{"id":13107,"date":"2015-12-31T10:02:37","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T15:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/your-favorite-fact-tank-data-in-2015\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:19:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:19:05","slug":"your-favorite-fact-tank-data-in-2015","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/12\/31\/your-favorite-fact-tank-data-in-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Your favorite Fact Tank data in 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Pew Research Center started the Fact Tank data blog back in 2013, our goal was to present\u00a0data\u00a0that would help people better understand the news of the day. But in looking at our top blog posts of 2015, we realized that the pieces\u00a0we published\u00a0often\u00a0made <\/em>news, too. From\u00a0Millennials in the workforce to\u00a0religion in America, our most popular posts told important stories about trends shaping our world.<\/p>\n\n

Here’s a look at some of\u00a0the themes of 2015’s most popular Fact Tank posts.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

This year’s\u00a0deadly attacks by radical Islamic groups\u00a0sparked\u00a0a hunger for information about\u00a0Muslims and Islam<\/strong>, as evidenced by the amount of traffic reaching\u00a0our posts via\u00a0Web search.<\/p>\n\n

Our\u00a0five facts about the Muslim population in Europe<\/a>\u00a0answered the question: Just how large is Europe\u2019s Muslim population, and how fast is it growing? Another post explored why<\/em> Muslims are the world’s fastest-growing religious group<\/a>. And our roundup of key findings about Muslims and Islam<\/a>\u00a0published shortly after the Paris attacks answered\u00a0key questions about Muslims and the Islamic faith.<\/p>\n\n

We also dug into our international polling and found that\u00a0in nations we surveyed that have\u00a0significant Muslim populations, there is much disdain for ISIS<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 but in a few countries, such as Pakistan, favorable views were not insignificant.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

Many of our posts looking at data through the lens of\u00a0religion<\/strong>\u00a0proved popular, too. We explored\u00a0which religious groups in the U.S. were most and least racially diverse<\/a>\u00a0(the results were a little surprising), and we\u00a0highlighted\u00a0seven facts about atheists and their beliefs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

We also started keeping track of\u00a0where Christian churches and other religions stand on\u00a0same-sex marriage<\/a>, a\u00a0landscape that was often\u00a0changing\u00a0(we had to update this\u00a0post and chart a few times). And we examined\u00a0how the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage could affect religious institutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

By and large, Americans don’t much like income taxes<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0the federal tax system as a whole<\/a>. But it’s not, as you might imagine, because they think they pay too much. Rather, they feel\u00a0corporations and the wealthy\u00a0don\u2019t pay their fair share. But are\u00a0they right?<\/p>\n\n

We took a look at the data and found that\u00a0high-income Americans pay the most in income taxes<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0though people can and will differ on whether it’s enough to be “fair.”\u00a0As for corporations, it\u2019s true they are funding a smaller share of overall government operations than they used to, and\u00a0corporate tax receipts haven’t kept\u00a0pace with the overall growth of the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Illegal immigration<\/strong> has been a\u00a0hot political topic in recent years. Even though Congress did little to address the issue in 2015, our post on\u00a0five facts about illegal immigration<\/a>\u00a0resonated with readers who were looking for nonpartisan information about undocumented immigrants, from how many there are in the U.S. currently to where they come from and where they live.<\/p>\n\n

And as\u00a0the 2016 presidential race shifted into high gear, we looked at what Americans\u00a0think should be done about illegal immigration<\/a>,\u00a0as well as their overall views of immigrants.<\/p>\n\n

Alexis de Tocqueville, the early 19th century French political thinker, famously described the United States as \u201cexceptional.\u201d And indeed, the data show that Americans<\/strong>\u00a0stand out from the rest of the world<\/a> in a few distinct ways, from our sense of individualism and our work ethic to how religious or optimistic we are, especially in comparison with other wealthy countries.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

Information about the middle class<\/strong>\u00a0is a perennial favorite of\u00a0both presidential contenders and Fact Tank readers. Our recent analysis found that the American middle class is both shrinking and falling behind financially<\/a>. But middle-class Americans are still\u00a0rich by\u00a0global standards<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Two of our most popular posts this year offered readers interactive calculators\u00a0that helped\u00a0them discover whether they are part of the\u00a0American middle class<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0global middle class<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and\u00a0if they aren’t, where they do<\/em> fall relative to the rest of the country or the world, respectively.<\/p>\n\n

Millennials<\/strong> continue to make headlines, including on our Fact Tank posts. Our research showed that this confident, politically independent generation not only overtook Generation X as the largest generation in the U.S. workforce<\/a>, but also is projected to overtake Baby Boomers<\/a>\u00a0as the nation\u2019s largest living adult generation \u2013 two data points that resonated with our audience.<\/p>\n\n

There was also our striking finding about Millennials and free speech: 40% of Millennials say it should be OK for the government to limit speech that\u2019s offensive to minority groups<\/a>, a far greater share than in other generations. Overall, our survey found that a majority of Americans say people should <\/em>be able to say offensive things about minority groups publicly. And our post examining how Millennials compare with their grandparents 50 years ago<\/a> offered a popular long view on this younger generation.<\/p>\n\n

Note: Item No. 7 in this post was updated on June 16, 2018, to reflect the Center\u2019s <\/em>revised definition of the Millennial generation<\/em><\/a> and the updated year in which Millennials will be <\/em>the largest generation<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

Studying the nation’s demographics and shifting habits leads us inevitably to … yes,\u00a0online dating<\/a><\/strong>. Our survey about online dating\u00a0sites finds that they’ve lost their\u00a0stigma; in fact, a majority of Americans say they are a good way to meet people, and 5% of married or committed Americans say they’ve met their significant other\u00a0this way. Still,\u00a0a third of those who sign up say they’ve never gone on a date with someone they met on an online dating site.<\/p>\n\n

Scientists and the general public have markedly different views on any number of topics, from evolution to climate change to genetically modified foods. But one thing both groups agree on is that science and math education<\/strong> in the U.S. leaves much\u00a0to be desired.<\/p>\n\n

A\u00a0Pew Research Center survey<\/a>\u00a0found that\u00a0only 29% of Americans rated their country\u2019s K-12 education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (known as STEM) as above average or the best in the world. And, among scientists surveyed, just 16% called U.S. K-12 STEM education the best or above average.<\/p>\n\n

Fact Tank’s\u00a0look at standardized test results around the world seemed to bear out these sentiments:\u00a0U.S. students are improving \u2013 slowly \u2013 in math and science, but still lagging their peers internationally<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

Note: Item No. 7 in this post was updated on June 16, 2018.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Millennials in the workforce to religion in America, our most popular posts told important stories about trends shaping our 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