Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Brazil

  • short reads

    College is Not Affordable

    Three-quarters of the public say most people cannot afford to pay for a college education.

  • short reads

    Purpose of College Education

    Americans are split on the main purpose of college, with 47% saying it is to teach work-related skills and 39% saying it is to help a student grow personally and intellectually.

  • short reads

    The Burden of Student Debt

    Among adults who took out loans to help pay for college, nearly half say paying back those loans makes it harder for them to pay their other bills.

  • short reads

    Is College Worth It In 2011?

    A majority of Americans (57%) say the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend.

  • short reads

    Why Are Gas Prices Rising?

    Three-in-ten say greed and a push for higher profits among oil companies are the main reason gasoline prices have gone up recently.

  • short reads

    Twitter Not Making Much News

    Despite its growth as a tool in the world of new media, Twitter does not yet drive a substantial amount of traffic to news websites.

  • short reads

    Google Drives News

    Google Search and Google News are the biggest single drivers of traffic to top news websites.

  • report

    Crime and Punishment Lead on Blogs

    A Supreme Court decision forcing California to release thousands of prisoners due to overcrowding received harsh criticism from bloggers last week, while others weighed in on the arrest of a suspect in a brutal baseball game beating. On YouTube, an interview with Jon Stewart on The O’Reilly Factor garnered the most attention.

  • report

    Midwest Tornadoes Top Story for Public and Press

    Overview The devastating tornadoes that ripped through the Midwest last week dominated the public’s news interest and received much more coverage than any other story. About half of the public (48%) says they followed news about the powerful tornadoes that struck Joplin, Mo., more closely than any other news last week. None of the week’s […]

  • report

    Japanese Resilient, but See Economic Challenges Ahead

    In the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese public is resilient. Indeed, a majority believe that as a result of the disaster, Japan will become a stronger nation. And while personal pessimism about the future has crept up slightly, on balance the public’s overall sense of personal well being appears little changed by the calamitous events of 2011.