Back to GESIS Homepage

Multi-Item Scale:

I will now read to you various reading activities. For each of these activities, please tell me how well you can perform them. Think about your experiences from your job and everyday life.<br> Please give me your answers using this list. <br> <i>[Ich lese Ihnen jetzt verschiedene Lesetätigkeiten vor. Bitte sagen Sie mir für jede dieser Tätigkeiten, wie gut Sie diese durchführen können. Denken Sie dabei an Ihre Erfahrungen aus Beruf und Alltag.<br> Bitte geben Sie mir Ihre Antworten anhand dieser Liste.]</i>

Item Text:

c. Read and understand an instruction manual or manual to operate a new appliance, such as a television or washing machine. [Eine Bedienungsanleitung oder ein Handbuch lesen und verstehen, um ein neues Gerät bedienen zu können, z. B. einen Fernseher oder eine Waschmaschine.]

Different Answer Format Tested:

Nein

Findings:

For this item the full width of the scale was used: Ten test persons, i.e. half of them, indicate "I can without problems", eight test persons say "I can, but with certain difficulties", one test person (TP 12) indicates "I can, but with great difficulties" and another one (TP 03) indicates "I cannot".

Overall, the test persons have no problems with the description "to operate a device". Out of 20 test persons, 16 think of technical devices, of which 13 test persons mention concrete devices such as TV, DVD recorder, laptop or telephone. Three persons name (additionally) furniture like cupboard (TP 08), desk (TP 13) or laminate (TP 14). With two test persons it remains unclear what kind of devices they think of (TP 05, 19).

Nine test persons think exclusively of longer texts (TP 01, 03, 06, 09, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19) and five test persons think exclusively of shorter texts (TP 05, 10, 11, 13, 14). Four test persons think of both shorter and longer texts (TP 02, 04, 07, 08) and with another two test persons it remains unclear what they think of (TP 15, 20).

The test persons who stated that they are able to read and understand an instruction manual or a manual "with certain difficulties" justify this in three different ways. The first reason is that the operation or the construction of new things is complicated:
  • "But with other things, this is a very new area. And it's always a bit complicated for me." (TP 02)
  • "Assemble a desk. Such a DIN A4 sheet with a thousand screws and things." (TP 13)
  • "Sometimes the technical descriptions are too complicated and I am not that technically gifted and therefore sometimes there are difficulties when it is very extensive and complicated to understand the technology." (TP 18)
A second reason is that operating instructions must be read several times in order to understand them:
  • "If it was a technical manual, I would first read it and then try, but read it again to see if I did it right." (TP 07)
  • "If I have such an instruction manual with pictures and text, then I have to find my way in. Then I read it through two or three times." (TP 08)
  • "We have a big TV, it's new. Until I find out how it works, I read the instructions for use two or three times. (...) The instructions are not always 1A." (TP 17)
Test person 17, as well as two other test persons, justified their answer with poorly written operating instructions:
  • "This is a problem because these manuals are so bad. I could say I can do it without any problems if the manual is okay. If it's not okay, then I'm stuck. I recently bought laminate. There was a note in it that said, "This is ... It's so stupidly written.“ (TP 14)
  • "Then I thought of the operating instructions that were translated, for example, from Chinese into Swedish and then at some point into German.” (TP 19)
Of the ten test persons who stated that they could read and understand operating instructions without problems, test person 06 and test person 20 also spontaneously commented on the problem of bad instructions:
  • "That depends on the instructions. Normally I can do that without any problems, but there are more complex instructions." (TP 06)
  • "That depends on the description. Normally I don't have any problems, but it really depends on the manual." (TP 20)
Five of the respondents with the answer "I can, without problems" justify this with intuition (TP 01), experience (TP 04), the short working steps (TP 05), that everything is described (TP 11) or that they understand it easily (TP 15).

Among the test persons who answered with no problems, there are three who report difficulties in the explanation of their answer:
  • "Most of the time these are very short steps, you can try them right away and then you're ready to go. With work instructions or packing lists it is already more difficult then. You first have to understand them so that you can implement them.” (TP 05)
  • "I have now thought about this when I once wanted to reprogram my phone. It was so complex that it did not work the first time. I managed to do it then, therefore "without any problems", but it depends." (TP 06)
  • "If it is just about a television, then it is already in such a way that I read it again and again, so that I not only read it once, but also a second or third time, then perhaps again in sections and then try it out on the television. I am already in a position to make it work afterwards." (TP 16)
Conversely, test person 03 indicates certain difficulties, even if she understands simple operating instructions: "(...) And a manual is always so much. How to put a new kettle into operation is obvious: put water in, plug in and then turn it on. It is all the same. You don't even need to read it anymore, but for other things it is a very new area. And for me it's always a bit complicated.“ (TP 04)

Recommendations:

Here it should be specified that longer texts are meant and not short How-Tos. The text of the question could be modified and simplified as follows: The term "devices" should be omitted and instead concrete examples should be given:
"Read and understand detailed operating instructions or a manual in order to operate a new TV set or washing machine, for example."
[„Eine ausführliche Bedienungsanleitung oder ein Handbuch lesen und verstehen, um bspw. einen neuen Fernseher oder eine neue Waschmaschine bedienen zu können.“]
Alternatively, only the word "detailed" can be added to the original item::
"Read and understand detailed operating instructions or a manual to be able to operate a new appliance, e.g. a television or washing machine.”
[„Eine ausführliche Bedienungsanleitung oder ein Handbuch lesen und verstehen, um ein neues Gerät bedienen zu können, z. B. einen Fernseher oder eine Waschmaschine.“]

Question tested:

true