Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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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.

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    Favorable First Lady

    Fully seven-in-ten Americans have a favorable opinion of First Lady Michelle Obama.

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    Little Reporting in the News

    A PEJ study found eight out of 10 stories studied simply repeated or repackaged previously published information.

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    America Online

    Three-quarters of adults use the internet.

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    Are Wireless

    Just over half of adults connect to the internet wirelessly at least on occasion.

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    Obama Paying Too Much Attention to the Banks

    A third of Americans say President Obama has been paying too much attention to banks and financial institutions – more than say so about any other group tested.

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    Racial Convergence

    Seven-in-ten whites and six-in-ten blacks say that the values held by blacks and whites have become more similar in the past 10 years.

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    Discrimination Against Hispanics

    More Americans now say that Hispanics face “a lot” of discrimination than say the same about blacks, whites or Asians.

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    Is Obama Black?

    Overall, about a quarter of Americans see President Obama as black; a majority see him as of mixed race.

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    Mixed Reactions

    Asked to state what race they are (black; white; Asian; some other race) and told they could choose as many categories as they wished, just 1% of Americans identified with more than one category.

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    Top Discrimination Targets: Gays

    A plurality of the public believes that gays and lesbians face “a lot” of bias — roughly double the proportions that see widespread discrimination against blacks or Hispanics.