We investigated the suitability of reflectometry as a sizing method for polystyrene latex particles. This technique, where the particles are adsorbed at a quartz/water interface, involves the analysis of the reflection around the Brewster angle of light polarized in the plane of incidence. A computation of a full reflectivity curve containing about 20 datapoints, taking into account all electromagnetic interactions, is extremely complex and may take up to 100 h on an Indy R4600 computer (Silicon Graphics, Mountain View, CA). To use the complete electromagnetic theory for analysis of experiments therefore is impractical. We analyzed the experimental reflectivity curves using an approximate theory (free-sphere model), which neglects all electromagnetic interactions between different particles and their images in the substrate. To assess the errors introduced by neglecting these interactions, we have calculated reflectivity curves using the full electromagnetic theory for this system, and analyzed them with the free-sphere model. We found that the diameters determined with the free-sphere model deviate at most 2% from the actual values. The surface coverage determined with the free-sphere model is systematically smaller than the actual coverage. The difference can be as large as 15% at a coverage of 9% We also show that size polydispersity of the sample plays a minor role in the analysis of the data. We illustrate the usefulness of the free-sphere model, by analyzing measurements in which polystyrene latex particles are swollen by an organic solvent that is miscible with water.