Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Introduction and background Wireless communication has emerged as one of the fastest diffusing mediums on the planet, fueling an emergent “mobile youth culture”[6.numoffset=”6” Castells, M., Fernandez-Ardevol, M., Qiu, J., & Sey, A. (2007). Mobile communication and society: A global perspective. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.] that speaks as much with thumbs as it does with tongues. […]
The media last week were focused squarely on politicians. While Obama’s health care gamble was the top story, Jim Bunning’s quixotic Senate crusade, a Texas gubernatorial primary and the resignation of a powerful House committee chairman were also big news. The only non-politics story in the top five was the tragedy in Chile.
Teens, adults and online health information Beyond its role as an indispensable communications hub, internet access connects users to reams of vital information, necessary for life management, health and civic engagement. The section below explores the intersection of teen and adult data over time on health information searches, news-seeking behaviors and online purchasing. Teens, adults […]
Summary of Findings Americans say the two news stories they followed most closely last week were the reinvigorated debate over health care reform in Washington and the second week of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In interviews shortly after the Feb. 25 bipartisan summit on health care legislation, a quarter of the public (25%) says […]
Barack Obama’s job approval rating holds steady at 49% in the latest survey, with 39% saying they disapprove of the way he is handling his job as president. Obama’s approval ratings have been mostly unchanged over the last six months, though there have been some significant shifts in opinion among independents. Ratings of Obama’s job […]
Overview As the federal government gears up for its decennial count of the country’s population, most Americans think the census is very important and say they will definitely participate. But acceptance of and enthusiasm for the census are not universal. Certain segments of the population such as younger people, Hispanics and the less well educated […]
News meets a mixture of social, civic, personally-enriching, and work-related needs in people’s lives. The 93% of Americans who say they follow the news at least occasionally report a variety of reasons for doing so. Surprisingly, the most popular reasons for following the news do not relate to personal entertainment or professional motivations. Instead, they […]