About the survey

Results for the survey are based on telephone interviews conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates among a nationwide sample of 8,378 adults, 18 years of age or older, during the period October 10 – November 26, 2000.

For results based on the total sample during October 10 – November 19 (N=7,426), one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. For results based on online users (N=4,186) during this period, the sampling error is plus or minus 2 percentage points. For results based on election news consumers (N=1,435) during this period, the sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

For results based on online users (N=2,876) during the period of October 10 – November 9, the sampling error is plus or minus 2 percentage points. For results based on election news consumers (N=841) during this period, the sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

For results based on all adults (N=3,234) during the period November 10-26, the sampling error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

ONLINE FOR ELECTION NEWS BY DEMOGRAPHICS
(Based on General Public)

1996 1998 2000 (N)
% % %
Total 4 6 18 -7426
Sex
Male 5 9 21 -3629
Female 2 3 15 -3797
Age
Under 30 5 8 25 -1540
30-49 5 8 22 -2985
50-64 2 4 15 -1446
65+ * 2 3 -1272
Sex and Age
Men under 50 7 10 25 -2359
Women under 50 4 4 20 -2166
Men 50+ 2 4 13 -1207
Women 50+ 2 2 7 -1511
Race
White 4 7 19 -5953
Black 3 2 12 -807
Hispanic* n/a 6 16 -499
Education
College Grad. 9 12 33 -2281
Some College 4 9 24 -1821
High School Grad. 2 2 10 -2523
<H.S. Grad. 1 0 4 -710
Region
East 4 7 18 -1367
Midwest 4 6 16 -1810
South 4 4 16 -2830
West 5 9 23 -1419

* The designation Hispanic is unrelated to the white-black categorization.

Reading this Table : This table shows the percentage of each demographic group that goes online for election news. For example, the first column shows that 4% of the general public went online for election news in 1996, 5% of men went online for election news, while 2% women went online for election news.

Question: Do/Did you ever go online to get news or information about the 2000 elections?

1996 1998 2000 (N)
% % %
Total 4 6 18 -7426
Family Income
$75,000+ 7 12 34 -1173
$50,000-$74,999 6 13 27 -1014
$30,000-$49,999 5 7 20 -1534
$20,000-$29,999 2 6 12 -888
<$20,000 2 2 8 -1067
Party ID
Republican 4 10 23 -2097
Democrat 4 4 16 -2443
Independent 4 3 18 -1969
Party and Ideology
Conservative Republican n/a n/a 26 -1277
Moderate/Liberal Republican n/a n/a 20 -726
Conservative/Moderate Democrat n/a n/a 14 -1571
Liberal Democrat n/a n/a 25 -703
Marital Status
Married 4 6 19 -4133
Not Married 4 7 16 -3208
Parental Status
Parent n/a 6 21 -2651
Non-Parent n/a 6 16 -4746
Employment Status
Full-time n/a n/a 23 -4038
Part-time n/a n/a 20 -841
Retired n/a n/a 5 -1455
Not-employed n/a n/a 15 -786
Disabled n/a n/a 5 -127
Student (working and non-working) n/a n/a 34 -1040