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A Statistical Test for Detecting Answer Copying on Multiple‐Choice Tests
Author(s) -
Linden Wim J.,
Sotaridona Leonardo
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of educational measurement
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.917
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-3984
pISSN - 0022-0655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3984.2004.tb01171.x
Subject(s) - copying , test (biology) , statistical hypothesis testing , multiple choice , statistical analysis , psychology , statistical power , statistics , extension (predicate logic) , computer science , mathematics , significant difference , paleontology , political science , law , biology , programming language
A statistical test for the detection of answer copying on multiple‐choice tests is presented. The test is based on the idea that the answers of examinees to test items may be the result of three possible processes: (1) knowing, (2) guessing, and (3) copying, but that examinees who do not have access to the answers of other examinees can arrive at their answers only through the first two processes. This assumption leads to a distribution for the number of matched incorrect alternatives between the examinee suspected of copying and the examinee believed to be the source that belongs to a family of “shifted binomials.” Power functions for the tests for several sets of parameter values are analyzed. An extension of the test to include matched numbers of correct alternatives would lead to improper statistical hypotheses.