User:Thinker78/Draft MOS:LEADLENGTH table modification

This page is an analysis of various information and values to maybe develop a new table for MOS:LEADLENGTH, it doesn't necessarily indicates that everything is intended for integration in the guideline. Is a work in progress and your questions and comments in the talk page are appreciated.

Thread consensus analysis for table modification
Derived from discussion at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Lead section.
 * 1) Hawkeye7 doesn't want kb column.
 * 2) NewsAndEventsGuy wants kb column (although agrees with the rationale of WhatamIdoing) and supports keeping or adding the character and words columns if consensus is gained first in WP:SIZERULE.
 * 3) WhatamIdoing doesn't want kb column. Wants lead length limit suggestion in words, no more than 1,000 and no more than a 2-minute read.
 * 4) SandyGeorgia wants lead length limit suggestion in words and mostly percentage of article, but doesn't want kb nor characters nor cutting good leads to follow the guideline.
 * 5) Ovinus likes the four-paragraph rule and more than the word and character count.
 * 6) XOR'easter doesn't want a table nor numerical limits on the lead.
 * 7) GreenC doesn't want a formulaic guideline.

Paragraph length in writing
A paragraph in the context of general writing not limited to Wikipedia, can consist of a single letter, a word, or as long as needs to be or the writer wants—even pages long. The average paragraph is 200 words and is recommended to be from 3 to 8 sentences, although in academic writing it ranges from 6 to 8. For younger audiences it is recommended shorter paragraphs and in general for all audiences for easier reading. Wikipedia's audience is mostly young and guidance states that "Editors should avoid lengthy paragraphs". In addition, it is recommended that for a wider audience in the general public, the readability of a text be aimed for students in the eighth grade, who may have a reading speed of 150 words per minute. Therefore, shorter paragraphs should be used.

Mobile
In progress.

Articles statistics
Average of around 600 words per article in all Wikipedia, per Size of Wikipedia.

Size of articles
According to the previous article statistics.

Complex math
Statistical calculations derived from the articles' data.

Number of FA articles in Wikipedia (N) = 7,799

N=7,799

New recommended lead length guideline
According to the articles' statistics. Notice that per MOS:LEAD, "The lead of a Wikipedia article [...] is the section before the table of contents and the first heading." Therefore, some articles can't have a lead due to its minimal size; for example, stubs or start articles devoid of a heading in the body. For practicality, guidance in the tables start in 0 size in words.

Option 3
The following is based on a goal of no more than 3 minutes reading, at a reading speed of 150 words per minute, roughly 80 words per paragraph.

Several paragraphs
An example of a current article with many paragraphs in the lead is History of India. The article has 16,600 words and the lead more than 900 words and 9 paragraphs.

Number of paragraphs in lead
Considering an upper limite of page size of 100k characters (per WP:SIZESPLIT) or 17k words and a 10% lead of 1.7k words, we could calculate in a provisional basis—according to similar guidance by most of the tables about short paragraphs—80 words per paragraph and an upper limit of 20 paragraphs in the lead.

More lead length tables
Based on analysis of lead examples provided in the thread "Seeking consensus for table modification". A goal of the lead being 10% or less of the overall article length is followed in these tables, according to general advice for abstracts.

Analysis of lead examples in MOS:LEAD talk thread
Note: The LG400, LGSRW, LGSAW columns indicate the applicable row number in the relevant table that the linked lead falls under (for example, the value of 1 in the LG400 column points to row 1 in the Lead guidance 400 words LG400 table).