Research by Political Science Prof Caroline Tolbert referenced in FiveThirtyEight articles

Friday, August 18, 2017

Caroline Tolbert
Caroline Tolbert

Research by Political Science Professor Caroline Tolbert was referenced in two articles reported by the national news website FiveThirtyEight.

FiveThirtyEight: Lots of people in cities still can’t afford broadband

FiveThirtyEight: The worst internet in America

This internet access geographic data set, derived from the three-year NSF grant (Iowa PI), is the first to report home internet access rates (home computer and high speed connection) for all 3000 counties. Existing data available from the Census reports data for just 850 counties with populations above 65,000. Both articles are generating quite a bit of publicity. Tolbert and coauthor Karen Mossberger (Arizona State University) have been contacted by the Governor of Massachusetts and the state legislature of Maryland as they seek to know more about disparities in internet access in their states. The Census and National Telecommunications and Information Administration have also been in contact.

School of Journalism and Mass Communication Assistant Professor Daniel Lathrop did some of the data visulation used in the FiveThirtyEight articles, based on the raw data and geographic maps. The complete data set of internet access is housed at the ASU broadband portal.

The Department of Political Science and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication are both part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.


The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.