  We report preliminary results of the characterization of bulge and inner disk
stellar populations for 8 nearby spiral galaxies using Gemini/GMOS. The
long-slit spectra extend out to 1-2 disk scale lengths with S/N/Ang > 50. Two
different model fitting techniques, absorption-line indices and full spectral
synthesis, are found to weigh age, metallicity, and abundance ratios
differently, but with careful attention to the data/model matching (resolution
and flux calibration), we are able constrain real signatures of age and
metallicity gradients in star-forming galaxies.
