III.
METHODS
This chapter deals with design and procedures of the research. This refers to research
design, data and variables, data source, data collecting instruments, data analysis, data
treatment, and hypothesis testing.
3.1. Design
The researcher employs a quantitative method to investigate whether short story is able
to enhance students' reading comprehension. To conduct this study, a one-group pre-
test/post-test design will utilize. Initially, the students took a pre-test prior to receiving
any treatments. At the conclusion of the research, the students will administer a post-
test following the treatment. The design of the research is illustrated as follows:
T1 X T2
With the following explanation:
T1: Distributing pre-text for students’ reading comprehension before treatment.
T2: Distributing post-test for students’ reading comprehension after treatment.
X: Treatment teaching reading comprehension through short stories.
3.2. Data and Variables
This study identified two primary variables to evaluate the effectiveness of short stories
in enhancing reading comprehension among senior high school students.
Understanding these variables is crucial for developing the research methodology and
analyzing the collected data. The main variables in this research are:
• Independent Variable: The implementation of short stories as a teaching medium.
• Dependent Variable: The reading comprehension skills of senior high school
students.
23
The effectiveness of using short stories will be assessed by comparing students' reading
comprehension performance before and after the intervention. Specific criteria will be
established to evaluate students' reading comprehension skills, which include:
• Main Idea: the ability of identifying the core message or central concept of a text
for a deeper understanding.
• Specific Information: This skill focuses on quickly locating particular details
within a text, often by scanning, to efficiently retrieve relevant information.
• Inference: This entails using context clues and reasoning to understand meanings
that are implied but not directly stated in the text.
• Reference: This skill requires recognizing pronouns and phrases that refer to
other parts of the text, ensuring coherence and clarity in comprehension.
• Vocabulary: This involves interpreting both literal and implied meanings of
words, using vocabulary knowledge to enhance overall understanding of the text.
3.3. Data Source
This study will take place at a senior high school and will focus on second-grade
students, as the researcher believes this grade level corresponds well with the selected
basic competencies. In this research, students will complete a pre-test prior to the
intervention and a post-test aimed at assessing their reading comprehension of short
stories after the treatment. The final test consists of 30 questions developed by the
researcher following a trial process. These questions evaluate essential components of
reading comprehension, including the main idea, specific details, references,
inferences, and vocabulary, based on the texts or stories the students engage with during
the treatment.
Additionally, a trial test will be administered before the pre-test to assess the validity
and reliability of the questions. After this evaluation, the researcher will remove or
revise any items that are deemed unsuitable for the students.
24
3.3.1. Population, Sample, Subjects, Respondents
The population for this research consists of all students enrolled in Grade XI at a senior
high school for the 2024/2025 academic year. These students represent the broader
group from which insights regarding the effectiveness of reading comprehension
interventions using short stories could be derived. The sample for this study will be
drawn from this population and will specifically include one selected class of 30
students. This Grade XI class will serve as the experimental group and will participate
in all phases of the study, including pre-tests, treatments, and post-tests. This particular
class was selected to provide a manageable yet representative sample, enabling the
researcher to closely monitor and evaluate changes in reading comprehension skills.
Thus, the subjects of the study will be the 30 students who will directly engage with
the reading comprehension materials, particularly focusing on short stories as part of
their learning intervention. Their performance on tests, along with their responses
during the intervention, will generate the essential data needed to assess the
effectiveness of the teaching strategy. This data will be crucial for understanding the
impact of using short stories on the reading comprehension abilities of Grade XI senior
high school students.
3.3.2. Setting
The study will be conducted at SMAN 2 Bandar Lampung, focusing on grades XI, they
are the students at 11-2 class consist of 30 students during the academic year
2024/2025.
3.4. Data Collection Instruments
Data collection in research refers to the systematic process of gathering information to
address research questions, test hypotheses, or evaluate outcomes. This process is
essential across all research fields, as the quality, reliability, and validity of findings
rely on the accuracy and relevance of the collected data. In this study, multiple
instruments will be employed to ensure the accuracy and thoroughness of data
collection related to the use of short stories for enhancing students' reading
25
comprehension. The researcher will utilize tests as the primary data collection
technique, and the data collected in this study is quantitative data.
In this research, a test served as the main instrument. The researcher conducted the test
as both a pre-test and a post-test. The pre-test measured students' reading
comprehension skills before the treatment, while the post-test assessed their reading
comprehension skills after the treatment.
3.4.1. Validity
Validity refers to the extent to which a research instrument accurately measures the
concept it is intended to assess (Heale and Twicross 2015). It ensures that the
instrument genuinely evaluates improvements in comprehension rather than unrelated
skills such as memorization or overall reading speed. When assessing students’
progress, it is essential that any assessment or tool directly reflects their comprehension
abilities resulting from their engagement with short stories, thereby ensuring that the
findings are accurate and meaningful in the context of enhancing reading
comprehension.
a. Content Validity: This evaluates whether the test content accurately reflects the
construct of reading comprehension. The emphasis of content validity is on the
adequacy of the sample and the material itself. This means that the content
should align with the basic competencies outlined in the syllabus for second-
grade senior high school. The researcher developed both the test and lesson plan
based on these competencies. In this study, the researcher utilized a table of
specification to ensure that each test item aligns with the goals and material to
be taught.
b. Construct Validity: This assesses whether the evaluation truly measures reading
comprehension as influenced by short stories, rather than unrelated skills. In
this research, the researcher designed the questions to focus on specific aspects
of reading comprehension: 1) main idea, 2) specific information, 3) inference,
4) reference, and 5) vocabulary.
26
3.4.2. Reliability
Reliability refers to the consistency of a measuring instrument in yielding similar
results when applied repeatedly over time (Sürücü and Maslakçi 2020). To ensure that
the assessment results remain consistent and dependable over time, the researcher will
employ Cronbach's Alpha to measure internal consistency. The formula is as follows:
𝑵.𝒄̅
α=
̅+(𝑵−𝟏).𝒄̅
𝒗
Notes :
𝑁 = number of items in the test,
𝑐̅ = average covariance between item pairs,
𝑣̅ = average variance of each item.
Alternatively, Cronbach’s Alpha could be calculated directly using statistical software
such as SPSS.
3.4.3. Level of Difficulty
The level of difficulty is used to categorize test questions as easy or difficult. To
determine the difficulty level of the test questions in this research, the following
formula will be utilized (Shohamy, 1985):
𝑼+𝑳
𝑳𝑫 =
𝑵
Notes:
LD: Level of Difficulty
U: The proportion of upper group students
L: Refers to the proportion of lower group students
N: The total number of the students
3.4.4. Discrimination Power
Discrimination power refers to how effectively an assessment item can distinguish
between high-performing and low-performing students. An effective item is one where
27
strong student achieve high scores while weaker students score low. To evaluate the
discrimination index, the researcher applied the following formula:
𝑼−𝑳
𝑫𝑷 =
𝟏
𝟐𝑵
Notes:
DP: Discrimination Power.
U: The Total of Correct Answer of The Higher Group.
L: The Total of Correct Answer of The Lower Group.
N: The Total Number of The Students Following the Test.
This research assesses the reading abilities of students with varying levels of
knowledge, aiming to ensure a balance among students, even if some high-achieving
students do not meet the standard criteria.
3.5. Data Analysis
Once the data is collected, the researcher will apply the scoring format outlined by
Arikunto (2004) to evaluate the students' test results.
𝑹
𝑺= × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑵
Notes:
S: Score of the test
R: Right answer
N: Total of the items
After evaluating the pre-test and post-test scores, the researcher will compute the
average score for both tests using the formula provided below:
𝜮𝒙
𝑴=
𝑵
Notes:
M: Mean (average score)
28
X: The total of students’ score
N: Total of number of the students
To assess whether there is an improvement in students' reading comprehension after
being taught with short stories, the researcher will apply the following formula:
𝐈 = 𝐌𝟐 − 𝐌𝟐
Notes:
I : The improvement of student’s achievement
M1 : The average score of pre-tests
M2 : The average score of post-tests
3.6. Data Treatment
To assess the improvement in students’ reading comprehension after being taught with
short stories, the researcher will employ a quantitative approach to address the research
question. A normality test (such as the Shapiro-Wilk test) will be conducted to verify
the distribution of the data before applying parametric tests like paired t-tests for
comparing pre- and post-test scores.
The normality test's hypotheses are as follows:
H0: The distribution of the data is normal
H1: The distribution of the data is not normal
The level on the significance used is 0.05. H0 is accepted if the result of the
normality test is higher than 0.05 (sign > 0.05).
After testing for normality, the researcher will conduct a paired sample t-test to
compare the mean scores of the reading comprehension test before and after the
intervention with short stories. The null hypothesis (H0) posits that there is no
significant difference between the mean scores before and after the treatment. If the p-
value is less than 0.05, the null hypothesis will be rejected, indicating that there is a
significant difference between the mean scores, thereby suggesting that the use of short
stories has a meaningful impact on improving students' reading comprehension skills.
29
3.7. Hypothesis testing
The researcher will analyze the data to explore whether the use of short story is able
enhance students' reading comprehension. This study will test the hypothesis that short
story significantly improves students' reading comprehension.
A paired-samples t-test
𝑑
𝑡=
𝑠𝑑 /√𝑛
Notes:
• t: t-statistic.
• dˉ: Mean difference between paired observations.
• sd: Standard deviation of the difference.
• n: Number of paired observations (students)
•
A pre-experimental design featuring one group with pre-test and post-test assessments
will be employed to determine if there is a statistically significant improvement in
students’ reading comprehension following the intervention, using a significance level
of 0.05. The hypotheses for this research are as follows:
𝐻0 : Sig. >0.05
𝐻1 : Sig. <0.05
H0: There is no statistically significant improvement in students' reading
comprehension after the use of short stories.
H1: There is a statistically significant improvement in students' reading comprehension
after the use of short stories.
This chapter has provided a discussion of research design, data and variables, data
source, data collecting instruments, data analysis, data treatment, and hypothesis
testing.