Choosing not to cheat

JUNE 26, 2012

by Shannice Singletary ’14, Contributing Writer

Peer pressure. Procrastination. Everybody does it. All are reasons claimed by students who resort to cheating. But for those who take the high road, hammering out hours of studying while balancing activities and a social life, what compels them not to cheat?

This summer, sociology professor Kenneth Kolb and a Furman Advantage intern, Alexis Singer, are doing research on why students don’t cheat. They are also investigating whether or not student participation in Furman’s First Year Writing Seminars has any influence on this reasoning—for better or worse.

Singer, a rising junior, has kept herself busy this summer reviewing current literature on the justification behind why students admit (or don’t admit) to cheating, as well as more in-depth analysis on student justifications.

“Most Furman students that I interviewed were totally opposed to cheating . . . there are many students who say that they don’t cheat for moral reasons, but a much greater number say that they don’t cheat because they’re afraid of being caught.”

It’s no wonder, considering that Furman’s Academic Integrity Pledge is a principle that professors and most students take very seriously.

Singer, a sociology major, also cites that doing summer research has given her the opportunity to explore her interests. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my sociology major. So doing sociology research this summer has let me get a feel for the academic side of it, to see if that’s what I want to do.”