Academic · Question 98 of 100

What “Cheated on a test or homework assignment?” means

Item 98 on the 100-question Rice Purity Test reads “Cheated on a test or homework assignment?”. Here is what the wording covers, where readers reasonably disagree about it, and exactly how much it moves your score.

Guidance written and reviewed 2026-07-26

Adult and sensitive content

The full checklist is intended for adults aged 18 and over and includes explicit topics. You may leave any item unchecked, exit the test, or delete saved checks. An unchecked item is scored the same whether the experience did not occur or you preferred not to answer.

What the question is asking

Item 98 asks whether you have cheated on a test or a homework assignment. It is by a wide margin the most commonly checked item in the academic category and one of the more commonly checked items in the second half of the checklist.

Where people disagree about what counts

The scope is very wide: copying an answer, using a phone in an exam, and getting a friend to do an assignment all satisfy it, and the item does not distinguish. Whether working together on homework counts depends entirely on what the teacher permitted, which the checklist cannot know.

The test is self-scored and nobody else ever sees your answer, so the only thing that matters is applying one reading consistently across the whole checklist.

How item 98 fits with the items around it

Items 98 and 99 are the academic dishonesty pair, differing in that item 99 names one specific method — plagiarism — of doing what item 98 describes generally. Almost everyone who checks 99 also checks 98.

Item 97, before this one Been suspended or expelled from school? Item 99, after this one Plagiarized a paper?

How it affects the score

Every question has the same one-point effect. Checking item 98 subtracts one point from the starting score of 100. Leaving it unchecked subtracts nothing, and no item on the checklist is weighted more heavily than any other.

Final score = 100 − total checked boxes

The final number never identifies this answer or any other individual answer — it is a count, so it discards which items were selected the moment it is calculated. Read the full scoring guide or look up an exact result on the 0–100 score chart.

Questions about item 98

Does copying homework count for item 98?

Yes. The item names homework assignments as well as tests, so copying an assignment satisfies it.

Does working together on homework count?

It depends on whether collaboration was permitted. The checklist cannot know that, so the answer follows what the rules were at the time.

How does item 98 relate to item 99?

Item 99 is plagiarism, which is one particular form of what item 98 describes. Most people who check 99 also check 98.

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