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Becka A. Alper

Senior Researcher

Expertise:Religion and Public Life

Becka A. Alper is a Senior Researcher at Pew Research Center where she leads surveys exploring American religious identities, beliefs and practices, including the views and demographic profile of Jewish Americans and the religiously unaffiliated. Her work is instrumental in shaping the Center’s U.S. religion polls and offering insights into the role of religion in American public life. She has authored major reports analyzing America’s changing religious landscape, the experiences and views of Jewish Americans, spiritual beliefs and practices, what Americans know about religion, a new way of understanding religious identities in America, how religion intersects with Americans’ view on the environment, among many others. Becka holds a doctorate in sociology from Purdue University.

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reportFeb 26, 2025

Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off

After years of decline, the U.S. Christian share now shows signs of leveling off. The new Religious Landscape Study explores trends in identity, beliefs and practices.
short readsOct 1, 2024

Slight uptick in Americans wanting U.S. to help diplomatically resolve Israel-Hamas war

In the year since Hamas attacked Israel, and Israel responded by invading Gaza, U.S. public opinion on the war shifted modestly.
reportApr 2, 2024

Rising Numbers of Americans Say Jews and Muslims Face a Lot of Discrimination

40% of U.S. adults say there’s a lot of discrimination against Jews in society, and 44% say there’s a lot of discrimination against Muslims.
short readsApr 2, 2024

How U.S. Jews are experiencing the Israel-Hamas war

Nine-in-ten American Jews say they think discrimination against Jews has risen in the United States since the Israel-Hamas war began.
reportMar 21, 2024

Majority in U.S. Say Israel Has Valid Reasons for Fighting; Fewer Say the Same About Hamas

57% of Americans express some sympathy with both Israelis and Palestinians, including 26% who say their sympathies lie equally with both groups.
reportJan 24, 2024

Religious ‘Nones’ in America: Who They Are and What They Believe

28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, describing themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religion.
reportDec 7, 2023

Spirituality Among Americans

Overall, 70% of U.S. adults describe themselves as spiritual in some way, including 22% who are spiritual but not religious. An overwhelming majority of U.S. adults (83%) say they believe that people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body. And 81% say there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we cannot see it.
short readsDec 7, 2022

Younger evangelicals in the U.S. are more concerned than their elders about climate change

Evangelical Protestant adults under 40 are more likely than older evangelicals to say climate change is an extremely or very serious problem.
reportNov 17, 2022

How Religion Intersects With Americans’ Views on the Environment

Most U.S. adults – including a solid majority of Christians and large numbers of people who identify with other religious traditions – consider the Earth sacred and believe God gave humans a duty to care for it. But highly religious Americans are far less likely than other U.S. adults to express concern about warming temperatures around the globe.
reportMay 26, 2022

Modest Warming in U.S. Views on Israel and Palestinians

In recent years, U.S. public opinion has become modestly more positive toward both sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.