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Investigating the existence of social networks in cheating behaviors in medical students.

ABSTRACT: Most studies on academic cheating rely on self-reported questionnaires and focus on the individual, overlooking cheating as a group activity. The aim of this study is to estimate the true prevalence of cheating/anomalies among medical students using a statistical index developed for this purpose, and to explore the existence of social networks between anomalies in students' results.Angoff's A index was applied to a sample of 30 written examinations, with a total of 1487 students and 7403 examinations taken, from the 2014/2015 academic year of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto to detect anomaly pairs. All analyses are within the same academic year and not across years. Through simulations, the sensitivity and specificity of the statistical method was determined, and the true prevalence of anomalies/cheating was estimated. Networks of anomaly pairs were created to search for patterns and to calculate their density.The percentage of students who cheated at least once increased with the year of medical school, being lowest in the first year (3.4%) and highest in the fifth (17.3%). The year of medical school was associated with anomalies (p?

SUBMITTER: Monteiro J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6085665 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Investigating the existence of social networks in cheating behaviors in medical students.

Monteiro Jorge J Silva-Pereira Fernanda F Severo Milton M

BMC medical education 20180809 1

<h4>Background</h4>Most studies on academic cheating rely on self-reported questionnaires and focus on the individual, overlooking cheating as a group activity. The aim of this study is to estimate the true prevalence of cheating/anomalies among medical students using a statistical index developed for this purpose, and to explore the existence of social networks between anomalies in students' results.<h4>Methods</h4>Angoff's A index was applied to a sample of 30 written examinations, with a tota ...[more]

PMID: 30092805

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Project description:CONTEXT:As unprofessional behaviour in physicians can compromise patient safety, all physicians should be willing and able to respond to lapses in professionalism. Although students endorse an obligation to respond to lapses, they experience difficulties in doing so. If medical educators knew how students respond and why they choose certain responses, they could support students in responding appropriately. OBJECTIVES:The aim of this study was to describe medical students' responses to professionalism lapses in peers and faculty staff, and to understand students' motivation for responding or not responding. METHODS:We conducted an explorative, qualitative study using template analysis, in which three researchers independently coded transcripts of semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. We purposefully sampled 18 student representatives convening at a medical education conference. Preliminary open coding of a data subset yielded an initial template, which was applied to further data and modified as necessary. All transcripts were coded using the final template. Finally, three sensitising concepts from the Expectancy-Value-Cost model were used to map participants' responses. RESULTS:Students mentioned having observed lapses in professionalism in both faculty staff and peers. Students' responses to these lapses were avoiding, addressing, reporting or initiating policy change. Generally, students were not motivated to respond if they did not know how to respond, if they believed responding was futile and if they feared retaliation. Students were motivated to respond if they were personally affected, if they perceived the individual as approachable and if they thought that the whole group of students could benefit from their actions. Expectancy of success, value and costs each appeared to be influenced by (inter)personal and system factors. CONCLUSIONS:The Expectancy-Value-Cost model effectively explains students' motivation for responding to lapses. The (inter)personal and system factors influencing students' motivation to respond are modifiable and can be used by medical educators to enhance students' motivation to respond to lapses in professionalism observed in medical school.

Project description:Note: Data Use Restrictions: <ul> <li>The data must only be used for genetic research projects solely in the area of health-related social-network research.</li> </ul> This study compiles detailed information on family and social ties linked to participants in the offspring cohort of the Framingham Heart Study. The investigators took computerized information from self-report data used by the FHS for over 30 years to facilitate health exam scheduling. These tracking sheets asked participants to identify people close to them, which were assumed by the investigators to indicate a social tie. Individuals are listed as "egos" (if the ties are from their perspective) and/or "alters" (if they are linked as a friend or family members to one of the other participants). All egos were FHS offspring participants while alters could be FHS participants in any cohort or non-participants. This information was combined with internal FHS pedigree data on family ties to list family member alters (as well as the nature of their relationship). The resultant dataset therefore includes each ego-alter tie, the nature of their relationship and the start and end dates for their ties for each of seven waves for the offspring study. Due to privacy concerns, all exam dates for individuals are listed relative to the initial FHS exam date. The study investigators chose a random, confidential date, to which all initial exam dates are linked (by number of months from random date to initial exam date). With this information, researchers can have access to the temporal relationships among participants' exam dates while remaining unaware of the actual exam dates for individual participants. During each clinic exam cycle, the participants undergo a detailed examination including physical examination, medical history, laboratory testing, and electrocardiogram. Over the years, other tests (that may not be performed at every exam cycle) have included pulmonary function, lifestyle, physical function, cognitive function questionnaires, and various noninvasive cardiovascular tests including echocardiograms. This study involves phenotypic data from these exams including (when available) basic body measurements (height, weight, blood pressure), laboratory values (blood sugar levels, LDL levels), information on smoking and alcohol use, and tests of depression and cognitive functioning. Important links to apply for individual-level data <ol> <li><a href="http://dbgap.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/aa/wga.cgi?view_pdf&stacc=phs000153.v3.p3" target="_blank">Data Use Certification Requirements (DUC)</a></li> <li><a href="GetPdf.cgi?id=phd001183.1" target="_blank">Instructions to Request Authorized Access</a></li> <li><a href="http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/dbgap-controlled" target="_blank">Apply here for controlled access to individual level data</a></li> <li><a href="GetPdf.cgi?id=phd000317" target="_blank">Participant Protection Policy FAQ</a></li> </ol> In 1948, researchers recruited men and women from the town of Framingham, Massachusetts, beginning the first round of extensive physical examinations and lifestyle interviews that would later be analyzed for common patterns related to CVD development. Initially, the Framingham Heart Study enrolled 5,209 men and women from the Framingham area who were between the ages of 28 and 62 years. Beginning in 1971, the Framingham Heart Study enrolled 5,124 men and women, who were either offspring of the original cohort or spouses of those offspring. In 2002, 4,095 third generation participants (men and women) were enrolled.

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Investigating the existence of social networks in cheating behaviors in medical students.

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Investigating the existence of social networks in cheating behaviors in medical students.

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