Glad to see we're addressing the important questions here. I think it's fair to say, from an objective perspective, that I was correct in my usage. 

Jim, to your legit question about whether the studies account for raises, the UW study looks at people making $19 or below, and someone going from $17 to $18 (e.g.) would be captured by their study. However, one criticism of the UW study I saw is that if someone were to get a raise above $19, then they would drop out of the data pool and not be considered. That's about the extent of my knowledge on the subject.