The Pew Research Center’s Short Reads webpage provides a range of short data stories that are current and relevant. The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis, and other empirical social science research, and its research and findings are often cited in news stories.
On the Short Reads page, teachers and students can find stories with brief descriptions of recent research and polls, including infographics, graphs, and charts that illustrate the findings.
Some examples include:
- A look at what Black Americans say is needed to overcome racial inequality
- Links shared by prominent accounts on Twitter differ widely from those shared on alternative social media
- What the data says about abortion in the U.S.
- 118th Congress breaks record for lesbian, gay and bisexual representation
There were 13 stories published in January of 2023 alone! Come back often for even newer stories. (Students can also investigate the main site which includes longer stories.)
In a math class, resources featured on this site could be tied in to lessons on reading and interpreting data, using data to make decisions, representations of data, and describing data using benchmark fractions and percents. Connections could also be made to social studies, current events, social justice, digital literacy, and culturally responsive teaching (CRT).
Sample math unit/lesson
Students can choose a story that they care about and share the findings with the class. Some questions they might investigate or report on could include:
- Why is this research is important to me?
- How was the data was collected? (Check out the expandable “how we did this” box in each story.)
- What stories do the graphs tell?
- What information is missing from the graphs?
- What effect will learning about this research have on my day-to-day life and choices?
- What I can learn from the graphs? vs. what I can learn from the descriptions of the data?
Students may also conduct surveys of their peers or community members and compare their results with the results of the Pew studies. Students can then consider why their own results might be similar to or different from those reported at Pew Research Center.
Supporting resources
- EMPower: Many Points Make a Point book, especially lessons 1–6, explore collecting data and creating and interpreting representations of data.
- Slow Reveal Graphs website – A collection of graphs modified for use in a slow reveal graph routine (more information at the website), a routine that encourages students to look carefully at and think critically about representations of data.