPEED (TYPE, READABILITY, COMPUTER, LEGIBILITY)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether three typeface variations of dot matrix print single density, dual density, and photocopied dot matrix type and two formatting variations fully justified and left justified had any effect on the reading rates or reading comprehension of college students when compared to the same typewritten material. A pretest/posttest design with experimental and control groups utilized the Cloze Reading Test and the Nelson Denny Reading Test to measure reading comprehension and reading rates respectively to college students N = 240 . Subjects were randomly assigned to the groups to test the effects of the six treatment levels and two control groups of the independent variables (typefaces and type formatting) on the dependent variables (reading comprehension and reading rate). Four test sessions were used to collect the data and answer the research question: Do either of the three typeface variations of dot matrix print or the two formatting variables have any effect on reading comprehension or reading rates of the subjects when compared to typewriter type? A factorial analysis of covariance p. < .05 was used to analyze reading comprehension; and a two way analysis of variance p. < .05 was used to analyze reading rates. The findings indicated that typefaces or formatting made no significant difference in the reading rate or reading comprehension scores of the subjects tested.