No abstract

An increasing number of academic institutions are considering changing to Web-based systems to take advantage of efficiencies in the collection of end-of-semester course evaluations. In considering such a change it is important that researchers determine whether it will affect mean evaluation scores and response rates. We undertook this study in a department considering changing over to electronic course evaluations to determine the effect such a change would have on the quality of resulting course evaluation data. Study results found that Web-based evaluation methods led to lower response rates, but that lower response rates did not appear to affect mean evaluation scores. They suggested that faculty evaluation scores will not be adversely affected by switching from paper to Web-based evaluations.

Objective. To determine whether Medicaid home care spending reduces the proportion of the disabled elderly population who do not get help with personal care. Data Sources. Data on Medicaid home care spending per poor elderly person in each state is merged with data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey for 1992, 1996, and 2000. The sample (n=6,067) includes elderly persons living in the community who have at least one limitation in activities of daily living (ADLs). Study Design. Using a repeated cross‐section analysis, the probability of not getting help with an ADL is estimated as a function of Medicaid home care spending, individual income, interactions between income and spending, and a set of individual characteristics. Because Medicaid home care spending is targeted at the low‐income population, it is not expected to affect the population with higher incomes. We exploit this difference by using higher‐income groups as comparison groups to assess whether unobserved state characteristics bias the estimates. Principal Findings. Among the low‐income disabled elderly, the probability of not receiving help with an ADL limitation is about 10 percentage points lower in states in the top quartile of per capita Medicaid home care spending than in other states. No such association is observed in higher‐income groups. These results are robust to a set of sensitivity analyses of the methods. Conclusion. These findings should reassure state and federal policymakers considering expanding Medicaid home care programs that they do deliver services to low‐income people with long‐term care needs and reduce the percent of those who are not getting help.

Data from the 1985–1986 waves of the Panel Study on Income Dynamics are used to analyze reporting errors in husbands' estimates of wives' housework time relative to wives' self‐reported estimates. The difference between husbands' and wives' estimates is an average of −0.32 hours per week or approximately 20 minutes. This small difference is not statistically significant from zero. We also find, however, that husbands of poorly educated, nonemployed wives who have no children underreport their wives' housework time. In contrast, husbands of highly educated wives, who typically spend less than average time in housework, tend to overreport their wives' housework time.