Key Data Trends

Frequently asked Pew Research survey questions and data.

Presidential Approval: 46%

Barack Obama's job approval rating has been in the low- to-mid-40% range for the past several months. Obama's job rating hit a two-year high of 56% in May 2011, shortly after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden. But by August 2011, more disapproved than approved of the way Obama was handling his job as president. Read More

Last Updated: 14 Nov 11

National Satisfaction: 17%

Few Americans say they are satisfied with the state of the nation. In recent months, about two-in-ten have said they are satisfied with the way things are going in this country today, while nearly eight-in-ten have said they are dissatisfied. Disapproval of the nation's direction is nothing new: It has been more than five years since satisfaction has been higher than 34%. Satisfaction with national conditions hit a low of 11% in early October 2008 amid increasing signs of economic crisis. The low level of national satisfaction is closely tied to the state of the economy, which has continued to falter. Read More

Last Updated: 4 Oct 11

Democratic Party Favorability: 46%

The public has been essentially split in its views of the Democratic Party in recent months. When Barack Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, 62% had a favorable view of the Democratic Party, but its favorable rating fell to 49% by August 2009. Read More

Last Updated: 4 Oct 11

Republican Party Favorability: 36%

Since 2006, the balance of opinion toward the Republican Party has generally been unfavorable. One of the few exceptions was February 2010, shortly after the Republicans won control of the House. Even then, however, as many viewed the GOP unfavorably as favorably. Not since December 2004, shortly after George Bush's reelection, has a majority expressed a favorable opinion of the GOP. Read More

Last Updated: 4 Oct 11

Home Internet Penetration: 64%

The rapid adoption of broadband connections (the blue lines in this chart) is one of the revolutionary changes that occurred in media and communication in the last decade. In the inaugural survey of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project in 2000, a tiny fraction of Americans had high-speed, always-on broadband connections in their homes. The number has now risen to 61%. However, the figure has not changed much in the past two years and even dipped earlier this year, partly because the Pew Internet Project tightened up its question language and perhaps because of some families' economic struggles. As people moved from the slower dial-up internet to the faster broadband internet they did more things online, logged on more frequently, consumed lots of video, reported better outcomes from their searches, and cited improved impacts of those searches. Most dramatically, they became content creators as they started blogs, began to share their lives with others on social networking sites, shared and mashed up pictures and videos, and began to use Twitter. This has profoundly reshaped media culture and social activities.

Last Updated: 30 Sep 11