Short Reads

Short-form data and analysis from Pew Research Center writers and social scientists. To view all our reports and publications, visit our main Publications page.

short readMar 6, 2026

A man walks past several movie posters at an AMC Theatre in Montebello, California, on May 5, 2025. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

About half of Americans (53%) said in a summer 2025 survey that they had seen a movie in theaters in the past year.

short readMar 2, 2026

short readFeb 27, 2026

New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, speaks outside a federal courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia, on Oct. 24, 2025. Two federal grand juries in the state recently declined to indict James on charges related to mortgage fraud. (Win McNamee via Getty Images)

short readFeb 17, 2026

People wave U.S. flags from a bridge in in Forest Glen, Maryland, on March 7, 2022, and demonstrators protest the Trump administration in Montpelier, Vermont, on March 8, 2025. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post, John Lazenby/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

short readsMar 25, 2014

After Hobby Lobby, a nonprofit legal challenge to the contraception requirement

Even though the two cases heard by the Supreme Court involve for-profit businesses, the rulings in Hobby Lobby and Conestoga on the contraceptive requirement could impact subsequent cases involving nonprofits like Little Sisters of the Poor.
short readsMar 25, 2014

Data Feed: Catholic voting, March consumer confidence, low-wage workers, geography of smoking

A daily roundup of fresh data from scholars, governments, think tanks, pollsters and other social science researchers.
short readsMar 24, 2014

Data Feed: GOP picked to take Senate, mortgage tax breaks favor the rich, no pay for NCAA athletes

A daily roundup of fresh data from scholars, governments, think tanks, pollsters and other social science researchers.
short readsMar 24, 2014

Census Bureau explores new Middle East/North Africa ethnic category

Organizations representing people of Middle Eastern and North African descent are asking the Census Bureau to add a new ethnic category for them on forms, and it is one of the changes the bureau is exploring.
short readsMar 24, 2014

5 questions about the Hobby Lobby case and contraceptive coverage

A Q & A about the two related cases that will be argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday involving a challenge to regulations in the Affordable Care Act requiring many employers to include free coverage of contraceptive services in their employees’ health insurance plans.
short readsMar 21, 2014

Data Feed: City/country political divide, long-term unemployment, educational inequality

A daily roundup of fresh data from scholars, governments, think tanks, pollsters and other social science researchers.
short readsMar 21, 2014

Chart of the Week: Do firefighters or musicians have richer parents?

How people’s incomes and jobs as adults compare with the households they grew up in.
short readsMar 20, 2014

What happens to the internet after the U.S. hands off ICANN to others?

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a multinational organization that oversees the address book of the internet thanks to a contract issued by the U.S. government. What happens when this contract expires in September 2015?
short readsMar 20, 2014

Data Feed: Federal drug prosecutions, American coal exports, social trust, partisan media effects

A daily roundup of fresh data from scholars, governments, think tanks, pollsters and other social science researchers.
short readsMar 20, 2014

Even before Ukraine crisis, views of Putin had grown more negative in U.S., Europe

Vladimir Putin’s third term as Russia’s president had already been marked by clear signs of his intention to reassert his country as a world power before his move to annex Crimea. But whatever impact the latest events have on international opinion about Putin, views about him in the U.S. and allied countries had already turned negative compared to his first took office in 2000.

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Short Reads

As the Academy Awards approach, a look at moviegoing habits in the United States

8 facts about Americans and TikTok

What to know about federal grand juries

6 facts about national pride in the U.S.

After Hobby Lobby, a nonprofit legal challenge to the contraception requirement

Data Feed: Catholic voting, March consumer confidence, low-wage workers, geography of smoking

Data Feed: GOP picked to take Senate, mortgage tax breaks favor the rich, no pay for NCAA athletes

Census Bureau explores new Middle East/North Africa ethnic category

5 questions about the Hobby Lobby case and contraceptive coverage

Data Feed: City/country political divide, long-term unemployment, educational inequality

Chart of the Week: Do firefighters or musicians have richer parents?

What happens to the internet after the U.S. hands off ICANN to others?

Data Feed: Federal drug prosecutions, American coal exports, social trust, partisan media effects

Even before Ukraine crisis, views of Putin had grown more negative in U.S., Europe

Short Reads

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