Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

2009

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    Fans of Facebook

    About a third of the U.S. public calls social networking sites such as Facebook a change for the better.

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    Blasé about Blogs

    The plurality opinion is that the emergence of blogs has not made much of a difference.

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    Beck Check

    Only 40% of U.S. adults overall — and 32% of Democrats — can correctly identify Glenn Beck as a talk show host.

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    The Marriage Dearth

    Scarcely more than half of American males ages 15 and older are currently married.

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    Marrying Young

    Among the states, the lowest median age of marriage, 24, is found in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Idaho and Utah.

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    Splitsville

    Nevada has the highest share of divorced women (16%), although Maine is close behind at 15%.

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    War in Gaza Casts Shadow over Transition

    The economic crisis showed few signs of easing, a scandal-plagued governor tried to anoint a Senator, and the incoming President moved to Washington. But last week, the guns of the Middle East dominated the news agenda.

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    Church and Congress

    Only five members of the new Congress (about 1%) do not specify a religious affiliation.

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    States of the Union Before and After Bush

    What a difference eight years can make — or not. As shown in a series of tables, some things have changed a great deal since George W. Bush was elected president in 2000, but other things, most notably certain American beliefs and attitudes, have remained remarkably constant.