Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
A pastor’s plan to commemorate the Sept. 11 terror attacks by burning the Islamic holy book, and an imam’s desire to build a community center near the site of one of those attacks, generated significant media attention during a week of 9/11 remembrances.
As the campaign for control of Congress entered its final month, election news once again dominated the headlines—overshadowing almost everything else. Some housing news drove coverage of the economy while President Obama’s suggestion to lengthen the school year helped make education one of the week’s top stories.
Most of the preceding discussion focused on differences in religious knowledge among members of different religious groups. But what other religious and demographic factors are linked with differences in religious knowledge? The survey shows that religious knowledge is most closely linked with years of schooling. In addition, a variety of religious traits – including overall […]
Religion’s Influence on Society and Government Two-thirds of Americans (67%) currently say that religion is losing its influence on American life, compared with 59% who said this in July 2006. More people now say religion’s influence is on the decline than at any time since 1994, when 69% of respondents in a Gallup poll said […]
The state of the troubled U.S. economy, the old reliable of news stories, was the biggest topic in the news last week. But the media also focused on some new TSA screening techniques that seemed to poke and provoke some travelers. And continued coverage of the midterms focused on new power players in Washington.
Overview Polls this year have found that more Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally than did so just last year. In two polls conducted over the past few months, based on interviews with more than 6,000 adults, 42% favor same-sex marriage while 48% are opposed. In polls conducted in 2009, 37% favored […]
With the 2010 midterm season upon us, bloggers of various political stripes last week focused intently on politics and the state of the U.S. economy. On Twitter, technology topics again led the way. And the most popular YouTube video was a phony satirical story about a young pop idol.