Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Introduction and Summary Rising energy costs are having a major impact on how Americans are living their lives, affecting everything from their driving habits to the news stories they follow. More than two-thirds say they have been adjusting their thermostats to cope with soaring utility bills, and half report cutting back on driving to save […]
Environmental Balancing Act Most Americans (54%) express at least some confidence in Bush’s ability to balance environmental and economic demands, with 21% expressing “a lot” of confidence in the president in this area. This is comparable to how the public viewed Clinton’s environmental leadership. In 1997, 61% had some confidence in Clinton’s ability to balance […]
Online activities Online teens, particularly older ones, are omnivorous Web users. They sample a large variety of activities online. They particularly resemble the adult newcomers to the Internet that we named “Instant Acolytes” in the fall of 2000.[13.numoffset=”13″ See https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/Reports/2000/New-Internet-Users.aspx] Instant Acolytes and teens of all experience levels alike are enthusiastic Internet users, embracing the […]
Religion plays an important role in the personal lives of most Americans. The number of people saying religion is very important to them has gradually increased over the past two decades, after declining sharply between the mid-1960s and late 1970s. Currently, nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) call religion very important. Fully nine-in-ten pray at least […]
Introduction: The Carnivore controversy In July 2000, the Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI had developed a computer system that can intercept a criminal suspect’s Internet activities. The capabilities of the new system and its original name, “Carnivore,” helped spark controversy about its potential as an “email wiretap” and potential method to monitor citizens’ […]
Families and the Internet In addition to altering how teens interact with their friends, the Internet is introducing new dynamics into family life. In their overall judgment, parents think that the Internet’s role in their children’s lives beneficial. More than half of parents of online youth (55%) believe the Net is generally a good thing […]
Split Over Mandatory Sentences Clearly, the public is conflicted on many aspects of the drug war. While most think of drug use as a disease, there is relatively little support for drug treatment programs; just over a third think drug treatment would be a very effective means of reducing drug addiction. These divisions carry over […]