Majority of U.S. Catholics Express Favorable View of Pope Francis
Most say Francis represents change in the church. And many say the church should allow priests to marry and let Catholics use birth control.
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 […]
Telephone polls still provide accurate data on a wide range of social, demographic and political variables, but some weaknesses persist.
This appendix aims to put the findings from the Religious Landscape Study into a broader context through a comparison of its results with long-term trends from the General Social Survey (GSS), Gallup Organization surveys and results from ongoing polls conducted monthly by Pew Research Center. Generally, these sources indicate that there is a fair amount […]