Pew Research Center

The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.

Pew Research Center

Parent institution	The Pew Charitable Trusts
Established	2004; 19 years ago (2004)
Chair	Michael X. Delli Carpini
Head	Michael Dimock
Staff	160+^[1]
Budget	Revenue: $343 million Expenses: $348 million (FYE June 2021)^[2]
Address	1615 L Street, NW Suite 800 Washington, D.C.
Location	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Website	www.pewresearch.org

It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world.^[1] It also conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, random sample survey research and panel based surveys,^[3] media content analysis, and other empirical social science research.

The Pew Research Center does not take policy positions, and is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.^[4][5]

History

In 1990, the Times Mirror Company founded the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press as a research project, tasked with conducting polls on politics and policy. Andrew Kohut became its director in 1993, and The Pew Charitable Trusts became its primary sponsor in 1996, when it was renamed the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.^[6]

In 2004, the trust established the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. In 2013, Kohut stepped down as president and became founding director, and Alan Murray became the second president of the center.^[7] In October 2014, Michael Dimock, a 14-year veteran of the Pew Research Center, was named president.^[8]

Funding

The Pew Research Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization and a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder.^[5][9] For its studies focusing on demographics of religions in the world, the Pew Research Center has been jointly funded by the Templeton Foundation.^[10][11]

Research areas

 

Public trust in government poll

The center's research includes the following areas:^[1][12]

• U.S. politics and policy
• Journalism and media
• Internet and technology
• Science and society
• Race and ethnicity
• Religion and public life
• Global attitudes and trends
• U.S. social and demographic trends

Reports

Researchers at the Pew Research Center annually comb through publicly available sources of information and publications.^[13][14] The Pew Research Center released its 10th annual report on Global Restrictions on Religion as part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation. The annual report looked at events that took place about 18 months to two years before its publication. While the previous reports focused on year-over-year change, this report provides a broader look at the trend in particular regions and in 198 countries and territories. The report documents how government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion have changed and increased, from 2007 to 2017. It said 52 governments impose high levels of restrictions on religion, up from 40 in 2007, while 56 countries experienced the highest levels of social hostilities involving religion, up from 38 in 2007. According to the report, laws and policies restricting religious freedom and government favoritism of religious groups are the two types of restrictions that have been the most prevalent. The trends suggest that religious restrictions have been rising around the world but not so evenly across all geographic regions or all kinds of restrictions.^[15][16]

The center published a new report with the General Social Survey on 13 September 2022 regarding the future trend of religion and reshaping of religion landscape in America. More and more Americans are leaving Christianity and identifying themselves as agnostic, atheist, or none. The Pew Research Center projects that Christians in America will decline from 64% to "between a little more than half (54%) and just above one-third (35%) by 2070".^[17] In total, the center and the General Social Survey suggested four possible scenarios: "a stable rate of people moving in and out of Christianity; an increasing share of Christians leaving their religion as a decreasing number of people with no religious affiliation switching in; the same as the former but with no more than 50% of Christians switching their identity; and a scenario in which no person changes their religion."^[18] Christianity may lose the majority ranking by 2070 if the trend continues.

References

1. Pew Research Center (n.d.). "About Pew Research Center". Retrieved June 16, 2021.
2. "Pew Research Center" (PDF). Foundation Center. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
3. "Our survey methodology in detail". Pew Research Center Methods. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
4. Lesley, Alison (May 18, 2015). "Pew Research Finds Jews & Hindus are More Educated & Richer". World Religion News. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
5. "Company Overview of The Pew Charitable Trusts". Bloomberg L.P. December 29, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
6. "Our History". Pew Research Center. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
7. Memmott, Mark (November 2, 2012). "Alan Murray Of 'The Wall Street Journal' Named Pew Research Center's President". National Public Radio. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
8. Massella, Nick (October 14, 2014). "Michael Dimock Named President of Pew Research Center". FishbowlDC. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
9. "Company Overview of The Pew Charitable Trusts". 501c3Lookup.org. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
10. "The Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Major Religious Groups as of 2010" (PDF). Pew Research Center. December 2012. p. 7. This effort is part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world. The project is jointly and generously funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation
11. "Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project". Pew Research Center.
12. Pew Research Center (n.d.). "Research Topics". Retrieved June 16, 2021.
13. "Archive: State of the News Media". Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. June 25, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
14. "How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. July 15, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
15. Crary, David (July 20, 2019). "Religion restrictions increase". The Columbian. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
16. "How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World". Pew Research Center. July 15, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
17. NW, 1615 L. St; Suite 800Washington; Inquiries, DC 20036USA202-419-4300 | Main202-857-8562 | Fax[phone] | Media (September 13, 2022). "Modeling the Future of Religion in America". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
18. Cohen, Li (September 14, 2022). "Christianity in the U.S. is quickly shrinking and may no longer be the majority religion within just a few decades, research finds". CBS News. Retrieved September 17, 2022.

External links

• Official website – Pew Research Center
• Official website of the Pew Charitable Trusts