The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

(referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

It provides information on social issues,

public opinion Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. Etymology The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...

, and

demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...

trends shaping the United States and the world. It also conducts

public opinion polling An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

research, random sample survey research and panel based surveys, media

content analysis Content analysis is the study of documents and communication artifacts, which might be texts of various formats, pictures, audio or video. Social scientists use content analysis to examine patterns in communication in a replicable and systematic ...

, and other empirical social science research. The Pew Research Center does not take policy positions, and is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

The Pew Charitable Trusts The Pew Charitable Trusts is an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), founded in 1948. With over 6 billion in assets, its stated mission is to serve the public interest by "improving public policy, informing the public, a ...

History

In 1990, the

Times Mirror Company The Times Mirror Company was an American newspaper and print media publisher from 1884 until 2000. History It had its roots in the Mirror Printing and Binding House, a commercial printing company founded in 1873, and the ''Los Angeles Times'' ...

founded the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press as a research project, tasked with conducting polls on politics and policy.

Andrew Kohut Andrew Kohut (September 2, 1942 – September 8, 2015) was an American pollster and nonpartisan news commentator about public affairs topics. Life and career He was born in Newark, New Jersey and was raised in Rochelle Park, New Jersey. His par ...

became its director in 1993, and

became its primary sponsor in 1996, when it was renamed the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. 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. In October 2014, Michael Dimock, a 14-year veteran of the Pew Research Center, was named president.

Funding

The Pew Research Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...

and a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. For its studies focusing on demographics of religions in the world, the Pew Research Center has been jointly funded by the

Templeton Foundation The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a Philanthropy, philanthropic organization that reflects the ideas of its founder, John Templeton, who became wealthy via a career as a Contrarian investing, contrarian investor, and wanted ...

Research areas

The center's research includes the following areas: * 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. 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 John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a philanthropic organization that reflects the ideas of its founder, John Templeton, who became wealthy via a career as a contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in religious an ...

. 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. 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". 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." Christianity may lose the majority ranking by 2070 if the trend continues.

References

External links

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The Pew Charitable Trusts
{{Authority control 2004 establishments in the United States Intelligent Community Forum Think tanks established in 2004 Public opinion research companies in the United States Social statistics data The Pew Charitable Trusts Think tanks based in Washington, D.C.