This report is based on the data from three telephone surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.
The first data set comes from telephone interviews conducted between December 28, 2009 and January 19, 2010, among a sample of 2,259 adults, 18 and older. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. For results based on internet users (n=1,675) or “online news users” (n= 1,582), the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting telephone surveys may introduce some error or bias into the findings of opinion polls. This survey was conducted on landline telephones (N=1,697) and cell phones (N=562) and is meant to be representative of all adults in the continental United States.1
The second data set comes from telephone interviews conducted between April 29 and May 30, 2010, among a sample of 2,252 adults, age 18 and older. Interviews were conducted in English. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the sample margin of error is plus or minus 2.4 percentage points. For results based Internet users (n=1,756), the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.2
The most recent data come from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research International between August 9 and September 13, 2010. The survey was administered to a sample of 3,001 adults, ages 18 and older, using a combination of landline and cellular. Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish. The sample margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points and plus or minus 2.9 percentage points for just Internet users (n=2,065).3