Descriptive Analysis of the Entire Dyslexia Group

From research done by others and our own observations and clinical experiences, it seems reasonable to accept the notion that “dyslexia” and other similar labels are terms that connote a variety of literacy dysfunctions of etiological or behavioral nature. The thrust of the Bergen Project was thus to study subgroupings of the total dyslexia sample chosen by typological classification and possibly statistical methods. The practical consequences of this thrust are found in the next chapter, where the total dyslexia sample has been subdivided and described on the basis of clinical and statistical tests. This chapter, however, follows the traditional research strategy of treating the data from the total dyslexia sample as one group. This analysis of the total sample was based on our desire to determine which indirect, nonreading variables from our enormous data base (tests, observations, etc.) showed general effects on the total sample. (The next chapter will analyze the relationships of the same variables to the various dyslexia subgroups.)