Short Reads

Even with several major news organizations deciding to reduce or ban its use, the term “illegal immigrant” is still the phrase newspapers most often use to describe foreigners living in the United States without proper documentation. But over time, there have been some shifts in the language applied to those at the heart of the […]

Do one’s political leanings blind people to the facts? Judging from decades of polling, the answer is sometimes yes—partisanship appears to lead some people to claim as facts things that aren’t particularly factual.

From leaks of NSA surveillance programs to the IRS and Benghazi controversies, Washington has been rife with revelations and high-profile investigations this year. But the public paid more attention to the debate over gun policy than any of those stories. In late January, 43% said they followed President Obama’s gun proposals very closely and 39% […]

In a March poll, a plurality of Americans described the Supreme Court's ideology as middle of the road.

About a quarter of LGBT men are fathers, and an additional 14% would like to have children someday.

The finding that made headlines from this week’s Census Bureau release of new national and state population estimates—that there are now more deaths than births among non-Hispanic whites—is a vivid illustration of the rapid long-term growth in the number of older Americans. But first, you might ask, how could there suddenly be more deaths than […]

Public opinion surveys have consistently shown Americans to have little interest in the Syrian conflict and have been opposed -- or lukewarm, at best, -- to getting involved.

A chart based on American Community Survey data shows how unevenly food stamp recipients are distributed across the country.

More than anyone else, Ellen DeGeneres is the face of LGBT America. Still. That’s the verdict of two new Pew Research Center surveys, one of the general U.S. population and the other of LGBT Americans specifically. Not only was the comedian and television host by far the most frequently cited example of a gay or […]

When the leaders of the G8 countries gather June 17 and 18 in Northern Ireland for their annual tête-à-tête, their economic dialogue will largely be a tale of woe: poor economic performance that has severely eroded public economic confidence in most of their countries. But individual leaders face contrasting challenges. There are growing public expectations, especially […]