Impact of COVID-19 on the Disability Fund in Poland

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This paper talks about an important research topic. And the paper is overall well written. But the method part is too weak. The method part must be improved.

Author Response

Thank you very much for taking the time to evaluate our work. All comments are valuable to us. We have tried to comply with all the reviewer's comments.

„But the method part is too weak. The method part must be improved”. – This section has been extended.

Agnieszka Barczak, Natalia Marska-Dzioba

Reviewer 2 Report

I would like to thank the authors for this research that aims to verify the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the situation of the disability fund in Poland. The study considers the impact of deaths on the number of survivor and funeral benefits paid.

The research subject is timely, innovative, and highly interesting. It also fits the aim and scope of the journal.

The research needs several adjustments.

The abstract needs to be better presented (see attachment).

The introduction needs to be completely rebuilt. Several parts are disconnected or misplaced. Several parts of the second section need to be moved to the introduction. Some parts of the introduction need to be added to the research methods section.

You need to add a new section called research methods.

Shorten part 2 of the research and move it to the introduction. This section contains several non-useful information.

You conclusion contains interesting results; however, you need to compare your findings with the findings of similar research in similar context and highlight the novelty of your results.

Other minor comments are directly attached to the manuscript.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Thank you very much for taking the time to evaluate our work. All comments are valuable to us. We have tried to comply with all the reviewer's comments.

 

(1)The abstract needs to be better presented- suggested changes have been made.

(2) “The introduction needs to be completely rebuilt. Several parts are disconnected or misplaced. Several parts of the second section need to be moved to the introduction.  Some parts of the introduction need to be added to the research methods section. Shorten part 2 of the research and move it to the introduction. This section contains several non-useful information.”  - Substantial changes have been made to sections 1 and 2 as suggested by the reviewer.

“You need to add a new section called research methods” -  section has been added.

“You conclusion contains interesting results; however, you need to compare your findings with the findings of similar research in similar context and highlight the novelty of your results”.  - references to the most recent studies have been added.

Other minor comments are directly attached to the manuscript - All comments have been taken into account and implemented.

Agnieszka Barczak, Natalia Marska-Dzioba

Reviewer 3 Report

I recommended work on the following points:

1. Add to the methodology a description of the data used, including their sources. There are ambiguously defined variables in the work. Figure 1 and Table 3 describe the same data but the headings are different, similarly Fig.3 Tab. 4. It would be clearer for the reader if you specify the name of the variable and stick to it throughout the work.

2. It would be appropriate to supplement the correlation coefficients with the p-value of the independence test.
3. Together with the results of the correction analysis, you also publish the result of the regression analysis, which is not mentioned anywhere in the thesis. At the same time, the necessary tests and statistics determining the significance of the results are also missing.
4. Fig 6. shows the number of deaths due to covid, it is not clear from the text whether these are taken data or are estimates based on deaths before covid and during covid. The increase is noticeable here, but it would be appropriate to prove the statistical significance of the difference compared to previous years. In theory, it could only be an upward trend and the effect of covid could be zero. Such a scenario is unlikely, but it is cleaner if it is verified.

5. improve english 117 - and and it 152 153 169 ... - per cent - percent
 

Author Response

Thank you very much for taking the time to evaluate our work. All comments are valuable to us. We have tried to comply with all the reviewer's comments.

1. Add to the methodology a description of the data used, including their sources. There are ambiguously defined variables in the work. Figure 1 and Table 3 describe the same data but the headings are different, similarly Fig.3 Tab. 4. It would be clearer for the reader if you specify the name of the variable and stick to it throughout the work. - Titles of figures and tables have been corrected as suggested by the Reviewer.
2. It would be appropriate to supplement the correlation coefficients with the p-value of the independence test. – The test of independence was carried out in each case. However, this was not included in the original text. It has now been supplemented.
3. Together with the results of the correction analysis, you also publish the result of the regression analysis, which is not mentioned anywhere in the thesis. At the same time, the necessary tests and statistics determining the significance of the results are also missing. – By all means, the reviewer is correct. Thank you very much for this comment. The regression analysis is not necessary here therefore it has been removed from the graphs.
4. Fig 6. shows the number of deaths due to covid, it is not clear from the text whether these are taken data or are estimates based on deaths before covid and during covid. The increase is noticeable here, but it would be appropriate to prove the statistical significance of the difference compared to previous years. In theory, it could only be an upward trend and the effect of covid could be zero. Such a scenario is unlikely, but it is cleaner if it is verified. – Figure 5 shows all deaths, while Figure 6 shows only deaths recorded as a result of covid-19. All data are from verified sources (e.g. Ministry of Health of the Republic of Poland) and are not estimations. We do not see how significance can be tested against earlier years because there was no covid-19 then.Unless the Reviewer has suggestions for a method that could be used here.
5. improve english 117 - and and it 152 153 169 ... - per cent – percent – changes have been made as suggested.

Agnieszka Barczak, Natalia Marska-Dzioba

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper is much improved.

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors made the necessary changes.

Reviewer 3 Report

All comments have been incorporated into the new version.