Stats: Some Good Examples

First up: a good lede, good nut graf, good attribution, good sequence of supporting info; just good.

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A survey done by the U.S. Census Bureau last October reveals that computer and Internet use have increased dramatically since the 1980s, according to a press release from the bureau.

In the year 1984, according to the survey, only 8.2 percent of American households reported to the bureau that they owned computers, and household Internet use was nonexistent.

Today, almost 62 percent of households own computers, and almost 55 percent of those households have Internet access, the survey said.

After incremental growths in computer ownership — 15 percent of households in 1989 and 22.8 percent in 1993 — the survey said household Internet use began to register at 18 percent of computer-owning households in 1997, with 36.6 percent of households owning computers.

“About half of all children ages 3 to 17 had access to a computer at home by 1997, as did about 40 percent of all adults (ages 18+),” said the census bureau.

Currently, 76 percent of children have access to a computer at home, as do 57 percent of all adults, the bureau said.

Of the roughly 38 percent of households that don’t have a computer, nearly 2 percent use the Internet outside of home, according to the survey.

Of the roughly 45 percent that don’t access the Internet, 26 percent say they have no computer, or that their computer was inadequate, the survey said.

Households lacking access include those that have computers, but no connection to an Internet service provider, the primary reason being that the householders feel they don’t need the Internet or have no interest in it (41 percent of respondents without access), according to the survey.

Nearly 22 percent of respondents without access listed the price of Internet as their reason, the survey said.

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Now, here's one that found a more detailed hook for the lede:


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Today, more than 76 percent of children from ages 3 to 17 have access to a computer, according to the Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in October.

            This is a dramatic change from when personal computer usage first began in households in 1984. Then, only 8.2 percent of households reported that they owned a household computer, according to the census bureau.

            Household Internet usage has remained a little below that of household computer usage, according to the census bureau.

            In 1984, Internet usage was non-existent, according to the census bureau.

            In 1997, when more than 36 percent of households owned computers, 18 percent of those were accessing the Internet, according to the census bureau.

            Today, when nearly 62 percents of households own computers, nearly 55 percent of them are able to access the Internet, according to the census bureau.

            Where households did not own a computer, only two percent of them reported that they accessed the Internet outside of the home, according to the census bureau.

            Over 45 percent of households still do not access the Internet, including some that own household computers, according to the census bureau.

            Of these households, 22 percent found the cost of Internet prohibitive, while 41 percent were not interested in accessing the Internet at all, according to the census bureau.