Peer-reviewed research
Writing, dictating, and speaking letters
John D. Gould and Stephen J. Boies, Science, 1978 · DOI 10.1126/science.201.4361.1145
Read the originalRead on October 16, 2026
- What it is
- An IBM Research study published in Science that timed and rated business letters composed by writing, by dictating to a recorder and by speaking, comparing novice dictators with people who had years of dictation experience. It measured how long composing took, how much of it was planning, and how good the letters were.
- How much weight it carries
- Peer-reviewed and published in Science, and the basis of later work on speech interfaces at IBM. It studied dictation to a recorder rather than to speech recognition software, so it measures the composing skill, not recognition errors. The abstract is open on PubMed; the full text is paywalled.
Facts taken from this source
- People with years of dictation experience composed letters between 0 and 25 percent faster than novices, depending on how complex the letter was.
“Dictators with years of experience are from 0 to 25 percent faster than novices, depending upon the complexity of the letters.” (Abstract)
- In IBM's 1978 study, novice dictators learned within a few hours to dictate letters as fast and as well as they wrote them, although they did not believe they were doing that well.
“novice dictators can learn in a few hours to dictate with the speed and quality with which they write. However, they do not think they perform this well.” (Abstract)
- About two-thirds of the time spent composing a letter was planning, whether the letter was written, dictated or spoken.
“Planning time is about two-thirds of composition time, regardless of the method of composition.” (Abstract)
Pages that rest on this source
- Dictation and Voice Typing: How to Talk Instead of TypeTopic
- Writing a Book by Dictation: Software and WorkflowGuide
- How Much Time Dictation Saves at WorkGuide
- Speaking vs Typing Speed: What the Research ShowsGuide
- Does Dictation Change How You Write?Guide
- How do you dictate a letter?Question
- What Is Dictation Software? Types and How It WorksGuide
- Dictation for Academics, Researchers and ThesesGuide
- How do you dictate a medical letter?Question
- How do you dictate a professional email?Question
- Is dictated writing worse than typed writing?Question
- DictationGlossary
- Oral compositionGlossary
- How to Dictate Emails Faster Than You Type ThemGuide
- Speech to Text for Dyslexia and DysgraphiaGuide
- Writing Speed: Words per Minute by Hand and per DayGuide
- Can you dictate a novel?Question
- Does typing speed still matter?Question
- Does walking while dictating help you write?Question
- How do you dictate notes quickly?Question
- How do you stop saying um when you dictate?Question
- How long does it take to write 1,000 words?Question
- How many words a day do professional writers write?Question
- How many words per hour can you dictate?Question