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conradhackett.bsky.social
Conrad Hackett
@conradhackett.bsky.social
28K followers 3.6K following 1.6K posts
Demography nerd at Pew Research Center
Global religious change, sociology
Posts Replies Media Videos
conradhackett.bsky.social
The United Nations estimates that 6.2 million babies will be born this year across the continent of Europe, including Russia.

A greater number of babies are expected to be born in Nigeria alone - 7.6 million kids!
population.un.org/dataportal/d...
Chart showing that more babies are now born in Nigeria than in all of Europe. Data is from the United Nations. Chart is from Our World in Data.
October 29, 2025 at 2:54 AM
conradhackett.bsky.social
As a graduate student, Cristobal Young demonstrated that findings from a prominent study didn't hold up beyond a very narrow set of modeling decisions.

I just learned Cristobal has written a book ("Multiverse Analysis") about generating robust results. Ordered!
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
Image of the book "Multiverse Analysis: Computational Methods for Robust Results."
October 27, 2025 at 4:25 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
In this article, @weedenkim.bsky.social explains why sociology continues to lag behind other social sciences and summarizes @philipncohen.com's frustrating experiences lobbying for change on the @asanews.bsky.social publication committee.
hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/6oi846rx...
Scientific transparency in sociology has also been hampered by the absence of top-down leadership by the discipline’s core association. This is not for lack of trying. Cohen (2021) recounts an effort in which he used his position as an elected member of the ASA’s publications committee to propose that the ASA adopt the Open Science Badge system. That proposal failed. Sixteen months and two ad hoc committees later, the publications committee referred to the ASA’s elected governing body an alternative proposal that would require authors to declare in a footnote whether their data and code were available online and if not, why not. Council rejected the footnote proposal and, after another 4 months, sent it back down to the publications committee. By this time, the members who had pushed hardest for scientific transparency had given up or rotated off the committee.
October 26, 2025 at 9:23 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
Please repost:

We're looking for an excellent writer/editor with strong data journalism skills to join the religion team at @pewresearch.org.

pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...
The writer/editor is a position within the Center’s Religion research team, which seeks to promote a deeper understanding of religion and spirituality. The Religion research team conducts surveys, demographic analyses and other social science research in the United States and around the world, studying people’s religious beliefs and practices as well as their views on related issues, including religion’s role in public life. The ideal candidate will have a strong data journalism mindset, with the ability to translate complex quantitative findings into clear and engaging narratives that are nonpartisan and non-advocacy. This position will be embedded within the Religion research team, where the writer/editor will work collaboratively to shape the team’s research agenda, including identifying key research questions; contributing to survey development; and synthesizing findings into accessible and compelling storylines. The writer/editor will also evaluate drafts of research reports to determine whether there are shortcomings in the analysis; edit, rewrite and reorganize drafts as necessary to improve flow and clarity; and work with researchers and designers to create appropriate charts and tables. In addition, the writer/editor will provide guidance and training to the Religion team’s researchers and serve as a writing resource. Following the release of reports, the writer/editor may help disseminate research to the public through the Center’s social media channels, videos, newsletters, and virtual or in-person gatherings, always adhering to the Center’s independent, nonpartisan, non-advocacy stance. 
October 23, 2025 at 11:55 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
86% of Democrats say the U.S. should prioritize expanding wind & solar production
67% of Republicans say it's more important to get energy from fossil fuel sources
🧪
Chart showing when asked whether the country should prioritize developing renewable sources or fossil fuel sources, six-in-ten Americans say the country should prioritize renewables like wind and solar. While this remains the majority opinion, the share who prioritize renewable sources is down significantly from a high 0f 79% in the spring of 2020. Republicans’ views on the nation’s energy priorities are now the reverse of what they were in 2020. Today, 67% of Republicans and Republican leaners say the country should give priority to developing fossil fuel sources like oil, coal and natural gas. In 2020, 65% of Republicans said renewable energy development should be the country’s bigger priority.
October 23, 2025 at 9:54 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
Thinking about the possibility of violent extremism,
... most Democrats (76%) say right-wing extremism is a major problem
... most Republicans (77%) say left-wing extremism is a major problem
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
Chart showing 77% of Republicans say left-wing extremism is a major problem in the country. Far fewer (27%) say this about right-wing extremism. Democrats’ views are nearly the reverse: 76% say right-wing extremism is a major problem, while 32% say left-wing extremism is a major problem. About half of both Republicans (49%) and Democrats (47%) say extremism from those without clear political views is a major problem.
October 23, 2025 at 8:22 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
16% of Americans say Donald Trump has definitely set a high moral standard for the presidency.
Chart showing how Americans evaluate Donald Trump on various measures. 16% say he has definitely set a high moral standard for the presidency.
October 23, 2025 at 4:04 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
In 2024, 79% of all U.S. Latinos were U.S. citizens, up from 71% in 2000.
Chart showing: In 2024, 79% of all U.S. Latinos were U.S. citizens, up from 71% in 2000. Two-thirds (67%) are U.S. citizens by birth, including people born in the U.S. and its territories (e.g., Puerto Rico) plus people born abroad to American parents. About 13% of Latinos are immigrants who have become naturalized U.S. citizens. When it comes to Hispanic immigrants, Pew Research Center estimates that 59% are lawful immigrants while 41% are unauthorized immigrants, based on data from 2023. This is larger than the share of all U.S. immigrants who are unauthorized (27%). Looked at another way, Latino unauthorized immigrants represented 14% of all U.S. Latinos in 2023. This is larger than unauthorized immigrants’ share (4%) of the U.S. population.
October 22, 2025 at 10:28 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
In 2024, 68 million Hispanics made up 20% of the U.S. population.
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
Chart showing the U.S. Hispanic population grew from 9.6 million in 1970 to 68 million in 2024.
October 22, 2025 at 10:25 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
Chart from Google Books Ngram viewer showing a rise in "Pew Research Center" mentions between 2000 and 2022. By 2022, "Pew Research Center" mentions slightly outnumber "Gallup" mentions.
October 22, 2025 at 10:12 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
More Americans can name what each party is doing wrong than can name what the party is doing right.
Americans’ responses to what they dislike about the Republican and Democratic parties are similar, in terms of the broad groupings. Values are most likely to be cited for both — 43% for the Republicans and 42% for the Democrats. This is followed by issues, at 31% for the Republicans and 26% for the Democrats. Beyond those similarities, people are more likely to knock the Republicans (19%) than Democrats (9%) for their leaders, while they are more likely to criticize Democrats (24%) than Republicans (7%) for lack of political skill.
October 22, 2025 at 6:20 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
38% of Americans can't name anything they like about the Republican Party
& 38% of Americans can't name anything they like about the Democratic Party.
news.gallup.com/poll/696635/...
An August Gallup Panel web survey asked respondents to say in their own words what they like and dislike about each party. The responses make clear that the parties are perceived differently by Americans, despite their similar favorable ratings. On the positive side, the GOP is most often lauded for its policy positions, with 30% of Americans citing any sort of issue or policy. This is followed by its perceived values (24%) and then its political skill or competence (10%), with relatively few citing its leaders (3%). By contrast, the Democratic Party is chiefly commended for its perceived values (44%) followed by issue positions (20%), with few citing either its political skill (3%) or leaders (3%). About a quarter of Americans for each party say they like nothing about it, while just over 10% have no opinion.
October 22, 2025 at 6:12 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
Next week 500 social scientists will gather in Minneapolis for the annual Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (@sssreligion.bsky.social) conference.

The program lists the intriguing topics & titles of papers sssreligion.org/annual-meeti....

Does this sound interesting or dreadful to you?
Image from conference program that reads: Session B-7 (SSSR) Religious change Room: Cedar Lake Organizer: Conrad Hackett, Pew Research Center (chackett@pewresearch.org) Convener: Ryan Cragun, University of Tampa (rcragun@ut.edu) How the global religious landscape changed from 2010 to 2020: A study of 201 countries and territories based on more than 2,700 sources Conrad Hackett, Pew Research Center (chackett@pewresearch.org) Co-Author 1: Marcin Stonawski, Center for Advanced Studies of Population and Religion (CASPAR) Co-Author 2: Yunping Tong, Pew Research Center Faith under fire: Israeli Jews' beliefs after October 7th Nadia Beider, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (nadia.beider@mail.huji.ac.il) Co-Author: Ozan Aksoy, University College London Explaining the secular transition: Generality, particularity, and over-determination David Voas, University College London (d.voas@ucl.ac.uk) Scenarios for future religious change: Data and assumptions for new global projections Marcin Stonawski, Center for Advanced Studies of Population and Religion (CASPAR) (mstonaw@gmail.com) Co-Author 1: Conrad Hackett, Pew Research Center Co-Author 2: Yunping Tong, Pew Research Center Image from conference program that reads: Paper Session E Saturday, November 1, 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Session E-1 (SSSR) Open Science II: What’s stopping us from opening up? Benchmarking open science attitudes, behaviors, and infrastructure among social scientists of religion Room: Deer Lake Organizer/Convener: Nicholas Gibson, ResearchWell (nicholas@researchwell.org) Attitudes, self-reported behaviors, and perceived norms and incentives regarding open science among social scientists of religion Nici Pfeiffer, Center for Open Science (nici@cos.io) Co-Author 1: Tim Errington, Center for Open Science Co-Author 2: Nicholas Gibson, ResearchWell Observed use of open infrastructure among social scientists of religion Nicholas Gibson, ResearchWell (nicholas@researchwell.org) Co-Author 1: Tim Errington, Center for Open Science Co-Author 2: Nici Pfeiffer, Center for Open Science Policies and perspectives on open science among 46 journals publishing empirical research on religion Nicholas Gibson, ResearchWell (nicholas@researchwell.org) Co-Author 1: David Mellor, Center for Open Science Co-Author 2: Nici Pfeiffer, Center for Open Science Religion journals should mandate sharing of quantitative data and code: Progress and impediments to adopting a reproducibility policy in scientific study of religion journals Conrad Hackett, Pew Research Center (chackett@pewresearch.org)
October 22, 2025 at 12:53 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
This fantastic map by Francis Galton shows travel time from London to the rest of the world in 1881.
This is an isochronic passage chart for travelers created by Francis Galton. The Princeton library catalog has this description "Landmasses and oceans colored according to travel time (in days) to those points from London, ca. 1881. Includes explanation of colors, showing days journey indicated by each color. Includes note: "showing the shortest number of days journey from London by the quickest through routes and using such further conveyances as are available without unreasonable cost. It is supposed that local preparations have been made and that other circumstances are favourable." From: Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and monthly record of geography."
October 21, 2025 at 10:54 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
Say there's conflict between their own religious beliefs & mainstream American culture
White evangelicals 80%
Jews 62%
Atheists 61%
Black Protestants 58%
www.pewresearch.org/religion/202...
Pew Research Center has asked Americans several times in recent years how much conflict – if any – they feel between their religious beliefs and mainstream culture. For the first time since we began asking this question in 2020, a majority of U.S. adults (58%) say they feel at least some conflict. That’s up 10 percentage points from February 2024 and up 16 points from February 2020. This view is held by roughly half or more of Americans in both political parties and all age groups – and in every religious group analyzed, with the exception of those who say their religion is “nothing in particular.” Among religious groups large enough to be analyzed, White evangelicals (80%) are by far the most likely to say there is at least some conflict between their religious beliefs and the mainstream. Meanwhile, 62% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats say there is at least some conflict between their religious beliefs and the mainstream. Compared with the February 2024 survey, the share who feel at least some conflict between their religious beliefs and the mainstream is up 7 points among Republicans and 11 points among Democrats.
October 21, 2025 at 1:37 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
51% of Americans say Trump is doing too much by executive order.
Chart showing: Roughly half of Americans (51%) say Trump is doing too much by executive order, while 6% say he is doing too little. About a quarter (27%) say Trump is doing about the right amount, while 16% are unsure. This is nearly identical to the public’s views in April. Today, 80% of Democrats say Trump is doing too much by executive order. Much smaller shares say he is doing about the right amount (5%) or too little (4%). More than half of Republicans (54%) say Trump is doing about the right amount by executive order. Roughly two-in-ten say he’s doing too much (23%), while 7% say he’s doing too little.
October 18, 2025 at 8:00 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
How gerrymandering can change election outcomes, in one chart www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp...
Chart shows three different ways to divide 50 people into 5 districts. One shows perfect representation, another a compact but unfair method and a third approach is neither compact nor fair.
October 16, 2025 at 5:35 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
2025 Press Freedom Rank
1 Norway
2 Estonia
3 Netherlands
4 Sweden
5 Finland
11 Germany
16 NZ
20 UK
21 Canada
25 France
27 S Africa
29 Australia
31 Poland
49 Italy
52 Ghana

57 US

58 Gambia
61 S Korea
63 Brazil
66 Japan
89 Greece
112 Israel
124 Mexico
151 India
171 Russia
178 China
rsf.org/en/index
Global map with countries shaded to indicate level of freedom of the press based on the 2025 Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index.
October 15, 2025 at 10:57 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
47% of Americans have little or no trust in the U.S. to effectively regulate the use of AI.
www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/...
Chart showing: Across 25 countries surveyed, a median of 55% of adults have at least some trust in their nation’s ability to regulate AI, while 32% do not. About nine-in-ten adults in India (89%) trust their country to regulate AI – the highest share in the survey. This includes 71% who have a lot of trust. About two-thirds or more in Indonesia, Israel, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and South Africa trust their nation to regulate AI. Trust is lowest among Greeks: 22% trust their country to regulate AI.
October 15, 2025 at 4:26 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
50% of American adults are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life. Just 10% are more excited than concerned.
🧪
Chart showing concerns about AI are especially common in the United States, Italy, Australia, Brazil and Greece, where about half of adults say they are more concerned than excited. But as few as 16% in South Korea are mainly concerned about the prospect of AI in their lives.
October 15, 2025 at 4:21 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
77% of Republicans say the higher education system is going in the wrong direction, compared with a smaller majority (65%) of Democrats. In both parties, these shares have gone up by at least 10 percentage points since 2020 – and the gap between Republicans and Democrats has narrowed.
Chart showing 77% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the higher education system is going in the wrong direction, compared with a smaller majority (65%) of Democrats and Democratic leaners. In both parties, these shares have gone up by at least 10 percentage points since 2020 – and the gap between Republicans and Democrats has narrowed.
October 15, 2025 at 3:57 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
NEW: Republicans are more critical than Democrats of colleges & universities.

On issues relating to skills, job preparation and free speech, Republicans are at least 15 points more likely than Democrats to say higher ed system is doing poor or fair.
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
Chart showing: Republicans tend to have more negative views than Democrats of the performance of the higher education system. On issues relating to skills, job preparation and free speech, Republicans are at least 15 points more likely than Democrats to say the higher education system is doing a fair or poor job: Preparing students for well-paying jobs in today’s economy (64% of Republicans say colleges and universities are doing a fair or poor job, vs. 47% of Democrats) Developing students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills (65% vs. 33%) Exposing students to a wide range of opinions and viewpoints (61% vs. 29%) Providing opportunities for students to express their own opinions and views (53% vs. 38%) In turn, Democrats are somewhat more likely than Republicans to say the higher education system is doing a fair or poor job providing financial help to students who need it (55% vs. 49%). Democrats and Republicans have similar views when it comes to how well colleges and universities are doing in keeping tuition costs affordable. Large majorities in each group say colleges are doing a fair or poor job in this area.
October 15, 2025 at 3:55 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
What do you think everyone ought to be able to do that you definitely cannot?
Chart showing Most Americans say they can do certain tasks related to health and food: 94% of U.S. adults say they definitely or probably would be able to clean and care for a wound. 88% say they would be able to make sense of nutrition labels. 83% say they could explain what yeast does in baking bread. 83% say they could grow a vegetable garden. Most Americans also are confident in their ability to do certain household tasks: 95% of adults say they definitely or probably would be able to remove a stain from their clothes. 76% say they would understand which chemicals not to mix in household cleaning. 69% say they would be able to weatherproof doors and windows.
October 11, 2025 at 12:16 AM
conradhackett.bsky.social
Among Republicans, many express concern:
42% say Trump has improperly used his office to punish those who say things he doesn’t like
40% say he has improperly encouraged federal investigations of political opponents
31% say Trump has improperly used the office to enrich himself, his family/friends.
Chart showing partisan differences in views of Trump's actions. While Republicans have more positive evaluations, sizeable shares of Republicans express concern that some Trump actions are improper.
October 9, 2025 at 2:51 PM
conradhackett.bsky.social
Bluesky vs. X engagement comparisons tell familiar story.

Example: My colleague @johngramlich.bsky.social has similar # of followers on each site. Last week, he had a popular post about sports gambling, a topic of interest across political ideology.

X: 59 retweets
B: 1,234 total reposts
Image of a post about sports gambling from John Gramlich that received 59 retweets on X. Image of a post about sports gambling from John Gramlich that received 1,234 reposts on Bluesky (815 regular reposts & 419 quote-reposts.
October 7, 2025 at 3:08 PM