Cheating Probabilities on Multiple Choice Tests

This paper is strictly based on mathematical statistics and as such does not depend on prior performance and assumes the probability of each choice to be identical. In a real life situation, the probability of two students having identical responses becomes larger the better the students are. Howeve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of chemical education 1997-10, Vol.74 (10), p.1185
Main Authors: Rizzuto, Gaspard T, Walters, Fred
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cheating
Probability
Statistical analysis
Tests
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This paper is strictly based on mathematical statistics and as such does not depend on prior performance and assumes the probability of each choice to be identical. In a real life situation, the probability of two students having identical responses becomes larger the better the students are. However the mathematical model is developed for all responses, both correct and incorrect, and provides a baseline for evaluation. David Harpp and coworkers (2, 3) at McGill University have evaluated ratios of exact errors in common (EEIC) to errors in common (EIC) and differences (D). In pairings where the ratio EEIC/EIC was greater than 0.75, the pair had unusually high odds against their answer pattern being random. Detection of copying of the EEIC/D ratios at values >1.0 indicate that pairs of these students were seated adjacent to one another and copied from one another. The original papers should be examined for details.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/ed074p1185