Randomized response techniques (RRTs) are useful survey tools for estimating the prevalence of sensitive issues, such as the prevalence of doping in elite sports. One type of RRT, the unrelated question model (UQM), has become widely used because of its psychological acceptability for study participants and its favorable statistical properties.…

Current approaches used by educational institutions to address the problem of student cheating are not working. This is because the discourse of academic integrity that currently dominates is, on its own, inadequate for addressing the problem. We propose that in order for higher education institutions to challenge cheating effectively, they need…

Preknowledge cheating jeopardizes the validity of inferences based on test results. Many methods have been developed to detect preknowledge cheating by jointly analyzing item responses and response times. Gaze fixations, an essential eye-tracker measure, can be utilized to help detect aberrant testing behavior with improved accuracy beyond using…

This study examines and compares four person-fit statistics (PFSs) in the framework of the "D"- scoring method (DSM): (a) van der Flier's "U3" statistic; (b) "Ud" statistic, as a modification of "U3" under the DSM; (c) "Zd" statistic, as a modification of the "Z3 (l[subscript z])"…

The amount and severity of security threats have increased considerably over the past two decades, calling into question the validity of assessments administered around the world. These threats have increased for a number of reasons, including the popular use of computerized and online technologies for test administration and the use of almost…

Using classroom response systems (clickers) to accumulate grade-points has become a controversial practice as response systems have become more widely used in the last decade. Although some instructors opt to use clickers on a non-grades basis, it has become quite common to reward students for (a) correct answers, (b) participating in clicker…

A statistical test for detecting answer copying on multiple-choice items is presented. The test is based on the exact null distribution of the number of random matches between two test takers under the assumption that the response process follows a known response model. The null distribution can easily be generalized to the family of distributions…

Comparison of two indices of answer copying, one using only wrong responses and the other using right and wrong responses for six tests taken by from 910 to 1,154 college students suggests that indices of copying may perform differentially well according to the size of scores of examinee pairs evaluated. (SLD)

Studied students' erasure behavior on a standardized (low stakes) test. Results for 5,641 students in grades 4, 8, and 11 suggest that students do change their responses at an average of 6 to 7% of the tested items and that overall achievement appears unrelated to the student's tendency to erase and change a response. Discusses conditions under…

In December 2004, the "Amarillo Globe News" reported on a "Dallas Morning News" story that analyzed state-mandated test scores from across Texas (Benton & Hacker, 2004; Wilson, 2004). According the "Amarillo Globe News," "the Dallas Morning News" study implicated Sunrise Elementary School, in Amarillo,…