least biased) probability distribution consistent with the given information. The virtue of the PME as a general method of inferential reasoning is that it generates the most objective (i.e. The analysis employs the Principle of Maximum Entropy (PME), which, mathematically, is a variational procedure requiring maximization of the Shannon-Jaynes entropy function augmented by the completeness relation for probabilities and known information in the form of expectation values. This paper derives an expression for the probability that alleged coincidences in a student’s paper could be attributable to pure chance. Plagiarism of this kind, which occurs primarily in fields such as the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics, is often difficult to establish. Plagiarism, Cheating, Coincidence, Information, EntropyĪBSTRACT: Elements of correspondence (“coincidences”) between a student’s solutions to an assigned set of quantitative problems and the solutions manual for the course textbook may suggest that the stu-dent copied the work from an illicit source. Bell System Technical Journal, 27, 379-423.Ĭheating or Coincidence? Statistical Method Employing the Principle of Maximum Entropy for Judging Whether a Student Has Committed Plagiarism (1948) A Mathematical Theory of Communication.
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