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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  • short reads

    Watching Campaign Debates

    That’s the proportion of Americans who say they have watched one or more of the 2008 presidential campaign debates.

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    Personal Factors Limit Black Progress

    Two in three Americans believe personal factors, rather than racial discrimination, explain why many African Americans have difficulty getting ahead in life.

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    Could Name Both Iowa Caucus Winners

    Shortly after last week’s Iowa caucuses, only about half of American adults could name both the Democratic and Republican winners — but 40% say the media have devoted too much coverage to the campaign.

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    Rating Women as Leaders Worldwide

    Among the 47 nations and political entities surveyed in the latest Pew Global Attitudes report, the great majority (40) say that women are as good as or better than men as political leaders.

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    Democrats Enthused about Primaries

    Roughly three-quarters of Democrats (74%) say they are especially looking forward to the 2008 primary elections, the first of which is being held today in New Hampshire; by comparison, only about half of Republicans (49%) share this enthusiasm.

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    Most Important Event of ’07

    A plurality of Americans (23%) cite Iraq as the single most important news event of 2007, but significantly fewer named Iraq as the year’s top event than did so in 2006 (34%).

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    Tempered Optimism about 2008

    Half of Americans say that as far as they are concerned, 2008 will be a better year than 2007, while 34% say it will be worse.

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    Gen-Next: The Least Republican Generation

    That’s the proportion of voters ages 18-24 who cast their votes for Democratic candidates in the 2006 mid-term elections — a trend that appears to be continuing in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election.