Study: Americans Don’t Know The Facts On U.S. Issues

NPR

Published November 11, 2014 at 12:50 PM CST

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Pictured is an infographic from the report by Ipsos MORI. (Ipsos MORI)

Americans don’t have their facts straight. At least that’s the conclusion of a new study from the research group Ipsos-MORI.

When it comes to the nation’s biggest issues, many Americans do not know the basics. They massively overestimate unemployment rates and the number of immigrants. They assume that the nation’s murder rate is rising, when in fact it’s falling.

It may not be the duty of Americans to know the numbers, but the result of what some call “political ignorance” could be huge when it comes to electing leaders.

Pollster Julia Clark of the non-partisan research group Ipsos-MORI spoke with Here & Now’s Robin Young about the study and what it means.

Want to test your knowledge? Take the quiz from Ipsos-MORI here.

Guest

Julia Clark, pollster at Ipsos-MORI. She tweets @PollsterJulia.