Pew Research Center Staff

Fewer than half (46%) among the American public now see the country as more politically divided than in the past, down 20 points from January 2007.

Two-thirds of Americans (67%) say they plan to watch Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20; not surprisingly, even higher percentages of Democrats, Obama voters and African Americans say they plan to tune in.

A pre-inaugural Pew Research Center poll finds about eight-in-ten Americans (79%) hold a favorable view of the incoming president, including 59% of Republicans.

Hamas received a positive rating in only one Muslim country (Jordan) surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project in 2008.

In a December News IQ quiz, respondents, on average, answered six out of ten questions correctly.

Roughly a third of Americans feel we are losing ground in Afghanistan.

About a quarter of wired Obama voters have gone online to learn about or get involved with the presidential transition process.

Nearly seven-in-ten American adults (68%) now describe microwave ovens as a practical necessity in their daily lives.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to give diversity-oriented responses to questions about community.

More than six-in-ten Americans say they would prefer to live in a politically mixed community.