Ask the Expert
Senior research staff answer questions from readers relating to all the areas covered by our seven projects, ranging from polling techniques and findings, to media, technology, religious, demographic and global attitudes trends.
The Social Life of Health Information, 2011
Eight-in-ten internet users have looked online for health information such as a specific disease or treatment, and an increasing number are sharing their own medical experiences and thoughts on the internet.
How the Public Perceives Community Information Systems
Studies in three cities show that if people believe their local government shares information well, they also feel good about their town and its civic institutions. Those who are avid information consumers from news media and online sources are more likely to be involved and feel they have impact.
Peer-to-Peer Health Care
About one-in-five internet users have gone online to find others who have health concerns similar to theirs. Those with chronic conditions are even more likely to reach out to peers for health information. Still, most turn to health professionals when in need of medical information.
Accessing Health Topics on the Internet
Health information remains one of the most important subjects that internet users research online. The Pew Internet Project and California HealthCare Foundation have added eight new topics — including food safety, drug safety, and pregnancy information — to their national survey measuring internet users’ interest in health information.
Mobile Health 2010
Among cell phone owners, 17% have used their phone to look up health information, including 29% of cell owners ages 18-29. Still, the internet plays a supplemental — though growing — role and mobile connectivity has not changed that.
Attention Shoppers: Online Product Research
Nearly six-in-ten adults have done research online about the products and services they buy, and about a quarter have posted comments or reviews online about the things they buy.
How Americans Interact with Government Online
Fully 82% of internet users (61% of all Americans) looked for information or completed a transaction on a government website in the past year. Most government website visitors were happy with their experience, accomplishing everything or much of what they wanted to do.
Chronic Disease and the Internet
Americans living with a chronic disease are significantly less likely than healthy adults to have internet access. The majority are online, however, and they are more likely to share what they know and to learn from their peers.
Millennials, Media and Information
At a conference at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010, Pew Research Center analysts and outside experts discussed research findings about the Millennial generation, the American teens and twenty-somethings now making the passage into adulthood. In this second of three sessions experts on media and technology examine how Millennials are seeking, sharing and creating information.