This study proposes using Internet search data from search engines like Google to produce state-level metrics that are useful in social science research. Generally, state-level research relies on demographic statistics, official statistics produced by government agencies, or aggregated survey data. However, each of these data sources has serious…

This paper aims at highlighting the overlapping between the qualification mismatch and the skill mismatch, using a specific Italian data set drawn from PIAAC survey (2012). The main concern, regarding skills and competences, is that they may be gathered and accumulated, but also potentially become obsolete, thus, qualifications (formally…

The Human Development Index (HDI) has been instrumental in broadening the discussion of economic development beyond money-metric progress, in particular, by ranking a country against other countries in terms of the well being of their citizens. We propose self-organizing maps to explore similarities among countries using the components of the HDI…

This paper presents a new analytical framework for assessing spatial disparities among countries. It takes for granted that the analysis of a country's performance cannot be limited solely to either economic or social factors. The aim of the paper is to combine relevant economic and "non-economic" (mainly social) aspects of a country's performance…

The methodological question concerns constructing a cardinal social index, in order to assess performances of social agents, taking into account implicit political judgments. Based on the formal structure of a Choquet's expected utility, index construction demands quantification of levels of a meaningful ordinal indicator of overall performance.…

The weightings of the four component indicators of the UNDP's Human Development Index HDI appear to be arbitrary and have not been given justification. This paper develops a variant of the HDI, calculated to reflect peoples' revealed evaluations of education and the productivity of work. The resulting Calibrated human Development Index CDI has a…

Many scholars have commented on the changing significance of farming for understanding the dynamics of social and economic change in contemporary rural America. Quantitative analyses of relationships between farming, local socioeconomic conditions, demographic trends, and policy have often relied on an indicator of "farm-dependent" (FD) counties…

In recent years, we have seen how the quality of work life has been focused and defined by the European Commission (EC). In our study we compare the EC definition with the academic one and try to see how close they are. We also analyse the possibility of applying the institutional definition to the Spanish case through the development of specific…

Governing processes in Europe and within Europeanization are often opaque and appearances can deceive. The normative practices of improvement in education, and the connected growth in performance measurement, have been largely understood in their own terms. However, the management of flows of information through quality assurance can be examined…

In recent years, international comparisons have become a powerful lever for change in educational policies. Quality assurance and evaluation (QAE) in many forms is being incorporated in the steering and management of schools. However, the Danish use of QAE is a dynamic result of ongoing tensions and struggles both around and within QAE…

This article traces quality assurance and evaluation (QAE) developments in Finnish compulsory schooling. The central question is this: Is there a Finnish model of QAE? We conclude that it may be a rhetorical overstatement to speak about a specific Finnish 'Model' of QAE in a strong sense. However, neither is it valid to conclude that what happens…

Purpose: The welfare reform bill of 1996 severely constrained noncitizens' eligibility for the Food Stamp Program (FSP). This study examined the effects of eligibility restrictions on older immigrants' FSP participation and food insecurity. We paid special attention to household composition and household eligibility as well as older immigrants'…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of multiple decisions made every year in each of these areas. No single report can provide definitive answers to such broad and fundamental questions of public…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of multiple decisions made every year in each of these areas. No single report can provide definitive answers to such broad and fundamental questions of public…

South Africa has a Gini co-efficient of 62, one of the world's highest (Finmark: Project FinScope 2004 and 2005, FinMark Trust, Johannesburg). Hence, measures of wealth are ubiquitous social indicators in South Africa. However, a growing emphasis in government towards measurable service delivery targets and remedial action to redress the…