Why Do Students Cheat in Examinations in Turkey? A Meta-Synthesis Study

The main purpose of this study is to determine the possible causes behind the tendency of students in Turkey to exhibit cheating behavior in the exams directly from the results of research conducted on the subject. This research is a meta-synthesis study that was planned in the qualitative research design. Within this scope; three master's theses and 28 research articles which are accessed using databases such as the Google Academic search engine, TUBITAK Ulakbim DergiPark, the Turkish Council of Higher Education National Thesis Center, EBSCOhost, and ERIC and directly linked to the topic, were subjected to content analysis. The sample group of the studies used for the analysis is secondary school, high school, and university students, prospective teachers of education faculty, teachers, and instructors working in schools. According to the content analysis performed, it was seen that the topical studies conducted in Turkey mainly concentrated on two sub-dimensions. These are studies that aim at revealing the reasons of students' tendency towards cheating behaviors in exams, and attitude levels of opinions about cheating behaviors in exams and what measures could be taken. The majority of the investigated studies were conducted with prospective teachers (n=15) and the research methods of the studies were mostly based on the quantitative method (n=20). In the context of the data presented and discussed in this current study, it is anticipated that the results will be useful in guiding future research and providing in-service training for teacher training programs.