E. Data Collection Technique
The data about the improvement of the students’ reading comprehension were obtained by doing observation in the English class, conducting interviews
after class meetings, and administering the reading comprehension test. These data collection techniques are described below.
a. Observation
The observation was done to get the information that was needed. The researcher collected the data by observing the class situation and condition in the
teaching and learning process. She sat at the back of the classroom and noted down the class activities in the teaching and learning process. The observation
results were recorded in the form of field notes. b.
Interview The interview was done to know the helpfulness of the actions. The
researcher interviewed the students and the English teacher about the activities in the teaching and learning process. The information obtained from the interview
was recorded into interview transcripts. c.
Reading Comprehension Test The reading comprehension test was administered before and after the
researcher conducted the actions. The reading comprehension tets was used to measure the students’ reading comprehension. The test was in the form of a
multiple choice test consisting of 50 items. The data of the reading comprehension test were collected in the form of numerical data.
F. Validity and Reliability
a. The validity of the data
Validity is an essential aspect for evaluating the quality and acceptability of the research Burns, 1999:160. The data validity of this research was based on
Burns’ 1999:161-162. They are democratic validity, process validity, outcome validity, catalytic validity, and dialogic validity.
To get the democratic validity, in this study, the researcher interviewed the English teacher and the VII E students of SMP Negeri 1 Jetis. In the interview, the
English teacher and the students expressed their views and opinion toward the actions done.
For outcome validity, the researcher emphasized the study on the betterment of the learning process to reach the maximal result. In this case the
researcher formulated the new questions related to the new problem found in the class when she tried to solve the main problem of the study. This action was done
after the researcher did the reflection in the end of the class meeting. For process validity, the researcher collected the data by doing observation
and noted down everything that could be caught by the researcher’s senses. In this
activity, the researcher observed the students’ attitudes, class condition, the teaching technique used by English teacher during the teaching and learning
processes and described the collected data in the field note form. For catalytic validity, the researcher tried to get the stakeholders’
responses to the changes occurring to themselves. For this purpose the researcher observed the implementation of the actions, made reflections of the actions done
in the VII E class, and asked questions to the English teacher and VII E students to know the changes they made after the researcher applied the actions during the
study. For dialogic validity, the researcher asked the English teacher as the
stakeholder to participate in the process of the study by giving criticism and suggestions. For this purpose, the researcher conducted reflective dialogs with the
English teacher for criticism or suggestion to the action done in the class.
b. The reliability of the data
To obtain trustworthiness, the researcher used triangulation technique. Burns 1999:164 proposed four types of triangulation. They are time
triangulation, space triangulation, investigator triangulation, and theoretical triangulation. Nevertheless, only time triangulation and investigator triangulation
to validate the data in this research. They were as follows. 1.
Time Triangulation The data were collected in a period of time. It was done to get a sense of
what factors were involved in change processes. In this research, the researcher did the action from February to May 2014. The data collected were compared to
formulate research questions and the treatment used to improve students’ reading comprehension through the use of semantic mapping technique.
2. Investigator Triangulation
Investigator triangulation involved more than one observer used in the same research setting to avoid observer bias and provide checks on the reliability
of the observations. The data were related to the teaching and learning process,
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