Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Question 1: Measuring religious identity How does Pew Research Center measure the religious identity of survey respondents and the religious composition of the U.S.? Answer: Generally, we rely on respondents’ self-identification. A key question we ask in many surveys is: “What is your present religion, if any? Are you Protestant, Roman Catholic, Mormon, Orthodox such […]
As use of commercial voter lists by campaigns and public opinion researchers has grown, data offerings provided by voter file vendors have expanded. On top of standard political offerings, many vendors now provide a host of additional demographic and lifestyle data generated through predictive models or gathered from other sources. This chapter compares demographic data […]
A new analysis demystifies voter files, the widely-used and comprehensive digital databases used to better understand the U.S. electorate.
Americans are generally positive about the way democracy is working in the United States. Yet a majority also says that the “fundamental design and structure” of U.S. government is in need of “significant changes” to make it work today. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say U.S. democracy is working at least somewhat well, […]
With 10 months to go before the congressional elections, the divisions reflected in results from recent national elections – by race and ethnicity, age and education – are evident in preferences on the generic ballot for Congress. Currently, the Democratic Party has a wide advantage in voting intentions: Among registered voters, 53% say they will […]