What percentage of Americans would you guess have access to the Internet? How would you know?
When you consider whether people have computers at home, computers at work, smart phones, ortablets, you might predict that a large majority of Americans are able to go online. In fact, it's probably around 90%. But, as with all frequency claims, the answer to the question hinges on two key things: Construct validity (How well do you measure "access the Internet?") and external validity, ("how well does your sample represent the population?").
In this article, Pew Research explains how they get different estimates depending on how they ask. They write,
While our approach has evolved over time, the current measurement consists of two questions: “Do you use the internet or email, at least occasionally?” and “Do you access the internet on a cellphone, tablet or other mobile handheld device, at least occasionally?” In a January 2018 phone survey, 89% of U.S. adults said “yes” to at least one of these questions.
They compare their own questions to that of the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS):
The ACS asks, “At this house, apartment, or mobile home – do you or any member of this household have access to the internet?”
Yes, by paying a cell phone company or Internet service provider
Yes, without paying a cell phone company or Internet service provider
No access to the Internet at this house, apartment, or mobile home.
This question led to a similar estimate:
88% of American adults had either free or paid Internet access at home.
But what about this question, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPS data:
That survey asks, “Does anyone in this household, including you, use the internet at home?” Based on this question alone, 81% of American adults live in households where someone uses the internet at home. The difference between the two figures can be at least partly attributed to the questions’ wording and scope.... And households can have internet access without anyone actually using it – for example, if it is provided for free by their community or included in a bundle with other services.
The CPS separately asks, “Does anyone in this household access the internet using a data plan for a cellphone, smartphone, tablet, mobile hotspot, or other device? This type of internet service is provided by a wireless carrier, and may be part of a package that also includes voice calls from a cellphone or smartphone.” If we include Americans who say yes to this question, the previous 81% figure rises to 83%.
And what about using the Internet somewhere other than home?
The CPS also asks a battery of questions about whether anyone in the household uses the internet at work; at school; at a coffee shop or other business that offers internet access; while traveling between places; at a library, community center, park or other public place; at someone else’s home; or at some other location. (Each location is asked about separately.) If we once again expand the previous CPS estimate to include people who may not use the internet at home but do so somewhere else, the estimate ticks up to 85%.
Questions
a) What companies or organizations might be most interested in having an accurate answer to the question of how many Americans are online?
b) Make a table where you have the wording of a question, followed by the estimate of the number of Americans on the Internet. There seem to be at least four different ways of asking. (You can see trends over time by scrolling down to the bottom of the Pew article.)
c) How important, in your view, are the different ways of asking the question? That is, some might say that all the estimates are virtually the same. But others might say that differences of 1 or 2% percentages matters. What do you think--are the differences in these estimates important or not?
d) What subgroups of Americans would you estimate are least likely to access the Internet?