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Pew Research Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonadvocacy, research organization. We are made up of 170 intellectually curious people from across many fields, places, and backgrounds. For decades, our expertise, best-in-class methods, and commitment to high-quality, fact-based research have made us a trusted resource for leaders and everyday people around the world.
Our mission
We generate a foundation of facts that enriches the public dialogue and supports sound decision-making. We are nonprofit, nonpartisan and nonadvocacy. We value independence, objectivity, accuracy, rigor, humility, transparency and innovation. Read more
What do we mean by nonprofit? We are funded from charitable dollars. All our resources serve the mission. We do not do any work for hire.
What do we mean by nonpartisan? We maintain strict impartiality and never align with any political group or candidate.
What do we mean by nonadvocacy? We study people’s views and behaviors without an agenda. We remain independent of political parties, candidates, and ideological viewpoints.
Our research
We study a wide range of topics including politics and policy; news habits and media; the internet and technology; religion; race and ethnicity; international affairs; social, demographic and economic trends; science; research methodology and data science; and immigration and migration.
We decide what to study based on questions people are asking, changes happening in the world, and gaps where clear information is hard to find. We focus on areas where our expertise, resources, and intellectual curiosity can help people better understand the world around them.
We take our responsibility to inform the public seriously. Every step of our work goes through multiple layers of review to ensure it is high-quality and fact-based. We share our data and survey questions so all can see the process and how we arrived at our results.
We decide what to study based on questions people are asking, changes happening in the world, and gaps where clear information is hard to find. We focus on areas where our expertise, resources, and intellectual curiosity can help people better understand the world around them.
Our methods
We start with a question that people want answered and is important to the public good. Then, we figure out the best ways to get an accurate, true answer.
Often, we ask thousands of people of various ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds to share what they think in a survey. We listen to what they say about jobs, politics, religion, education, health, and more. We bring those voices together and summarize everything we hear. Before we publish anything, our work goes through several rounds of careful review to make sure it upholds our commitment to high-quality, fact-based research.
Surveys are only one tool for hearing and understanding people, and we augment that work with in-depth interviews, digital, economic and demographic data. And we’re always thoughtfully testing new tools and methods to capture an even fuller picture of what people are thinking and feeling.
Read more about our methods.
Our people
We are led by Michael Dimock and have a staff of more than 170 people and 11 research teams. Our experts combine the observational and storytelling skills of journalists with the analytical rigor of social scientists. Pew Research Center is stewarded by a nine-member volunteer board.
Pew Research Center is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, or any other protected characteristics. In addition, the Center complies with all laws, including but not limited to anti-discrimination laws, when making business decisions such as the award of grants, contracts, and fellowships in the pursuit of our charitable mission.
Our funding
Pew Research Center is a not-for-profit research organization. We receive funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts and other organizations that share our commitment to high-quality, fact-based research. We operate independently. Our leadership and staff decide what we study and we make that research available free of charge. No funder or outside group influences our work. Read more about our funding.
Our history
We originated in a research project created in 1990 called the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press. In 2004, The Pew Charitable Trusts established the Pew Research Center as a subsidiary to house its information initiatives. Read more