Measuring reading behavior in large-scale assessments and surveys

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Empirical Educational Research

Background:

• Reading behavior significantly impacts student reading skill development.
• Existing research employs diverse methods to measure reading behavior, including reading time, frequency, print exposure, and engagement.
• A lack of a unifying conceptual framework hinders the classification and interpretation of these varied measurement instruments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of methods used to measure reading behavior in large-scale assessments and surveys.
• To discuss the implementation of these measurement approaches.
• To propose suggestions for relating different measurement methods based on their content and theoretical connection to the construct of reading behavior.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of empirical educational research on reading behavior.
• Analysis of measurement instruments used in large-scale assessments and surveys.
• Conceptual analysis to identify relationships between different measurement approaches.

Main Results:

• A wide array of reading and reading-related aspects are used to operationalize reading behavior.
• Measurement methods for reading behavior differ fundamentally across studies.
• There is a recognized absence of a clear conceptual model for classifying and interpreting these diverse instruments.

Conclusions:

• A comprehensive overview of current measurement practices for reading behavior in educational research is presented.
• The study identifies a critical need for a standardized conceptual framework to guide the selection and interpretation of reading behavior measurement tools.
• Recommendations are offered to foster a more cohesive understanding and application of diverse measurement approaches in future research.