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A Quantal Choice Model for the Detection of Copying on Multiple Choice Examinations
Author(s) -
Post Gerald V.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
decision sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.238
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1540-5915
pISSN - 0011-7315
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5915.1994.tb00519.x
Subject(s) - probit , cheating , ordered probit , variance (accounting) , logit , multinomial probit , multinomial logistic regression , econometrics , respondent , probit model , copying , computer science , statistics , multivariate probit model , mathematics , economics , psychology , political science , law , social psychology , accounting
It is difficult to devise a statistical test to detect one student copying from another. Many prior efforts falsely accuse students of cheating. A general methodology based on the quantal choice model of decision theory overcomes these problems. Three steps are involved: (1) for each item estimate the probability and the variance that a given respondent will select each response, (2) for pairs of respondents, these probabilities determine the expected number of matches, and (3) compare the critical value to the number of items matched. Methods differ based on the probability estimation technique. Four methods (simple frequencies, Frary, Tideman, and Watts modification [8], logit, and multinomial probit) are compared on theoretical and empirical grounds. Theory and results show that it is crucial to incorporate the variance of the probability estimates. The probit model has theoretical advantages over the other methods and produces more accurate results.