Testing an Information Mapping® text

Abstract

A study into the effect the Information Mapping ® method compared three text versions. Each version was tested by approximately twenty subjects working for a Dutch company. The study involved a text that had been used in that company for several years, an Information Mapping ® version of the same text and a version rewritten by an experienced writer, who did not work with the Information Mapping ® method. With regard to effectiveness and efficiency, the results of the various versions did not differ significantly. The judgements that the subjects made were statistically different in one respect: the Information Mapping ® text was rated significantly higher than the text rewritten by the experienced writer. However, the subjects did not rate the Information Mapping ® text significantly higher than the original text. Subject variables such as age and years of service at the company had no significant effect on the results. All things considered, this study fails to substantiate the claim that the IMAP method results in texts that lead to improved reader performance.

Information Mapping

“…The pre-university sixth-formers worked more effectively and efficiently with the IMAP version than with the conventional text version and also showed a greater overall appreciation for it. If we compare these results with the outcomes of previous research (Jansen et al, 2002;2003), in which the IMAP method proved to have no effects in the case of a relatively short text, then our results seem to corroborate Horn's (1992b) idea that, in experiments of this kind, it may be hard to demonstrate any effects of IMAP if the texts used are short.…”

“…In the study by Jansen et al (2002Jansen et al ( , 2003, respondents used relatively short text versions (the original version was three A4 pages), and no statistically significant effects of the IMAP versions were found in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and appreciation. Respondents who participated in this earlier experiment with the IMAP version had never worked with the IMAP method before.…”

“…Respondents who participated in this earlier experiment with the IMAP version had never worked with the IMAP method before. Since in Jansen et al (2002Jansen et al ( , 2003, short texts were used, we wanted to find out whether IMAP texts would produce better reader performance than conventionally designed texts if these texts were longer. We also wished to find out whether the IMAP method would produce better reader performance in respondents who had already had some previous experience with this method than in those who used it for the first time.…”

“…Unfortunately, not all the studies referred to in Horn (1992a) can be regarded as successful attempts to thoroughly investigate the effects of applying IMAP-principles when rewriting a text. A number of these studies suffer from serious methodological flaws (for a discussion of these shortcomings and references to publications where other authors criticize the research on IMAP on which Horn bases his conclusions, see Jansen, Korzilius, Le Pair & Roest, 2002;2003). In a response to critical authors such as Hartley (1982) and Fields (1983), Horn (1991) points out that he would agree that "there is less research than we would like", and that he regrets that "neither Hartley nor other researchers have attempted to replicate the amazingly simple research that would convince them [..]. "…”

“…The first of these experiments, reported in Jansen et al (2002;2003), compared three text versions: an original text that had been used in a Dutch company for several years, an IMAP version of the same text, and a version rewritten by an experienced writer who did not work with the IMAP method. Each version was tested by approximately twenty respondents working for a Dutch company.…”