Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Publications

  • report

    Blago-gate Dominates the Week’s News

    Congress voted on a Detroit bailout, the media focused on fallout from the economic meltdown, and Barack Obama rolled out a key appointment. But a political scandal bleepin’ swamped ‘em all.

  • report

    The Future of the Internet III

    A survey of experts shows they expect major tech advances as the phone becomes a primary device for online access, voice-recognition improves, and the structure of the Internet itself improves. They disagree about whether this will lead to more soci…

  • report

    Experts and analysts assess the future of the internet in a new survey

    A survey of internet leaders, activists and analysts shows they expect major tech advances as the phone becomes a primary device for online access, voice-recognition improves, artificial and virtual reality become more embedded in everyday life, and the architecture of the internet itself improves.

  • report

    Public Hearing Positive News About Obama Transition

    Summary of Findings As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office and announces choices for key cabinet posts, a majority of Americans (56%) says news stories about the incoming administration are mostly positive. Very few (3%) say what they are hearing or reading about the new Obama administration is mostly negative, while four-in-ten (38%) say […]

  • report

    Psychology of Bad Times Fueling Consumer Cutbacks

    Overview Americans continue to render extremely bleak assessments of economic conditions, both with respect to the national economy and their own financial situations. Fully 92% of the public rates the national economy as only fair or poor, and a substantial majority (61%) judges their personal finances that way. Both measures are among the most negative […]

  • feature

    Being Good for Goodness’ Sake?

    This holiday season, the American Humanist Association has launched a campaign featuring ads on Washington, D.C., buses that proclaim, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake.” But a 2007 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project found that a majority of Americans say it is necessary to believe in […]

  • short reads

    Tattooed Gen Nexters

    That’s the proportion of young Americans (ages 18-25) of both sexes who have had themselves tatooed. About half in this age group have done at least one of the following: had a tatoo, dyed their hair an untraditional color or had their bodies pierced in a place other than their ear lobe.