Re: Scientific vs. Humanistic

Subject: Re: Scientific vs. Humanistic
From: Barb Philbrick <caslonsvcs -at- IBM -dot- NET>
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 15:01:39 GMT

If you are using "percent" enough times in a paragraph to prefer %,
maybe the information should be presented in a table instead.

I tend to view % vs. percent as a formal vs. casual issue, rather than
scientific vs. humanistic. If the document is to be user-friendly, I
might tend toward %. In a document like yours, which seems formal, I'd
use percent.

Have you checked GPO? I'd take their recommendation over any others if
this is a government report.

Barb

>My question is about using the % symbol vs. spelling out "percent" in a
>report to Congress from the US Army about the efficiency of a computer
>program. I'd prefer to use the % symbol because it appears so many times
>in some paragraphs when referring to the accuracy of the information
>produced by the program. So could such a report be considered
>"scientific"?
Barbara Philbrick, Caslon Services Inc.
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