Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Overview Centrism has emerged as a dominant factor in public opinion as the Obama era begins. The political values and core attitudes that the Pew Research Center has monitored since 1987 show little overall ideological movement. Republicans and Democrats are even more divided than in the past, while the growing political middle is steadfastly mixed […]
Summary of Findings Americans who have learned at least a little about Judge Sonia Sotomayor are more likely to offer traits or aspects they like about President Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee than things they do not like about the federal appellate court judge from New York. Asked if there was anything they have learned […]
Overview Americans like science. Overwhelming majorities say that science has had a positive effect on society and that science has made life easier for most people. Most also say that government investments in science, as well as engineering and technology, pay off in the long run. And scientists are very highly rated compared with members […]
In a week in which no single event dominated blogs and social media, the results of a California referendum and the shooting of an up-and-coming rapper led the online conversation.
Summary of Findings When Americans are asked to assess television news coverage of Barack Obama, Fox News Channel stands out from other networks for being too critical of the president. Nearly three-in-ten (29%) select Fox when asked which of six broadcast and cable news networks have been too critical of the new Democratic president, a […]
In another week with a mixed news agenda, the media provided some cautiously optimistic assessments of the troubled economy and offered some strikingly different treatment of the tax day tea party protests.
Bloggers were caught up last week in two major stories: the confrontation with Somali pirates and the April 15 Tea Party protests.