the ·Louisville Cardinal
Vol. XLV No. 28 Room 117, Otter ~1, Louisville, Ky. 40208
Your cheatin' heart has told on you
Cheating is widespread
among undergraduate students
by Jim McGovern
A vast majority of University of
Louisville senior college students cheat,
and most do so with little fear of getting
caught. Although most students
disapprove of cheating and feel it
contradicts their educational goals, over
three-fourths of the students asked,
responded that they had cheated at least
once during tbeir college careers.
These are just a few of the findings
documented in a senior thesis submitted
to the Sociology Department in the fall
semester of 1972. Written by Rita
lmpellizzeri, the paper is entitled
"Cheating Behavior among Senior College
Students at the University of Louisville."
Using a randomly administered
questionnaire submitted to 100 senior
college undergraduate students enrolled
in the School of Business and the College
of Arts and Sciences, Impellizzeri
concludes that students resort to cheating
because they reject institutionalized
means of attaining institutionalized goals,
and because they perceive a low level of
peer disapproval of cheating behavior.
She points out that there is a
significant contradiction between
attitudes and behavior among the
students sampled. For instance, according
to the data presented, 76 percent of the
respondents agreed that "cheating seems
to contradict what you are in school for."
But 81 percent of those same students
admit to cheating in one way or another
some time during their college careers.
The writer concludes that "whether or
not to cheat is apparently decided by
each individual according to the situation.
"From all indications, it seems that
the students actually believe and hole
'normal' values. It is only under pressure
that they break with these values and act
in the opposite way. In other words, it
seems that cheating behavior is more of a
reaction on their part."
In addition to her own work ,
Impellizzeri cites the findings of a variety
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of other researchers as supportive of her
conclusions. Although she admits that
research in the area has been minimal, she
references a study which reported that 37
percent of the students polled at 10
different universities admitted cheating
by copying another's work or by using
crib sheets on examinations . . Another
researcher found that half the students
polled at 99 colleges' across the country
also admitted cheating on exams and
plagiarizing in one form or another.
Other studies have indicated that the
incidence of cheating is higher among
fraternity and sorority members than
among independents; that students who
cheat 'tend to be "lenient in all their
attitudes, to be less motivated
academically, have fewer artistic or
literary interests , and come from lower
socio-economic backgrounds than
non-cheaters." In addition, it has been
reported that cheating occurs more
frequently among juniors and seniors,
among students with lower-than-average
grades, and among males more than
females.
In her own research, Impellizzeri
found that:
• TI1e student who cheats can look
around him and "perceive quite
truthfully that he is part of the group -
'Everybody does it, nobody thinks it is
really wrong."'
• Of the 100 students polled, 81 had
cheated in one way or another, and had
committed each of eleven specific acts of
cheating in the following percentages:
Percent
Specific Acts of Sample
Padding a few items on
bibliography. 33
Copying a few sentences
of material without
footnoting it in the paper. 42
Writing a paper for
another student. 19
Getting questions or
answers from someone who
already has taken the same
exam. 55
Giving answers to students
during an exam. 44
Arranging with other
students to . give or receive
answers by use of signals. 5
Arranging to sit with
someone who will allow you
to copy from his or her exam. 24
Copying from someone 's
test or exam without he or
she realizing it. 31
Copying from someone 's
test or exam with that
person's knowledge. 28
Taking an exam for
another student. 4
Having another student
take an exam for you.
• Cheating occurs more often on tests
and examinations than on papers.
• However, three quarters of the
respondents felt that cheating on a paper
is a lesser offense than cheating on a test
or exam.
• "The majority don't feel that their
decision not to cheat is based on a fear of
April 26, 1974
getting cuahgt, but rather this decision is
based on 'an inner loss f self respect."'
• Although the majority of students
condenm cheating, ·nearly one fourth of
those polled "reflected a condoning
attitude in their respon es.''
• Contrary to popular stereotyping,
females do not cheat less than males.
• Those students with medium to
lower grades are more apt to cheat.
However, the rate of cheating is well
above 50 percent no matter what the
grade point average, except for the lowest
category (C- or lower) in which the rate
of cheating was negligible.
• Fifty percent of the students agreed
that "'faculty members don't seem to try
very hard to catch cheaters,' and that
after cheaters are caught, faculty
members 'show little uniformity in
handling cases of cheating.'"
• Over 50 percent of the students felt
those who -cheat and plagiarize do so
frequently.
• Almost 75 percent of those polled
believed that cheaters do not get caught.
• Approximately 75 percent of the
respondents said they sometimes feel that
cheaters hurt the chances of others for a
better grade.
• Only about half the group had ever
read the university's policy on cheating in
he undergraduate catalog.
• Half the students who answered felt
they would not necessarily like to see the
administration and faculty "get tougher"
with cheaters.
Sociology professor John H. Rieger,
who supervised the thesis , feels that
"except for some matters of sampling
which really don't effect the results at all,
it's a good student paper and probably is
wuite close to 'the way it is.'"
Rieger pointed out that 'interestingly
enough, the paper was a result of my
mention of a previous incident to my 400
(senior thesis) class. I had been presented
the previous semester a thesis which
1 contained an entire chapter from a
published work. When I ranted and raved
about the incident in the 400 class, Rita
decided that the subject of cheating on
this campus would make good material
for her own thesis."