Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Overview Eight years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Americans see Muslims as facing more discrimination inside the U.S. than other major religious groups. Nearly six-in-ten adults (58%) say that Muslims are subject to a lot of discrimination, far more than say the same about Jews, evangelical Christians, atheists or Mormons. In fact, of all […]
Two issues on which there is widespread agreement among scientists – evolution and climate change – divide the general public. Not only do many Americans diverge from the dominant scientific positions in their own attitudes and beliefs, but many also believe that the scientific community itself is divided over these issues. While education levels matter […]
None of the European leaders tested in this survey achieve the high levels of praise that are bestowed upon the new U.S. President Barack Obama. Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who receives positive marks throughout much of Western Europe, does not match Obama’s high levels of support. In contrast to Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy […]
Pakistanis remain concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism in their country and around the world, and views of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and the Taliban have grown more negative since last year. In addition, a growing percentage of those who think there is a struggle between groups who want to modernize Pakistan and […]
There is broad agreement among scientists that a lack of funding currently represents the biggest impediment to conducting high-quality scientific research. Nearly half (46%) cite a lack of funding for basic research as a very serious impediment to high-quality research, while another 41% say it is a serious impediment. Scientists who primarily address basic knowledge […]
Summary of Findings The public closely tracked the sudden death of pop superstar Michael Jackson last week, though nearly two-in-three Americans say news organizations gave too much coverage to the story. At the same time, half say the media struck the right balance between reporting on Jackson’s musical legacy and the problems in his personal […]
Summary of Findings News about the economy and the debate over health care reform continue to dominate public attention. A growing proportion of Americans say they are hearing mostly good news about the economy, while the percentage saying the news is mostly bad has fallen since July. On health care, protests at contentious town hall […]
33% of internet users look online for information about how to lose weight or how to control their weight One-third of internet users, or 24% of adults, has looked for weight-loss or weight-control information on the internet. This is the first survey in which the Pew Internet Project has asked this question, so there is […]
There are any number of ways to assess the impact of the internet during a big, ongoing event like the recession. Our survey attempted to get at some them. The response from the majority of online Americans is that their internet use had not changed much and the things they did online did not have […]