A method for bandgap energy determination using diuse reflection is presented and compared to the traditional integrating sphere method. We have measured the bandgaps for ZnO, TiO2, Cu2O, Si, SnZrS3, SnZrSe3, Sn2S3, and BiCuOSe powders with both methods and found they agree within 0.03 eV. We have measured scattering from powder material in the infrared region of the spectrum with a linear wavelength dependence. We have measured optical bowing of the bandgap energies of SnZrS3-xSex system. We also take an in-depth look at the Ocean Optics spectrometer and its components.