Research Methods

Hypothesis:

Students that know they are being watched while taking a test are less likely to cheat than students who do not know they are being watched.

Naturalistic observation:

I would set up two classrooms in a college environment where students are taking tests. In the first classroom I would have a teacher walk around the room for the duration of the exam making students aware that they are being watched. In the second classroom I would have a teacher that is unknown to the students sitting in a desk watching for cheating but the students would be unaware of his or her presents and identity.

Case studies:

This case would be to study the behaviors of college students during exams and to determine if there is any consistency with who is in the classroom and if they are being watched.

Survey research:

Students who will be taking the exam will be asked how many hours they studied for prior to taking test. They will be asked how they feel about the upcoming test, how they feel about cheating and what their desired grade would be. The students would also be asked how they feel when someone is directly watching them while taking an exam; does it make them nervous or is it not a concern to them. Finally students will be asked if there is a teacher present does it change their mind set on cheating and would it make them think twice before doing so.

Correlational Studies:

The two groups of students that will be involved in this study will be actually one classroom. The classroom had 38 students. The students will be split into two groups of 17 and will be directed to take the exam in two different rooms. They will be split randomly for fairness of the study. One classroom will have a noticeably present teacher and the other will have an unknown teacher. The students' behaviors and outcome on their tests will be the ground work in determining if having a teacher present (or not) influences cheating. This research will determine the correlation between having a teacher in the classroom and cheating as well as not having a "known" teacher in the classroom and cheating.

I project that the classroom with the teacher present will not have any or very few students that will attempt to cheat whereas