Pew Research Center
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| Pew Research Center | |
|---|---|
| Name | Pew Research Center |
| Formation | 2004 |
| Founder | The Pew Charitable Trusts |
| Type | Research institute |
| Leader title | President |
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank known for public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis, and data-driven social science studies. It conducts surveys and produces reports used by journalists, policymakers, academics, and civic organizations across the United States and internationally. Its work intersects with topics covered by organizations such as Gallup (company), The Brookings Institution, RAND Corporation, World Bank and United Nations agencies.
History
The institution traces its roots to initiatives funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and formalized in the early 2000s during an era marked by debates involving Pew Research Center founder initiatives and comparative projects with Pew Global Attitudes Project precursors. Its development occurred alongside major research expansions at Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and collaborations with entities such as American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Opinion Research Center, University of Michigan survey centers and international partners including European Commission survey teams. Landmark moments in its timeline include large-scale projects overlapping with events like the 2008 United States presidential election, the 2016 United States presidential election, and global studies around the 2015 Paris Agreement era.
Mission and Funding
The center states a mission to provide impartial information to inform public discourse; funding sources include grants from The Pew Charitable Trusts and project-specific support from foundations and philanthropic donors such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and collaborations with academic institutions like Columbia University and Stanford University. Its financial model resembles funding patterns seen at The Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation supported projects, blending endowment support and contract research. The organization operates under nonprofit regulations similar to those governing entities like American Enterprise Institute and files disclosures consistent with US Internal Revenue Service requirements for tax-exempt organizations.
Research Areas and Methodology
The center publishes work across topics including public opinion on politics and policy, religious affiliation studies paralleling work by Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, demographics akin to analyses from the U.S. Census Bureau, technology adoption comparable to research by Pew Internet & American Life Project, and migration and global attitudes studies used alongside International Organization for Migration and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees datasets. Methodologically, it employs probability sampling and weighting procedures informed by standards from American Association for Public Opinion Research and survey techniques used by National Center for Health Statistics and academic survey centers at Harvard University and University of Chicago. It uses online panels, telephone surveys, and demographic modeling similar to approaches in reports by Eurobarometer and the OECD.
Major Studies and Findings
Notable projects include national surveys of voting intention during cycles like the 2008 United States presidential election and the 2016 United States presidential election, global attitude polls contemporaneous with the Arab Spring and analyses of public sentiment after events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Findings on religious demography have been cited alongside work by Vatican analysts and scholars affiliated with Harvard Divinity School; technology adoption reports have paralleled studies from Microsoft Research and Google-commissioned analyses. Economic and demographic reports often reference comparative metrics used by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Organizational Structure and Leadership
The center is led by a president and governed by an advisory board including figures from institutions like Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, and philanthropic groups such as The Rockefeller Foundation. Research teams include directors for subjects mirroring roles at Brookings Institution centers and methodological staff with affiliations to universities including Princeton University and Yale University. Collaborative projects have involved partnerships with media outlets like The Washington Post, The New York Times, and BBC News for dissemination and joint polling.
Criticism and Reception
Scholars and commentators from institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, London School of Economics, and think tanks like Cato Institute have critiqued aspects of methodology, sampling frames, and question wording—issues common to debates involving Gallup (company) and Ipsos polling. Media coverage by outlets including The New York Times and The Guardian has both cited and scrutinized its work, especially around contested topics such as polling accuracy in the 2016 United States presidential election and interpretations of demographic shifts discussed in research from Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and academic census analyses. Peer reviewers from journals associated with American Political Science Association and American Sociological Association engage with its data, while archival datasets are used by scholars at institutions like University of Michigan and Stanford University for secondary analysis.