Comparisons of Student Perceptions of Teacher\u27s Performance in the Classroom: Using Parametric Anchoring Vignette Methods for Improving Comparability

Self-reports are an indispensable source of information in education research but might be affected by reference group bias if the frame of reference (i.e. implicit standards), used to answer the questions, differs across students. The anchoring vignettes method was introduced, in other areas of social science, precisely to correct for this source of bias. However, studies that make use of this approach in education are rare and more research is needed to study its potential. This paper uses data from PISA 2012 to investigate the use of the parametric model of the anchoring vignettes method to correct for differential implicit standards in cross-country comparisons of student’s perceptions of an important dimension of teacher quality: teacher’s classroom management. Our results show significant heterogeneity in implicit standards across countries. We also show how correlations between countries’ average teacher classroom management levels and external variables can be improved substantially when heterogeneity in implicit standards is adjusted for. We conclude that the anchoring vignettes method shows a good potential to enhance the validity and comparability of self-reported measures in education

How Sensitive are Retirement Decisions to Financial Incentives: A Stated Preference Analysis

We study effects of financial incentives on the retirement age using stated preference data. Dutch survey respondents were given hypothetical retirement scenarios describing age(s) of (partial and full) retirement and replacement rate(s). A structural model is estimated in which utility is the discounted sum of within period utilities that depend on employment status and income. Parameters of the utility function vary with observed and unobserved characteristics. Simulations show that the income and substitution effects of pensions as a function of the retirement age are substantial and larger than according to studies using data on actual retirement decisions

Supplementary_material_(Fig_and_tables) – Supplemental material for Enhancing the Cross-Cultural Comparability of Self-Reports Using the Overclaiming Technique: An Analysis of Accuracy and Exaggeration in 64 Cultures

<p>Supplemental material, Supplementary_material_(Fig_and_tables) for Enhancing the Cross-Cultural Comparability of Self-Reports Using the Overclaiming Technique: An Analysis of Accuracy and Exaggeration in 64 Cultures by Hana Vonkova, Ondrej Papajoanu and Jiri Stipek in Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology</p