U.S. Current Population Survey 2011: Measuring Activity-Based Internet Use Inequality in U.S. Counties and Metropolitan Areas

This dataset presents measures of activity-based technology inequality in the U.S. Using recent advances in public opinion estimation, these measures are created using the 2011 Current Population Survey (CPS) Computer and Internet Use supplement. They consist of several aggregate county-level and city-level estimates of online activities across the U.S. Activities online for jobs, government services, health, education, and other uses indicate potential benefits for individuals and communities. Additionally, the ability to engage in a greater number of activities online is in part a measure of capacity to use the Internet. Measures of disparities in online activities are used to assess the unequal structure of technology adoption and use. The dataset estimates each of the online activities for subsets of respondents according to four income categories, approximating income quartiles in 2011. While the average estimates of online skills provide a useful baseline, the income-based measures allow researchers to more carefully analyze who benefits from the current composition of digital technology use, across communities. Consider for example two counties where 40% of the public in both areas uses the Internet for communication. When observing the income breakdown of this particular online skill, the poor and rich residents in the first county use the Internet for communication at rates of 30% and 50%, respectively. Yet the income breakdown of the second county reveals that only 10% of poor residents use the Internet for communication and 70% of rich residents do the same. This simple illustration demonstrates how two areas can have similar rates of an online skill on average, but examining how different income groups participate in the same activity can help us understand the structure of technology use. Multilevel regression and poststratification (MRP) is used here as a measurement strategy that allows for the estimation of county and metro results using national survey data.