Port City Apr 1, 2017:

I assume the text refers to sending the questionnaire to 88 colleges before showing the response rate. Then, it's obvious that 69/88 means 69 colleges out of 88.

Helena Chavarria Mar 31, 2017:

I think my opinion is influenced by the fact I grew up in a world of fractions and imperial weights and measurements.

School worked was marked 'out of 10' and the result was expressed in figures, the same as fractions: 7/10, 4/5, 3/4

However, it appears the BBC writes fractions in words:

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn says his passion for remaining in the EU rates at about "seven, or seven and a half" out of 10.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36506163

magdadh Mar 31, 2017:

Context influence... Interesting reactions, I ''agreed'' the (reduced) spelling-out option but now I'm imagining the actual text that will definitely surround this sentence (unless it' graph heading or something odd like that) and of course xx/yy seems perfectly adequate...

Helena Chavarria Mar 30, 2017:

FWIW I'm practically convinced I would write 69/88.

Mitsuko Yoshida (asker) Mar 30, 2017:

Yes, I made a mistake. 🙇

Charles Davis Mar 30, 2017:

Provided it has previously been made clear that the respondents are colleges, as it must surely have been, "(69/88)" is absolutely standard in reporting a percentage result. It's what I would expect to see in a study of this kind. But I bow to the majority view. If you do spell it out, which would be relatively unusual, it should be "69 colleges out OF 88".