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  • report

    The Torture Debate: A Closer Look

    “The Religious Dimensions of the Torture Debate,” a web graphic published April 29 by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, has generated a great deal of attention and interest. It shows that currently, more than six-in-ten white evangelical Protestants (62%) say that the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order […]

  • report

    Search: “Swine Flu”

    The public ranks the internet most useful as a source of information on the virus. Where and how are people finding flu facts online?

  • transcript

    Obama’s Favorite Theologian? A Short Course on Reinhold Niebuhr

    Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in May 2009 for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Ever since then-Sen. Barack Obama spoke of his admiration for Reinhold Niebuhr in a 2007 interview with New York Times columnist David Brooks, there has been speculation […]

  • report

    Public Takes Conservative Turn on Gun Control, Abortion

    Overview Public attitudes on a pair of contentious national issues – gun control and abortion – have moved in a more conservative direction over the past year. In both cases, the changes have been driven in part by relatively large shifts among men, while opinions among women have not changed very much. For the first […]

  • feature

    The Religious Dimensions of the Torture Debate

    Updated May 7, 2009 Amid intense public debate over the use of torture against suspected terrorists, an analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life of a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press illustrates differences in the views of four major religious traditions in […]

  • report

    Support for Free Trade Recovers Despite Recession

    Overview Despite the economic recession, public support for free trade agreements has recovered after declining a year ago. Currently, 44% say that free trade agreements like NAFTA and the policies of the World Trade Organization are good for the country, up from 35% a year ago. Slightly more than a third (35%) say that such […]

  • report

    Obama’s First 100 Days

    How have the news media covered the early days of the Obama presidency? How does that coverage stack up against that of his predecessors? A new study examines the tone and focus of Obama’s media narrative and how compares it to Bill Clinton’s and George Bush’s.

  • report

    Obama at 100 Days: Strong Job Approval, Even Higher Personal Ratings

    Overview As he approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency, Barack Obama’s job approval ratings are higher than those of his most recent predecessors. However, the 44th president is even more distinguished by his strong personal popularity. Fully 73% of Americans – including as many as 46% of Republicans – hold a favorable view of […]

  • report

    Public Remains Divided Over Use of Torture

    Overview Amid intense debate over the use of torture against suspected terrorists, public opinion about this issue remains fairly stable. Currently, nearly half say the use of torture under such circumstances is often (15%) or sometimes (34%) justified; about the same proportion believes that the torture of suspected terrorists is rarely (22%) or never (25%) […]

  • presentation

    Navigating the New Health Care Delivery System

    Technology is changing how patients navigate their health care experience. New survey data shows how e-patients are using social media to connect to each other and to information.