A message from Pew Research Center President Michael Dimock
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July 28, 2020
** Quarterly Update
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A message from Pew Research Center President Michael Dimock · Subscribe ↗ ([link removed])
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Greetings! You are receiving our new quarterly update because you are one of our most engaged readers. If you’d like to opt out, you can adjust your preferences here ([link removed]) .
Hello readers – I’m Michael Dimock, president of Pew Research Center. Like many people around the world, all of us at the Center have found our lives and workplace upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did we transition to a fully remote working environment in March, we also overhauled our planned research agenda in an effort to better understand the pandemic’s effects on health, the economy, politics and society, both in the United States and around the world.
And when George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, we adjusted course again to measure and understand the public’s response at a time of nationwide protests and renewed calls for racial justice. We’ve worked for years to better understand attitudes about race and experiences with discrimination and racism in America. Floyd’s death has led us to strengthen these efforts, and we’re committed to bringing more focus to this work.
Both of these events have raised urgent questions about American society. Our mission is to enrich the public conversation, help people understand where their experiences and views fit, and provide data that informs sound decision-making by those in leadership positions. We believe accurately capturing the public’s voice is especially crucial at this moment – not only to our own understanding, but to informing debates about policy and international cooperation.
So far, our research has found that the coronavirus pandemic is affecting and even accelerating many of the trends we’ve been tracking for decades, from political realignment to the restructuring of personal and family lives to the way citizens allocate trust. While we seek to understand how these larger trends are changing, we will pay particular attention to the disparate impacts that the COVID-19 crisis is having across the population.
Meanwhile, the 2020 election approaches. We were already preparing for a consequential and turbulent election cycle before the pandemic hit, and that has only intensified. We know public confidence in the electoral process has been eroding on many fronts, and uncertainty about how the election will be conducted may well accelerate that loss of trust. What impact, if any, the events of the past few months will have on the outcome remains to be seen.
We recognize that the consequences of this year’s events will be cumulative and may dramatically affect many of the trends we’ve been tracking for years. So while our immediate focus is on understanding the impact of the pandemic and renewed conversations about racial justice as we approach the November election, we will also keep our eyes trained on the horizon. After all, it’s our understanding of the longer-term impact of these events that will help guide not just leaders and policymakers – but all of us – in building a better world.
We hope you find our work useful as you try to make sense of these tumultuous times. I'm including a sampling of our research from the last few months below. Please keep in touch. We love hearing from you.
Michael Dimock
President, Pew Research Center
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** COVID-19 pandemic’s impact ([link removed])
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The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted American life, but its impacts are being felt unevenly across groups. Attitudes and experiences vary considerably by partisan and demographic factors.
Featured research
* Republicans, Democrats move even further apart in coronavirus concerns ([link removed])
* Many Black and Asian Americans say they have experienced discrimination amid the COVID-19 outbreak ([link removed])
* Many Americans see exaggeration, conspiracy theories and partisanship in COVID-19 news ([link removed])
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** George Floyd’s death and racial justice ([link removed])
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Most Americans say tensions between Black people and police and concerns about the treatment of Black people in the U.S. – in addition to anger over Floyd’s death – have contributed a great deal to the recent protests.
Featured research
* Amid protests, majorities across racial and ethnic groups express support for the Black Lives Matter movement ([link removed])
* Majority of public favors giving civilians the power to sue police officers for misconduct ([link removed])
* Majorities of Americans say news coverage of George Floyd protests has been good, Trump’s public message wrong ([link removed])
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** The 2020 election ([link removed])
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With less than four months until the 2020 election, Americans are deeply unhappy with the state of the nation. President Donald Trump continues to engender strong loyalty – and intense opposition.
Featured research
* Public’s mood turns grim; Trump trails Biden on most personal traits, major issues ([link removed])
* In changing U.S. electorate, race and education remain stark dividing lines ([link removed])
* Two-thirds of Americans expect presidential election will be disrupted by COVID-19 ([link removed])
** Support Pew Research Center
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In times of uncertainty, good decisions demand good data. Please support Pew Research Center with a contribution on the Center’s behalf to our parent organization, The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank. As a neutral source of data and analysis, Pew Research Center does not take policy positions.
© 2020 Pew Research Center
