This study investigates the usefulness of small-scale interview studies as a means to explore the validity of science achievement tests in several formats. Interviews and observations were conducted with 41 high school students taking multiple-choice and constructed-response science items, and with 49 fifth- and sixth-grade students completing hands-on science tasks. The procedure provided support for interpretations of subscales of achievement, identified some of the reasoning processes and sources of knowledge that students applied to the tasks, and revealed ways in which the strategies applied by successful and unsuccessful students differed. The importance of conducting small-scale, qualitative interview studies as part of the test validation process is discussed.
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