WLS Codebooks

Note: Codebooks contain frequency data from the private data release. For some variables, these differ from the frequencies in the public release. Variables that differ between the public and private versions include "(not available on public release)" as part of the variable description, or a note indicating the difference between the public and private versions.

In Person: Internet

OVERVIEW 

The Internet module includes items regarding the use of personal computers and
the Internet by the respondent and members of the respondent's household. 
Information about current or past household computer ownership and current or
past household Internet access is included in this module.  Main topics of
interest for respondents who have access to the Internet from home include how
long ago his or her household first got Internet access, how much time he or
she spends using the Internet from home, and whether or not the respondent's
spouse connects to the Internet from home.  To gain a better understanding of
why some respondents do not have a personal computer or access to the Internet
from home, some items within the module ask the main reason why the
respondent's household does not have these things.

Previous waves of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study did not include an Internet
module.  Although computer networks similar to the Internet existed much
earlier, the public version of the Internet became available in the 1990's. At
the time of the 1993 WLS study, very few households had Internet access, and an
Internet module would have been impractical at that time.  As the Internet
continues to become a more popular tool for communication, entertainment,
financial management, and learning, understanding our respondents' computer and
Internet use trends can provide important insights about computer and Internet
use among the aging population.

In addition to obtaining information about computer and Internet use, the
Internet module will also be used as an experiment to test different wordings
of the same questions.  Five questions in this module have alternate wordings
and response choice orders.                     


BRIEF VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS

    HNETSTAT-HNETREL    Module-Level Status Variables.

    HM001HE:            Is There Currently a Computer in the 
                        Respondent Household?

    HM002HE:            Was There a Computer in the Respondent's 
                        Household in the Past Five Years?

    HM003HE-HM004HE:    Main Reason that the Respondent's Household 
                        Does Not Have a Computer.

    HM005HE:            Did Anyone in the Respondent's Household Use
                        the Computer to Connect to the Internet?

    HM006RE:            Did the Respondent Use the Computer to Connect
                        to the Internet?

    HM007RE:            Did the Respondent Use the Computer to Do 
                        Anything Besides Use the Internet?

    HM008HE-HM009HE:    Main Reason that the Respondent's Household No
                        Longer Has a Computer.

    HM010HE:            Does Anyone in the Respondent's Household Use
                        the Internet from Home?

    HM011HE:            Does the Respondent Use the Computer For 
                        Anything Besides the Internet?

    HM012HE:            Did the Respondent's Household Ever Have 
                        Access to the Internet from Home?

    HM013HE-HM014HE:    Main Reason that the Respondent's Household 
                        Does Not Have Internet Access.

    HM015HE-HM016HE:    Main Reason that the Respondent's Household No
                        Longer Has Internet Access.

    HM018HE-HM019HE:    Type of Connection that the Respondent's 
                        Household Uses to Connect to the Internet.

    HM020RE:            Does the Respondent Ever Use the Internet from
                        Home?

    HM021RE:            Does the Respondent Ever Use the Computer from
                        Home?

    HM022RE:            Estimated Time Per Week that the Respondent 
                        Spends Connected to the Internet.
    
    HM023SP:            Does the Respondent's Spouse Use the Internet 
                        from Home?

    HM024SP:            Does the Respondent's Spouse Ever Use the 
                        Computer from Home?

    SUMMARY VARIABLES
    _____________________________________________________________________

    HMS02RE:            Dichotomous Variable - the Respondent Has 
                        Ever Had a Computer.

    HMS04HE:            Dichotomous Variable - the Respondent Has Ever
                        Had Access to the Internet.

    HMS06HE:            Dichotomous Variable - Form of the Question.

    HMS07HE:            Dichotomous Variable - Form of Responses.
    
NOTE: See Cor 822 in Appendix V for variable creation details

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