Survey questions on Internet use and culture consumption

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Information on Internet use and culture consumption was collected using various questions for the different surveys. In some cases, measures are derived from a combination of questions (e.g., music listening for all formats). Below are the various survey questions that have been used to derive the following concepts:

Internet-use statistics

GSS 2000: In the last month, how often did you use the Internet at HOME?

GSS 2010: In the past month, did you use the Internet?

Music-listening statistics

GSS 1998: During the past 12 months did you

. . . listen to cassettes, CDs or records? (Include time spent listening to music whether at home, in the car, etc.) How often?

GSS 2005: During the past 12 months, did you

. . . listen to music on CD's, cassette tapes, DVD audio discs, records, etc. OR
. . . listen to downloaded music on your computer, MP3 player, etc. How often?

GSS 2010: During the past 12 months, how often did you

. . . listen to music on CD's, cassette tapes, DVD audio discs, records etc. OR
. . . listen to downloaded music on your computer, MP3 player etc.?

This analysis does not include listening to radio. Radio listening is a different type of listening—it is not restricted to music and may be more passive than other listening. This analysis focuses instead on listening to CDs, cassettes, etc. and downloaded music files.

Internet-based music consumption

GSS 2000: Do you do any of the following activities through the Internet? Do you
. . . listen to music?

GSS 2005: In the past 12 months, did you listen to downloaded music on your computer, MP3 player, etc. How often?

GSS 2010: In the past 12 months, how often did you listen to downloaded music on your computer, MP3 player, etc.?

Internet-based audiovisual consumption

GSS 2000: Do you do any of the following activities through the Internet? Do you
. . . watch television?

CIUS 2005: During the past 12 months, have you used the Internet at home?
. . . to download or watch TV over the Internet OR
. . . download or watch a movie over the Internet

CIUS 2010: During the past 12 months, have you used the Internet:
. . . to download or watch TV online OR
. . . to download or watch movies or video clips online?

Caution when comparing measures

Because of the changing nature of Internet use, the questions on Internet-based consumption have been adapted over time. This means that these measures cannot be directly compared. Because of the difficulty involved in comparing actual rates of activity, this analysis focuses on relative rate of activity by age. Table A.1 provides the answers to the preceding questions by survey year.

 

Table A.1
Culture consumption and Internet-based activities, by age
Table summary
This table displays the results of culture consumption and internet-based activities total, 15 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, 65 to 74 and 75 and over, calculated using percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Total	15 to 24	25 to 34	35 to 44	45 to 54	55 to 64	65 to 74	75 and over
	percentage
Music listening, 1998
Listened to cassettes, records or CDs at least once a week	74.9	94.1	86.0	76.5	70.4	62.0	52.0	42.0
Internet-based activities, 2000
Used the Internet at home at least once in previous month	33.8	51.0	38.5	39.6	35.1	22.6	9.3	3.8
Used the Internet in the previous 12 months	52.8	84.5	66.1	60.3	50.7	31.7	11.2	5.2
Listened to music on the Internet	24.2	58.9	30.5	21.8	16.3	8.6	2.8	1.0E
2005
Listened to music at least once a week (all formats)	76.9	95.3	86.2	79.5	72.4	67.3	61.6	51.0
Listened to downloaded music in previous 12 months	28.6	68.4	39.9	25.1	17.6	10.0	6.5	5.5E
Listened to downloaded music weekly	23.3	62.2	31.6	18.2	12.9	7.1	4.4E	3.9E
2010
Used the Internet in previous month	83.6	98.5	96.2	92.6	88.3	77.3	59.7	29.3
Listened to music at least once a week (all formats)	72.6	94.5	85.2	76.2	68.7	59.1	56.6	44.2
Listened to downloaded music in previous 12 months	50.9	91.4	74.3	57.1	38.8	30.2	14.7	10.4
Listened to downloaded music weekly	40.1	86.5	57.5	43.2	26.4	18.3	10.1	6.7
E use with caution Note: Use caution when comparing measures. For a description of specific questions used to produce these measures, see Data sources, methods and definitions. Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2010.