For a lot of scientific topics, there’s a big gap between what scientists understand and what the public thinks it knows. For a number of these topics—climate change and evolution are prominent examples—this divide develops along cultural lines, typically religious or political identity. It would be reassuring to think that […] Read more »
Survey Centers and the Academy
Academic survey centers are at the forefront of measuring, understanding and disseminating the significant political and social changes happening throughout the country. Turn to any news outlet, and you will find a public opinion poll bearing a college or university affiliation. … But despite the frequency with which people are […] Read more »
Private Schools First, Public Schools Last in K-12 Ratings
As another school year begins, Americans believe private schools provide students with the best K-12 education of five different types of schools in the U.S. The 71% who rate the quality of private school education as excellent or good exceeds the ratings for parochial, charter, home and public schooling, in […] Read more »
Parental Fear About School Safety Back to Pre-Newtown Level
About one in four U.S. parents (24%) say they fear for their children’s safety when they are at school. Parental worry was last at that level in August 2012, a few months before it rose in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. CONT. Jeffrey M. […] Read more »
U.S. Business Sectors Gain or Hold Steady in Public Esteem
Americans’ overall impressions of six major sectors of the U.S. economy grew significantly more positive this year. Farming and agriculture saw the biggest improvement, with 70% now viewing it positively, up 15 percentage points from 2016. Americans are also more positive about education, the computer, real estate and sports industries, […] Read more »
Why Are Republicans Down on Higher Ed?
Symptomatic of today’s politically polarized environment in the U.S., Democrats and Republicans express substantially different levels of confidence in colleges and universities. The 56% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in colleges is more than 20 percentage points higher than […] Read more »