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From twinkle to twilight
Commas or em-dashes?
Apr 11, 2023 08:02
1 yr ago
39 viewers *
English term

utiliity

English Other Other
Instructional videos on five of the 17 acupuncture techniques (hereinafter referred to as "techniques") were created, and a questionnaire was distributed among acupuncture and moxibustion college teachers to evaluate the utility of the educational materials.

Should "utility" in the last line be changed to "usefulness"?
Please advice!
Thank you.
Responses
4 +2 Utility and usefulness in this context are synonyms
3 +2 usefulness
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (2): Yvonne Gallagher, Chris Says Bye

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Discussion

Chris Says Bye Apr 11, 2023:
The only trouble is that usefulness loses the quintessential Finnishness of utiliity, thus revealing the folly of our profession.
JaneD Apr 11, 2023:
"utility" is perfectly correct in this context - but it does mean "usefulness".

Responses

+2
20 mins
Selected

Utility and usefulness in this context are synonyms

Utility and usefulness in this context are synonyms, so you can use both with the same meaning.
Peer comment(s):
agree Marta Calahorro Castro
15 mins
agree Tony M : Yes — and i would venture that 'utility' is more appropriate for the register here.
23 mins
agree Yvonne Gallagher : Utility fits register better
36 mins
disagree Seamus O Donnell : 'usefulness' is more appropriate in the context
1 day 31 mins
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I found more hits by googling (evaluate the utility of the): Controlled clinical study to evaluate the utility of the platelet ... National Institutes of Health (.gov) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › ... · 22 RA Espinosa-Campos 著 · 2020 — Controlled clinical study to evaluate the utility of the platelet distribution width (PDW) in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Cir Cir."
+2
1 hr

usefulness

In this context, despite the register, I would choose usefulness. It seems clear from the context that evaluating whether or not the videos are useful to practitioners is the purpose of distributing them.
Peer comment(s):
agree Seamus O Donnell
23 hrs
agree Luz Castaneda : Agree. Perhaps the word “utility” speaks to what an item is useful for, while “usefulness” speaks to whether or how much an item is used.
2 days 4 hrs
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