Academic Dishonesty: An In-Depth Investigation of Assessing Measurable Constructs and a Call for Consistency in Scholarship

Abstract

For over 70 years, research has tackled the issue of academic misconduct in the university setting. However, a review of the literature reveals that (a) consensus on the magnitude of such behavior has not been reached, and, (b) no one with expertise in quantitative methodology has attempted to classify the behaviors that describe cheaters until Ferrell and Daniel proposed the use of the Academic Misconduct Survey (AMS). Even they, following their 1995 study, made a call for the development of understandable constructs in the measurement of cheating. Seventeen years later, the present study sought to produce such constructs. In a series of three phases of data collection, 4,100 participants completed a revised version of the AMS. A factor solution containing five factors proved to be the most interpretable. The five factors are as follows: creative padding, interactive cheating, false personal excuses, taking credit for others’ work, exam cheating. The present paper outlines the constructs proposed and discusses implications in this area for (1) scholars within the area of measurement and (2) educators with regard to student accountability and performance.

Appendix A

Creative padding: items and pattern loadings
Padded a bibliography of a paper with sources which you have not read to make the effort expended seem more intensive	0.85
Made up sources for bibliographic citations in a paper	0.77
Listed articles that were read but were not pertinent to the topic in a paper’s bibliography	0.67
Copied directly large sections of published work for inclusion in a written assignment without giving credit to the author	0.57
Copied a few phrases/sentences from work for inclusion in a written assignment without giving credit to the author	0.52
Based an “article report” on the abstract rather than reading the entire article	0.44
Written fictitious accounts of observation, life experiences, etc., without actually completing the observations or experiences	0.40
Interactive cheating: items and pattern loadings
Worked in a group on a homework assignment that was assigned as individual work	0.68
Collaborated with someone on a take home exam that was intended to be an independent activity	0.64
Copied a homework assignment from someone in another section of the class	0.64
Had another student tell you the answers to a test before you had to take it	0.53
Asked another student who has previously taken an exam for the answers prior to taking the test	0.52
Read a condensed version of a novel/play/etc., rather than the full-length version	0.48
Allowed another student to copy from your paper during an exam	0.41
Exam cheating: items and pattern loadings
Copied answers from another student during an exam	0.72
Copied from a cheat sheet during a quiz or exam	0.53
Looked at another student’s exam responses and kept your answer if both your answers were the same	0.53
Stored test information in a high memory calculator to use on an in- class exam	0.46
Stored answers to a test using a cell phone, palm pilot, Ipod, etc., and used it on an in-class exam	0.44
Created or made use of a “test file” when the teacher did not permit keeping the copies of the exam	0.37
Text messaged answers to a test back and forth with classmates	0.32
Taking credit for others’ work: items and pattern loadings
Had another student write a paper and presented it as your own work	0.83
Had another student complete an assignment (e.g., worksheet, math problems) and presented it as your own work	0.78
Written a research paper for another student	0.37
False personal excuses: items and pattern loadings
Delayed taking an exam due to false personal excuses	0.72
Related false personal information (e.g., illness, death in the family) to a professor to delay completing course requirements	0.70
Offered exaggerated accounts of personal problems to a professor in hopes of getting a higher grade in the class	0.35