OVERVIEW

The September 2001 Computer and Internet Use Supplement was conducted as a supplement to that month's Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly labor force survey conducted in approximately 57,000 interviewed households across the country. Attachment 9 is a facsimile of the document used by the CPS with September 2001 Computer and Internet Use Supplement questions. See "Overview-Current Population Survey" (Attachment _) for a description of the CPS; the following describes the September 2001 Computer and Internet Use questions asked in the full CPS sample of persons 3 years old and over.

The September 2001 Computer and Internet Use Supplement contained questions about the household in general (such as AIs there a computer or laptop in the household?@) and about those individual household members who use the Internet and/or a computer. The respondent was at least 15 years old, knowledgeable about the Internet or computers, and gave proxy responses for other members of the household. Interviews were conducted during the period of September 16-22, 2001. Interviewers were provided with a two-hour home study for completing the basic CPS labor force exercises, supplement exercises, and a practice interview concerning the supplement.

The data processing involved a consistency edit and an allocation of missing supplement data. Items with missing values were assigned values, if appropriate. When a response is not obtained for a particular data item, or an inconsistency in reported items is detected, an "imputed" response is entered in the field. Imputation is performed using a "hot deck" method, whereby a response from another sample person with similar demographic and economic characteristics is used for the nonresponse. The imputation procedure is performed one item at a time.

The values and universes for each variable are defined in the supplement record layout.

The September 2001 Computer and Internet Use File consists of two parts: the CPS labor force data and the supplement data.

A. The CPS Labor Force Data

The September 2001 CPS file contains 158,865 records. The first 856 characters contain the labor force data for each record. Attachment _ contains the CPS Basic Items Record Layout, which includes the variable name, character size, location on the record, universe, and the possible values of each basic CPS variable included on the file.

The variable PRPERTYP (located in positions 161-162 on the CPS Basic Items Record Layout) determines the type of person as follows:

PRPERTYP

1 = Child household member (0-14 years old)

2 = Adult civilian household member (15+ years old)

3 = Adult Armed Forces household member (15+ years old)

The variable HRINTSTA (located in positions 57-58 on the CPS Basic Items Record Layout) determines the interview status of the household.

HRINTSTA

1 = Interview

2 = Type A Noninterview (These records represent households that were eligible for the August CPS interview but were not interviewed because no one was home, household members were temporarily absent, etc.)

3 = Type B Noninterview (These records represent sample addresses determined to be ineligible for the CPS by virtue of being vacant, demolished, nonresidential, etc.)

4 = Type C Noninterview (See explanation for Type B above)

By combining the values of PRPERTYP (1-3) and HRINTSTA (2-4), the number of records can be determined.

The values of PRPERTYP are:

1 = Child                 31,098
2 = Adult Civilian, 15+  111,778
3 = Adult, Armed Forces      424

The values of HRINTSTA are:

1 = Interview             56,634
2 = Type A Noninterview    3,937
3 = Type B Noninterview   10,939
4 = Type C Noninterview      689

B. September 2001 Computer and Internet Use Supplement Data

The September supplement data are in locations 857-1144. Allocation flags for supplement variables are in locations 1009-1140.

C. Tallying the September 2001 Supplement File

The September 2001 supplement universe represented the full CPS sample comprising all households, for persons age 3 and over.

D. Weighting

There is no supplement weight associated with the September 2001 Computer and Internet Use Supplement. Use the basic CPS weight (PWSSWGT in location 613-622) for tallying individuals on the file.

Attachment __ is a tally listing of unweighted counts from selected supplement items. Use these totals to ensure that the file is being accessed properly.

E. Data Contact

For questions regarding the September 2001 supplement data, call Tim Marshall on (301) 457-3806.

CPS Computer Ownership Supplement - 2001 Public Use File Page

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