Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Views on Science and Scientists The United States is the most religious industrial democracy in the world. At the same time, the U.S. is a science superpower, leading the world in many key areas of scientific research and in most fields of technological development. While this combination of widespread religious commitment and leadership in science […]
The public continues to express concern about the rise of Islamic extremism in the United States and abroad, but a survey taken shortly after the deadly Nov. 5 shootings at the Fort Hood Army base shows only a modest increase in these concerns since 2007. Just more than half (52%) of Americans say they are […]
While most Americans oppose government funding of abortion, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that concern about abortion funding plays only a small role in driving opposition to the health care reform legislation under consideration by Congress. When health care opponents are asked in an open-ended question to describe their main reason for opposing […]
Church-State Concerns Persist Washington, D.C.—A new report based on a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that more than eight years after former President George W. Bush unveiled his faith-based initiative, the policy continues to […]
Bailey, Amanda, and Joseph M. Hayes. “Who’s in Prison? The Changing Demographics of Incarceration,” California Counts 8, no. 1 (2006). Butcher, Kristin F. and Anne Morrison Piehl. “Why are Immigrants’ Incarceration Rates so Low? Evidence on Selective Immigration, Deterrence, and Deportation,” National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper No. 13229, Cambridge, MA (July 2007). Centers […]
A common perception about individuals who switch religions is that they are very fervent about their new faith. A new analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life provides quantitative support for this piece of conventional wisdom often referred to as the “zeal of the convert.” The analysis finds that people […]
More than eight years after former President George W. Bush unveiled his faith-based initiative to make it easier for religious groups to receive government funding to provide social services, the policy continues to draw broad public support. But as was the case when Bush first announced the initiative, many Americans express concerns about blurring the […]
When President Barack Obama announced on July 8, 2009, that he would nominate renowned geneticist Francis Collins to be the new director of the National Institutes of Health, a number of scientists and pundits publicly questioned whether the nominee’s devout religious faith should disqualify him from the position. In particular, some worried that an outspoken […]