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Just before the dawn of the twenty-first century, interviewers for the Roper Institute asked Americans whether life for their family had improved since 1950. Regardless of age, gender, race, religion, or educational level, about two-thirds (63%) said that life was better at the close of the century than it had been in the past. In the public perception, women, persons with disabilities, and Africa…
Questions about family values have generally included issues concerning the current diversity of family structures. A 1998 survey by Lou Harris and Associates asked women, "Do you think that society should value only certain types of families, like those with two parents, or should society value all types of families?" More than nine out of ten respondents (93%) thought that society …
Periodically, the Gallup organization interviewed Americans on the role of religion in their lives. In 2000 the poll found that 68% of Americans claimed to be members of a church or synagogue, a percentage that had changed little over the past sixty years. About one-third of Americans claimed they went to church or synagogue at least once a week, and 11% said they went almost every week. Another 1…
The Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003 reports that more American households had at least one television set (98.2%) than had a telephone (94.6%) in 2001. Cable television was new in 1970, reaching just 6.7% of homes, and video cassette recorders, or VCRs, were unknown. By 2003 the average home had 2.4 television sets, and 86.2% of homes had a VCR; 68% of homes had cable TV. (See Tabl…
A 2001 Roper Center report, To the Test, includes a Gallup survey that asked what national issues were most important for the president and congress to address. Education topped the list, with 93% of respondents listing it as very important or extremely important. As recently as 1993, education ranked fifth on the survey list after health care, the economy, employment, and the federal budget defic…
A survey of entering college freshmen conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California—Los Angeles has long provided a glimpse of the opinions of the next generation. Support for legal abortion increased slightly from the freshmen entering in the fall 2000 to those entering in the fall of 2003 (53.9% to 54.5%). Opinions of male and female students were ve…
Despite predictions of natural disasters, terrorism, and environmental calamities, Americans at the turn of the twenty-first century expressed confidence that life would continue to get better. A 2000 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reveals that more than four-fifths of Americans were optimistic about the welfare of themselves and their families. Their predictions fo…
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