DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this project is to develop new methods for collecting and analyzing data on the information and perceptions of older Americans on health care policies and products, and methods for measuring their resulting behavior and well-being. At an applied level, the research will address three current policy and measurement problems: 1) What are the perceptions of older Americans regarding the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, and what benefit plans meeting the actuarial requirements of the program do they prefer? 2) What are their perceptions regarding in-home care and assisted living options and costs, and their perceived needs and preferences? 3) How well can they rate disability levels using World Health Organization vignettes, and are the resulting scales predictive for perceptions of need for assisted living? At a methodological level, the research will develop and test methods for eliciting data on perceptions and preferences in aging populations. In particular, we will examine the effect of age on respondent's ability to understand and identify with hypothetical individuals and products, and study the use of experiments embedded within our primary data collection designs to detect and compensate for response errors. We will test the applicability of market research methods as tools for designing and evaluating health care products.