yes good question. NE WAYS why i came here was to say howdy back at ya 88 (dale jarrett rocks) and to tell you i live in amarillo. Are there many SCer's in Texas????
Here is something on mopars, but the idea is similar for all Hall effect sensors. They take a voltage to operate, so a simple resistance reading is insufficient:
The Hall Effect sensor fails. This is cheap and easy to replace, but if you want to test it, Chriszw wrote that you can do this using a multimeter set to provide an audio continuity signal. Connect a 9V battery to the power and ground pins, the red test lead to the sensor signal pin, and the black test lead to the 9V battery negative terminal. Then slide a fat blade of iron, such as a feeler gauge, between the sensor and a magnet. The multimeter should stop sounding a tone, and the display should overrange. Chris suggested carrying a spare in the trunk since the sensor costs about $30 and tends to go bad. It really is a two minute job to replace it - it is in the distributor underneath the rotor. (Note: if you have DIS, or distributorless ignition, you do not have a Hall Effect sensor! All current Chrysler products have DIS, which was first used in 1991 on the Spirit R/T and was phased in on new engines and models afterwards).