Abigail Johnson.Pdf
_______________________________ READABILITY AND QUALITY OF WEB-BASED INFORMATION RELATED TO NOISE-INDUCED HEARING IMPAIRMENT _______________________ Abigail Johnson A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Audiology at the University of Canterbury 2017 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and support of my primary supervisor, Dr. Kim Wise, and secondary supervisor, Dr. Rebecca Kelly- Campbell. I am beyond lucky to have had you both as lecturers and supervisors; your wealth of knowledge, and passion related to audiological research is invaluable. Words cannot express my gratitude for your fast email replies, level-heads, and constructive feedback throughout this process. To my classmates – I have met and made friends with some of the most thoughtful, intelligent, and hardworking people, and I will be so proud to call you all colleagues in the very near future. To Daniel – you have made it through nearly three years of dating a poor student. I am, and will be forever grateful for your patience and support – here’s to the (weathier) future! Lastly, to my wonderful mum – I would not have made it this far without your mental, emotional, and financial support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. i Abstract Aims: The purpose of this study was to assess the readability of online information pertaining to noise-induced hearing impairment (NIHI). This study aimed to answer several research questions: (1) What is the readability of online written information associated with searches related to NIHI? (2) Is the readability of online information significantly higher than the recommended 6th grade levels proposed by many researchers (Cheng & Dunn, 2015; Eloy et al., 2012; McInnes & Haglund, 2011; Misra, Kasabwala, Agarwal, Eloy, & Liu, 2012; Narwani, Nalamada, Lee, Kothari, & Lakhani, 2015; C.
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