Differential reflection measurements with side-by-side multimode optical fibers provides a method to determine the relative absorption properties of optically turbid media such as skin that can be related by Beer's law. However, absolute values of absorption cannot be obtained without a better understanding of the effects of the optical scattering by the medium being measured. Using two 400 micron diameter fibers, where one fiber emits light and both fibers collect light, we present results of measurements on varying concentrations of lipid emulsion, allowing us to change the scattering properties while keeping the absorption small, relative to scattering and constant. We use a Monte Carlo model (validated by the experimental results) to elucidate the average weighted path-length that collected photons travel for each fiber. We find that the difference between the two fibers in the average distance that collected light travels is constant for reduced scattering coefficients in the range of 10-100 cm−1. The differential reflectance has a non-linear relationship to the reduced scattering coefficient of the sample. We found that for tissues the scattering coefficient may be established using a linear fit of the differential reflectance in the spectral range of 675-800 nm where the absorption coefficient is much smaller than the reduced scattering coefficient.