| Survey focus is explicitly and exclusively on uses of the Internet. Data are obtained semiannually through telephone surveys. Over 100 distinct questionnaire items explore Internet access and usage. Internet usage data cannot necessarily be isolated to the home; questions related to e-mail, personal business and finance, and other on-line activities do not always differentiate between home, work, or other access locations. CommerceNet is a commercial, for-profit market research organization. | |
| Time Period: | Survey conducted semiannually since 1995. |
| Availability: |
Data are available to subscribers through an on-line database called Gideon. Most metrics are available as population count and index. Data are subscribed to in packages, which cost from $1,500 for a small subset of demographic variables to $10,000 for the complete dataset. Subscription prices are for a single-year's data. |
| Keywords: |
Computer ownership/Demographics/Internet access/Internet usage/Business usage/Citizenship/E-mail/Health/Legal&insurance/Other/Personal finance/Privacy/Shopping |
| URL: | |
| Methodology: |
Purpose of Data Collection: To assess the behaviors, usage patterns, and perceptions of the Internet by individuals over the age of 16 in the United States and Canada. Survey Method: Random digit dial telephone survey with replacement sampling for nonresponse. Survey Design: The target population is Americans and Canadians aged 16 and over. Respondents are selected from a geographically stratified, unrestricted set of random digit frames of phone exchanges in the United States and Canada. For the June 1998 survey, approximately 175,000 phone numbers were selected. Approximately 5,000 individuals over age 16 answered the survey in June 1998; 8,000 such interviews were conducted in September 1997. Respondent weights are created to adjust for undercoverage and nonresponse. Data are adjusted by age, sex, region, education, race, and Hispanic origin to be statistically representative of the overall population. Variables Collected: More than 100 questionnaire items elicit data on user demographics (sex, age, income, education, race, ethnicity, occupation) and Internet usage patterns (frequency of use, duration of use, types of use—e-mail, chatrooms, shopping, ftp, telnet). Statistical Reliability: Confidence intervals/margins of error not readily available. More detail on survey methodology may be found at http://www.commerce.net/research/gideon/index.html. |
| Notes: |
(1) The text of survey questions is available on-line at http://www.commerce.net/research/gideon/quesmenu.htm. (2) Interactive cross-tabulations are possible on-line. |
| Contact Info: |
CommerceNet |
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