Research Setting RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

37 items may not be able to measure the students’ ability to clearly express their answers. In regard to the weakness of multiple-choice items, the test also utilized essay items. In the test, the essay questions were in the form of extended answers. Extended- answer questions are essay items which require “long responses” and supposed to be used “only to measure higher-order mental processes” Marshall Hales, 1972, p. 29. This was thought to be suitable with senior high school students. It also suits the nature of analytical exposition texts which expresses opinions and attitude on certain issues or even evaluates policies. In answering extended-answer questions, students were expected to produce words which were not explicitly stated in the text. It was supposed to be their own opinions or arguments related to the issues being discussed. Regarding with types of reading comprehension questions, the researcher had designed questions with complementary types as shown in the Table 3.1. Text Levels of Comprehension Literal Inferential Critical Creative Text 1: Gay Marriage Should be Justifiable 3, 5 1, 2, 4 6 7 Text 2: Why Finland’s Schools are So Successful 3, 5 1, 2, 4 7 6 Table 3.1. Types of Reading Comprehension Questions 38 Students’ Work Another instrument used in this study was students’ work. Here, the students’ work referred to the Venn diagrams. From the Venn diagrams, the researcher could see whether or not the students had understood how to fill in it. The researcher used the Venn diagrams in both cycles. In the first cycle, students worked on the Venn diagrams individually. In the second cycle, students worked in groups so they could discuss and stimulate richer background knowledge. Thus, the Venn diagrams were done together in groups.

E. Data Analysis Techniques

After conducting the acting stage, the researcher analyzed the data as the part of the observing stage. In analyzing the data, first the researcher found out the Index of Difficulty and assessed the tests. The researcher then calculated the mean of the scores by using descriptive statistics. Then the researcher analyzed the observation results by using qualitative approach. The researcher also analyzed students’ work by using the content analysis.

1. Exploring the Index of Difficulty

The researcher firstly analyzed the answers of the tests by examining each question and saw how many students answered correctly and incorrectly. The number of the individuals who answered correctly was then used to find the Index of Difficulty for each test item Marshall Hales, 1972. From the resulted number, it could be seen which questions that were considered PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI