STUDY PROTOCOL

I.
Title of the Study
Academic Dishonesty Among First Year Students of the Faculty of Pharmacy at
the University
of Santo Tomas
II.
Researchers
The study is conducted by Pharmacy Students from the University of Santo
Tomas namely: Gianne Maureen L. Abcede, Ma. Erika Lourdes D. Azurin, Elizabeth
Ann O. Bautista, Bea Pamela M. Borromeo, Mark Louis A. Chica, and Maryrose C.
Cinconiegue.
III.

Background

Academic Dishonesty is a common practice among students in any

institution. It is a type of cheating that occurs in any relation to a formal academic
exercise. Statistics show that cheating among high school students has risen
dramatically during the past 50 years. 73% of all test takers, including prospective
graduate students and teachers agree that most students do cheat at some point.
86% of high school students agreed. Thirty years ago, males admitted to
significantly more academic dishonesty than females. Academic cheating begins to
set in at the junior high level. Today, that difference has decreased substantially and
some recent studies show no differences in cheating between men and women in
college. Academic dishonesty has been an important issue. However, only few
researches had been done in Asian countries, especially a nationwide study.
Academic dishonesty among high school and college students is highly common, so
common that some observers describe it as epidemic. (Haines, Deikhoff, LaBeff,
&Clarkk, 1982, p.775)
The Faculty of Pharmacy is one of the most academically demanding colleges
in the university. Students would stay up many sleepless nights working on their
academics and praying not to fail. But sometimes their hard work seems to be not
enough and getting a passing grade almost seems impossible. With this being said,
students tend to resort to other means to either keep their grades up or to not fail.
Academic dishonesty like cheating, forgery and others seem to be a normal
etiquette given the circumstances brought to them by their current situation.
IV.
Hypotheses
The common type of academic dishonesty is cheating. There are different
factors that trigger the student to commit such dishonesty like peer pressure,
competitive environment in the classroom and familial pressure. Committing such
academic dishonesty have different effects to students like suspension and creation
of disciplinary records.
V.

Research Question

1.) What are the common type of academic dishonesty

among first year students of the Faculty of Pharmacy?
2.) What are the factors that trigger the student to commit an
academic dishonesty?
3.) What are the effects of committing an academic
dishonesty to a student?
VI.
General Objective
To determine and define the different types of academic dishonesty among
Thomasian first year students of the Faculty of Pharmacy.
VII. Specific Objectives
To identify the common type of academic dishonesty among first
year students of the Faculty of Pharmacy.
To identify the factors that trigger the student to commit an
academic dishonesty.
To determine the effects of committing an academic dishonesty
to a student.
VIII. Study Design
Case-study. The study will be conducted in a group of students particularly,
first year students of the Faculty of Pharmacy in the University of Santo Tomas. They
will be participating in a survey about the most common type of academic
dishonesty and other questions related to the topic of the paper.
IX.

Selection of Respondents
A. Inclusion Criteria
1.) Students of both sexes.
2.) Students of the University of Santo Tomas
3.) First year students of the Faculty of Pharmacy.
B. Exclusion Criteria
1.) Other year levels.
2.) Students from the other universities.
3.) Non-Pharmacy students.

X.
Method
Background information regarding academic dishonesty was obtained,
followed by the making of its review of literature. The review of literature was
analyzed and through that, research questions were formulated. Interviews and
surveys were then conducted to first year students of the Faculty of Pharmacy at
the University of Santo Tomas. The data gathered was analyzed quantitatively and
qualitatively. Then a hypothetical model was constructed. Findings against prior
research were validated and then interpretations and conclusions were made.