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Pew Research Center News IQ Survey Summary (March 2009)

Core Content

The Pew Research Center conducted a News IQ survey in March 2009 to assess public knowledge of key economic and political facts. The survey included 12 multiple-choice questions and aimed to compare the public's understanding with that of specific demographic groups. The survey was part of the Pew Knowledge Project and featured an interactive quiz on their website.

Main Findings

Economic Knowledge

• 83% of respondents correctly identified that government assistance to banks is intended to get them to lend more money.
• 71% correctly identified China as the foreign country holding the most U.S. government debt.
• 58% knew Timothy Geithner is the Treasury Secretary.
• 51% were aware that Ford is the U.S. automaker that has not received emergency government loans.
• 53% estimated the unemployment rate at around 8%, while 40% correctly identified the Dow Jones Industrial Average at around 8,000.
• More Americans knew the unemployment rate than the Dow Jones level.

Unemployment vs. Dow Average

• 24% overestimated the unemployment rate as being closer to 12%, and 18% thought it was closer to 16%.
• Only 3% underestimated the unemployment rate.
• For the Dow Jones, 20% thought it was closer to 3,000, and 14% thought it was closer to 5,000.
• 4% estimated the Dow at 11,000, showing a significant overestimation trend.

Demographic Differences

• Older people (50+) scored higher on average (8.4 correct answers) than younger people (18-34: 5.9).
• College graduates (8.7) outperformed those with less education (6.2).
• Men (8.3) scored higher than women (6.7).
• Republicans (8.1) had a higher average score than Democrats (7.2) and Independents (7.3).
• Lower income, non-employed, and younger individuals were less informed about both the unemployment rate and the Dow Jones.

Political Awareness

• 86% knew that the Democrats hold the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• 85% correctly identified Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State.
• 66% knew that Obama increased U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan.
• 69% were aware that Pakistan and Afghanistan share a border.

Key Statistics

Partisan Differences

Gender Differences

Age Differences

Understanding Economic News

• 24% of respondents said they understand the economic situation and government policies very well.
• 49% said they understand it fairly well.
• 27% said they understand it not too well or not at all.
• Among those who answered all 7 economic questions correctly, 42% said they understood the situation very well.
• Fewer people who got fewer than 5 questions right were positive about their understanding.

Key Observations

• The partisan gap in economic knowledge is largely due to demographic differences between Republicans and Democrats.
• Younger people are less informed about economic and political issues.
• Men generally score higher on the quiz than women, particularly on economic-related questions.
• Education level and income are strongly correlated with higher knowledge levels.
• Republicans are more likely to correctly name the Federal Reserve Chairman and know about Timothy Geithner's position and the automaker not receiving loans.
• There is little to no partisan gap on certain non-economic items, such as knowledge of China's debt or Hillary Clinton's role.

Survey Methodology

• The survey was conducted via landline telephone interviews with 1,003 adults.
• The margin of error for the total sample is ±3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
• Results based on subgroups have larger margins of error due to smaller sample sizes.

Conclusion

The Pew Research Center's News IQ survey reveals that the American public has a reasonable level of knowledge about key economic and political issues, with notable differences based on age, education, income, and political affiliation. While the majority of people are aware of basic facts, economic indicators like the unemployment rate are better understood than the Dow Jones average. The survey highlights a partisan and demographic divide in knowledge levels, with Republicans and older, more educated, and higher-income individuals generally performing better.