Knowing the Australian internet: statistics, public policy and media industry disruption

This thesis argues that sample survey data have played a major role in creating the internet as a knowable object and as a new field for policy intervention. At the core of the thesis are three case studies analysing the impact of the internet in three public policy domains; television, newspapers and retail consumption. The thesis analyses data from the World Internet Project, a project within the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, to demonstrate and analyse the ways in which sample surveys have contributed to knowledge and policy debates on the internet in Australia.