Even while the Internet has become a popular tool for survey data collection, researchers have identified a number of potential problems involved in using a Web-based survey. One primary
concerns was sampling coverage error. For example, only 68% of American households had an Internet connection in the home as of 2006 (Pew 2012). Today, more than 78% of households
have an Internet connection, but some subgroups of the population such as African Americans and Latinos are still known to be more likely to be offline than others. This phenomenon is often
referred to as the “digital divide.” Despite the persisting existence of the “digital divide,” the use of the Internet for survey data collection has grown exponentially. Should survey researchers still be concerned about sampling coverage issues? This study uses data from GfK’s KnowledgePanel® to examine whether attitudinal and behavioral differences—those that cannot be accounted for with post-stratification weighting—between Internet households and non-Internet households have also persisted over time. KnowledgePanel provides Internet access and netbook computers to its panelists who live in a household without Internet access. As a result, all panel members are able to participate in surveys online, minimizing the potential error resulting from the exclusion of non-Internet users. Using data from 2008 and 2012, for each year, we compared weighted estimates that include non-Internet households to weighted estimates without non-Internet households. The analysis reveals that differences still exist between Internet and non-Internet households for a series of attitudes and behaviors that cannot be corrected for using post-stratification weighting.