Quality of life: Its definition and measurement☆

Objectives: To assess the incidence, time of day, and driver morbidity associated with vehicle accidents where the most likely cause was the driver falling asleep at the wheel. Design: Two surveys were undertaken, in southwest England and the midlands, by using police databases or on the spot interviews. Subjects: Drivers involved in 679 sleep related vehicle accidents. Results: Of all vehicle accidents to which the police were summoned, sleep related vehicle accidents comprised 16% on major roads in southwest England, and over 20% on midland motorways. During the 24 hour period there were three major peaks: at around 0200, 0600, and 1600. About half these drivers were men under 30 years; few such accidents involved women. Conclusions: Sleep related vehicle accidents are largely dependent on the time of day and account for a considerable proportion of vehicle accidents, especially those on motorways and other monotonous roads. As there are no norms for the United Kingdom on road use by age and sex for time of day with which to compare these data, we cannot determine what the hourly exposure v risk factors are for these subgroups. The findings are in close agreement with those from other countries. Key messages Key messages Such accidents accounted for about 16% of road accidents in general and over 20% for motorways There were clear time of day (circadian) effects with the most vulnerable times being around 2-7 am and in the mid-afternoon Young male drivers accounted for half these accidents, but it is unknown whether these men are more exposed or are particularly at risk The morbidity and mortality associated with sleep related accidents is higher, probably because of the greater speed on impact

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Sleep related vehicle accidents.

(1986). A Constructivist Approach to Curriculum Development in Science. Studies in Science Education: Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 105-122.

A Constructivist Approach to Curriculum Development in Science

Most performance indicator schemes in the public sector have been implemented on the assumption that they will yield benefits in terms of efficiency and equity. Less attention has been paid to the potential costs of such schemes. Drawing on experience from a range of sources, this paper identifies eight consequences of publishing performance data that are not necessarily intended, and which are likely to be dysfunctional. The paper gives examples of such phenomena from the UK public sector, and suggests ways in which they can be mitigated. While not challenging the desirability of publishing performance data, the paper concludes that the performance indicator philosophy is based on inadequate models of production and control. Most performance indicator schemes will therefore fail unless serious consideration is given to the deficiencies described in this paper.

On the unintended consequences of publishing performance data in the public sector

The change to the minimum school-leaving age in the United Kingdom from 14 to 15 had a powerful and immediate effect that redirected almost half the population of 14-year-olds in the mid-twentieth century to stay in school for one more year. The magnitude of this impact provides a rare opportunity to (a) estimate local average treatment effects (LATE) of high school that come close to population average treatment effects (ATE); and (b) estimate returns to education using a regression discontinuity design instead of previous estimates that rely on difference-in-differences methodology or relatively weak instruments. Comparing LATE estimates for the United States and Canada, where very few students were affected by compulsory school laws, to the United Kingdom estimates provides a test as to whether instrumental variables (IV) returns to schooling often exceed ordinary least squares (OLS) because gains are high only for small and peculiar groups among the more general population. I find, instead, that the benefits from compulsory schooling are very large whether these laws have an impact on a majority or minority of those exposed.

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Great Britain. Welsh Office

Papers

Choice and diversity : a new framework for schools

Education and training for the 21st century

Better services for the mentally handicapped

Technology in the National curriculum

Calculation of road traffic noise