AbstrakMempelajari matematika dianggap sulit oleh mayoritas siswa. Solusinya, peneliti menerapkan sebuah pendekatan pembelajaran kontekstual. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menyelidiki faktor-faktor penyebab kesulitan siswa dalam mempelajari materi perbandingan. Penelitian deskriptif kualitatif ini menggunakan instrumen soal cerita berjumlah 3 soal. Subjek penelitian adalah 24 orang siswa yang dipilih secara purposive sampling pada salah satu SMP di Kabupaten Bandung Barat. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan menggunakan tes dan wawancara. Hasil penelitian kemudian dianalisis secara deskriptif untuk mencapai tujuan penelitian. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa siswa SMP Pasundan Rongga belum sepenuhnya mencapai target yang diharapkan. Siswa masih banyak yang mengalami kesulitan untuk menyelesaikan soal cerita. Kesulitan siswa yang dominan dapat dikategorikan ke dalam tiga bentuk, yaitu kurangnya pemahaman konsep, tergesa-gesa menyelesaikan soal, dan kurangnya memahami soal. Berdasarkan hasil wawancara, penyebab kesulitan tersebut karena siswa belum terbiasa diberikan soal berbentuk cerita. Soal cerita perlu lebih sering diberikan kepada siswa guna menambah pengalaman belajarnya. AbstractLearning mathematics is considered difficult by the majority of students. The solution, researchers apply a contextual learning approach. This study aims to investigate the factors that cause students' difficulties in studying comparative material. This qualitative descriptive study used three-story questions as instruments. The research subjects were 24 students who were selected by purposive sampling at one of the junior high schools in West Bandung Regency. Data collection was carried out using tests and interviews. The research results were then analyzed descriptively to achieve the research objectives. The results showed that the students of SMP Pasundan Rongga had not fully achieved the expected targets. There are still many students who have difficulty solving story questions. The students' dominant difficulties can be categorized into three forms, namely a lack of understanding of the concept, rushing to solve the problem, and a lack of understanding the problem. Based on the results of the interview, the cause of the difficulty was because students were not used to being given questions in the form of stories. Story questions need to be given to students more often in order to increase their learning experience.