The three studies presented are concerned with three kinds of multiple-choice reading comprehension questions that may be answered correctly at a higher-than-chance level when they are administered without the accompanying passage. An attempt was made to demonstrate that each of these kinds of high risk item does not necessarily lead to passage dependence invalidity. One study succeeded whereas two failed. The net results of these failures to show that the threats to validity are not necessarily damning was interpreted as evidence of the seriousness of the threats.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Pyrczak, F.Passage-dependence of reading comprehension questions: Examples. Journal of Reading, 1975, 18, 308-311.
2.
Pryczak,F.Content-independence of items designed to measure the ability to derive the meanings of words from their context . EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT, 1976, 36, 919-924.
3.
Traxler, A. E.Review of the Gates Basic Reading Tests. In O. K. Buros (Ed.) The sixth mental measurements yearbook. Highland Park, N. J.: Gryphon Press, 1965 .
4.
Tuinman, J. J.Selected aspects of the assessment of the acquisition of information from reading passages. (Doctoral Dissertation, University of Georgia, 1970). Dissertation Abstracts International, 1971, 31, 5861A. (University Microfilms No. 71-13, 138).
5.
Tuinman, J. J.Determining the passage dependency of comprehension questions in 5 major tests. Reading Research Quarterly, 1973-1974, 9, 206-223.
