Publication Type: Paper/Poster Proposal
Abstract: The Ohio Family Health Survey (FHS) is a telephone survey of the health and health insurance status of adults and children in Ohio. The FHS prescribed confidence intervals for estimates of insurance status for several population subgroups: rural regions, ethnic minorities, families in poverty, families with children, etc. These constraints required a complex sample design that over-sampled on many levels. To obtain reliable estimates of the health insurance status of African Americans, especially those with lower incomes, an optimal allocation design was employed. This allocation involved stratifying Ohio’s largest metropolitan counties into High, Medium, and Low density strata based on Census estimates of the proportion of households with at least one African American adult. Preliminary estimates of the costs of screening households, and the costs of completing interviews, were entered into the allocation model. The resulting disproportionately-stratified design attempted to optimally allocate interviews across strata with minimal impact on the variance of survey estimates. This paper will review the optimal allocation design, compare preliminary estimates of demographics to what was obtained during fielding, and examine the efficiency of the design with respect to the precision of key survey estimates as well as the costs of screening households.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Measures of socio-economic status are usually based upon people's occupational status. So, in a survey of fifteen year olds conducted in their schools, how can you collect such information about their parents? The most convenient method is to ask the young people themselves to describe their parents' occupations. This method is cost-effective and does not require making contact with parents, a stage which would be likely to increase non-response of students to the survey, as well as item non-response to the required questions. But can one trust the socio-economic data obtained this way?

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was conducted in 2000. Students aged 15 to 16 were assessed in their literacy skills and a chief aim of this study was to see how socio-economic status was associated with literacy. Student’s reporting of their parents’ occupation and highest level of education was used as an indicator of parental social economic status. During the pilot study in England, conducted in 1999, the reliability of this proxy data was investigated. Students reported details of their parents occupations and education at school by self-completion questionnaire. Interviews were then carried out by telephone with 307 mothers and 244 fathers of these students. Measures of socio-economic status and educational attainment derived from both sources were compared.

This paper describes the reliability of student reporting and identifies areas of weakness. It also identifies implications for the analysis of data as the quality of reporting was related to students' literacy skills.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Single mothers leaving welfare face a web of obstacles in accessing childcare subsidies. However, welfare leavers’ perceptions about their experiences and about work supports for which they are eligible, including childcare subsidies, are not well documented in the literature. This paper develops a model of childcare selection and subsidy use among welfare leavers. Findings suggest the level of trust between parents and childcare providers, related to bad experiences with center-based care, and the availability of information about child care facilities were important decision making criteria. Efforts to work with this population need to address lack of information about subsidies to increase the range of child care alternatives and quality and also promote trusting relationships between social workers and welfare leavers.

Supporting Publications:
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Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: While numerous studies provide evidence on how Instant Messaging is used in the workplace, there is little empirical evidence on how IM is used among college students, the largest segment of the rapidly growing IM user population.
An online survey of college student IM users (N=443) was conducted to examine the role of three important concepts—gratifications sought (GS), gratifications obtained (GO), and social presence—in the context of IM use.
Results indicate that 1) College students used IM to seek fulfillment of social utility, interpersonal utility, convenience, entertainment/relaxation, and information needs and did so successfully through IM use. The two most salient gratifications (both sought and obtained) were convenience and social utility. 2) Social presence was positively and significantly related to GS and GO. The mediating role of social presence suggested that the relationship between GS and GO depends on the extent to which college students feel a sense of “being together.” 3) The convenience motive, followed by the entertainment/relaxation motive and the convenience benefit were the strongest predictors of IM use. 4) Both GS and GO were influenced by social presence and GS had a direct effect on IM use, while GO had an indirect effect.
Implications for extending uses and gratifications and social presence theory and research are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: We use data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS:88-2000) to explore whether dropouts benefit from returning to obtain their high school credential. We define dropouts as those who (1) reported ever dropping out in the 1994 (third follow up) wave of the NELS survey and (2) had not obtained a degree by the end of 1992. About 48% of these "1992 status dropouts" went back to earn a GED or a diploma sometime between 1993 and the fourth follow up NELS wave in 2000. We explored differences in postsecondary educational attendance and credential attainment, as well as differences in 1999 Income (using Tobit analysis), comparing the benefits of the GED versus the diploma versus remaining status dropouts by 2000. We also compare results across school location, gender, race, and class. Results show broad benefits in 1999 incomes and postsecondary access to earning a high school credential, but significant differences across regional contexts and status groups.