Item Detail
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19667
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0
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0
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English
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A Comparison of Literacy and Readability in the Extended Institutes of Religion Program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Laramie, Wyoming
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University of Wyoming
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Ed.D.
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The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of literacy of the young adult participants of the Extended Institutes of Religion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or LDS Church) in the Utah Valley area with readability scores of the standard works of the LDS Church ( the King James Version of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants , and the Pearl of Great Price ). The population was comprised of 18-30 year-old participants who attended extended institute classes offered in Utah Valley. Nineteen classes were randomly selected from the population to participate in the study (using a cluster sampling method), which yielded a sample of 363 participants. A survey instrument was administered at one point in time. The instrument was composed of a demographics section and two forms (a locator test and a survey test) of a standardized, nationally norm-referenced literacy test (Tests of Adult Basic Education) to determine the literacy levels of the sample. Classic readability tests (the Dale-Chall Readability Formula, the Flesch Readability Formula, the Fry Readability Graph, and the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Formula) were also conducted on the standard works to determine the readability levels of these scriptural texts. It was established that the average readability scores of the standard works fell between 6.95 and 7.54 grade level (depending upon to which of the four readability tests was referred). It was further determined that 6% of the sample read below the eighth grade literacy level and subsequently might experience difficulty reading the average text of the standard works.