Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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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.

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  • short reads

    The Year of the Mega Story: bin Laden Killed

    The biggest one-week story of the year was the May 1 killing May of Osama bin Laden by Navy Seals, which filled 69% of that week’s newshole. It was the biggest weekly story ever measured by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism since they began tracking coverage in January 2007.

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    Using Social Media to Keep in Touch

    Roughly two-thirds (67%) of social media users say that staying in touch with current friends and family members is a major reason they use these social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or LinkedIn.

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    Combat Veterans and Emotional Trauma

    More than half (52%) of combat veterans who served in the post-9/11 wars said they had suffered emotionally traumatic or distressing experiences while in the military.

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    Twitter and the Campaign: Its Coverage of Ron Paul

    Between May 2 and Nov. 27 of this year, there were more than 1.1 million postings on Twitter about Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul. He received far more discussion on social media than in the traditional news outlets.

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    The Difficult Transition from Military to Civilian Life

    As the last U.S. combat troops head home from Iraq this month, some will face a difficult re-entry to civilian life. A Pew Research Center survey of 1,853 veterans found that 27% said readjusting to civilian life was “very” or “somewhat difficult.”