Validity and Reliability RESEARCH METHODS
44 collaborative effort in this research. The researcher held discussion with the
English teacher in the 4 stages of this research: planning, action, observation, and reflecting. The researcher also took the opinions, ideas, comments, suggestions
from the students of class VIII A regarding to the application of the technique. The perspective from multiple voices helped the researcher designing the action
that can create an effective teaching and learning process. b.
Outcome validity is related to the result of this study. In this study, the outcome is the improvement of the students’ reading comprehension in English teaching
and learning process. This research can also be considered valid if the achievement of this research can appear new questions in the subsequent research
cycle. c.
Process validity is related to the “dependability” and the “competencies” of the research. To gain this criterion, the researcher collected the data by observing the
teaching and learning process and noted down everything that happened in the teaching and learning process. The observation was not only done by the
researcher, but also the English teacher and a student of English Department of Yogyakarta State University as a collaborator.
d. Catalytic validity is related to the changes of the stake holder and their
response towards the changes. This criterion was assessed by identifying the changes that occured during and after the action was done. The researcher
observed the implementation of the action to see the changes of the students. The researcher also held pre-test and post-test to know whether there are changes in
45 students’ reading comprehension. The researcher interviewed both students and
teacher to know the changes occurring to themselves after implementation of the study and how the changes affected their life especially in English teaching and
learning process. e.
Dialogic validity involves peer review process with others about this research findings and practices. To gain this validity, the researcher asked the English
teacher as the stake holder to participate in the process of this research by giving critiques and suggestions.
The researcher used the triangulation technique to ensure the reliability of the data. This kind of technique required multiple perspectives on the situation
being studied. The researcher used three perspectives from teacher by interview, individual pupils by interview and neutral third party by observation. The
researcher also compared the data from the reading comprehension test, interview and documentation to gain the trustworthiness of the data.
Meanwhile, the researcher also used the validity and reliability for the instrument that was designed to obtain quantitative data. The instrument was the
reading comprehension tests. The reading comprehension tests consisted of the pre-test and the post-test. To enhance the validity of this instrument, the
researcher used the content validity. Content validity determined whether the questions of the instruments and the scores of the questions were representative of
all the possible questions that the researcher could ask about the contents or skills.
46 Two steps that are suggested by Brown are used to evaluate the content
validity of the tests. The first step, according to Brown 2004:32, is by identifying the test whether it has been based on the classroom objectives or not.
This reading comprehension tests were developed based on the School Based Curriculum of grade VIII in the first semester of the English subject in the Junior
High School. They were designed based on the standard of competence and basic competence of School Based Curriculum. The texts used are descriptive, narrative
and recount text. The second steps relates to the concept of the test specification. The tests
followed the guidelines for designing multiple-choice items that is claimed by Groundlund and Brown. Groundlund and Brown in Brown 2004:56-61 states
there are four guidelines for designing multiple-choice items. These guidelines include three indices to measure the appropriate selection and arrangement of
suitable multiple-choice items. They are item facility, item discrimination and distractor analysis. The researcher held a try-out in other class that was class VIII
D to find out the appropriate selection and arrangement of multiple-choice items. After getting the result of the try-out, the researcher analyzed the item quality of
those three indices which include item facility, item discrimination and distractor analysis by using ITEMAN 3.00 program. Based on the result of the item quality
of the test, there were 30 valid items out of 50 items that can be used in the reading comprehension test. The valid items of the tests were used to know the
students’ reading comprehension ability.
47 In order to be the consistent and dependable tests, the researcher assessed
the reliability of the tests using internal consistency methods especially the Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha. The researcher used the results of the ITEMAN
results which also included the Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha to determine the reliability of the tests.