Search

Reports that cellphone users will be allowed to keep their phone numbers, called "number portability," even when they switch service providers. Number of cellphone users in the U.S., suggesting that this is a big change in the way cellphone service companies will work to retain customers; Percentage of wireless customers that switch providers yearly; Promotional tools being offered by providers to retain customers; Deals being offered by Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA Inc., Sprint PCS and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. to retain customers.

Answers several hypothetical questions that individuals may have in light of recent lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against several individuals accused of copyright infringement. Number of individuals engaged in online file-sharing services, suggesting that the chances of any one individual being sued are slim; Statement that the number of songs downloaded is the determinant of whether an individual may be sued; Potential penalties if sued; Details of the amnesty program offered by the RIAA; How the companies caught individuals.

The article presents charts and diagrams on several topics including public opinion in the U.S. about legalized marijuana, the fraction of developed land in European Union countries, and the success of professional sports teams in selected U.S. cities at winning championships.

The author discusses the limitations of economic modeling in predicting the costs and impact of the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act health insurance legislation known as Obamacare as of September 28, 2013, focusing on microsimulations, health insurance exchanges, and the comments of the economist Christine Eibner.

The article cites widely differing estimates for the incidence of sexual assault in the U.S. from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics in the course of discussing why official government figures on rape may not be accurate.

The author discusses the potential influence of 2013 economic forecasts from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office on the acceptance of proposed immigration reform legislation, reporting that some economists question the accuracy of the long-term economic forecasts.

The article discusses efforts to determine how much piracy is costing the U.S. motion picture industry, with commentary presented about a study commissioned by the industry that put losses at $6.1 billion, and research by academics Michael D. Smith and Brett Danaher that estimated a much lower figure.

The article discusses a 2010 pledge by 16 food and beverage companies in the U.S. to eliminate 1.5 trillion calories from the products they sell by the year 2015, with commentary presented on efforts to track progress on the pledge, and what the pledge means for the typical consumer's diet.

The article reports that data on U.S. gun ownership levels as of 2013 is inconsistent, citing sources including the General Social Survey (GSS), Pew Research polls, and Gallup polls and noting the use of the data by the organization National Rifle Association (NRA).

The article discusses research on the effects of early childhood education in the U.S., with information on expanded preschool programs, the return on investment for government-funded preschool education, and the economic aspects of universal public preschool programs.

The article discusses the popularity among U.S. high-school and college students of courses in statistics, with details presented about a sharp increase in the number of students taking the Advanced Placement examination for statistics, job opportunities for statisticians, and factors driving the demand for people with statistics training.

The article discusses the Academy Awards (the Oscars) for motion pictures to be held February 24, 2013, offering predictions for winning films, including "Argo," directed by Ben Affleck, "Lincoln," directed by Steven Spielberg with actor Daniel Day-Lewis and "Life of Pi," directed by Ang Lee.

The article discusses ambiguous data in the U.S. about the impact of traffic cameras placed at busy intersections, with some figures showing they reduce the incidence of severe accidents, while others indicate a rise in the overall number of accidents where cameras have been deployed.

The article discusses a lack of consensus in the U.S. on whether gun-control laws reduce the incidence of gun crime, with some researchers saying there are not enough reliable data from which conclusions can be drawn. INSET: Guns in America.

The article discusses the difficulties involved in identifying population trends in the U.S., as evidenced by seemingly conflicting reports issued in 2012 that say the U.S. birth rate has reached a record low, but the fertility rate has not.

This article discusses research on whether or not gas rationing after a natural disaster effectively alleviates lines, highlighting how the response to gas rationing after Hurricane Sandy in the Northeastern U.S. did not align with the anticipated outcomes predicted by mathematical models.

The article discusses which poll takers were particularly accurate during the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign, with commentary presented on the performances of Public Policy Polling, Rasmussen Reports, and others.

The article notes differences in results obtained by various public opinion polls as the November 6, 2012 U.S. presidential election nears, and considers which polling organizations might by more accurate than others by observing how they performed during the 2008 presidential campaign.

The article discusses how the recession that accompanied the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 complicates efforts by economists to account for seasonality in economic data when measuring economic growth, and considers whether economists should simply ignore anomalous data such as that from a deep recession.

The article discusses a survey conducted by the Pew Forum, U.S. think tank organization, which looked at the religious beliefs of Americans.

The article discusses political polling in the U.S., noting that the variable of political party identification is difficult to factor into results, since it shifts along with public opinion.

The author discusses how excluding the U.S. prison population from government surveys may be skewing data about African Americans, an argument advanced by sociologist Becky Pettit in her book "Invisible Men," and comments on the complexities involved in including survey data from prisons.

The article discusses voter fraud in the U.S., with commentary presented about differing opinions concerning its prevalence, the difficulty in identifying voter fraud, and whether voter fraud should be a factor when deciding whether to require voters to present photo identification.

The article discusses the wide variation among estimates of the number of pregnancies in the U.S. that result from rape each year, and attributes it largely to differences in estimates for the number of rapes that occur annually.

The article discusses a report issued in June, 2012 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that estimated the cost of raising a child for a middle-income family in the U.S. to be about $300,000, with commentary presented on the USDA's methodology and the views of economists and academics who say the USDA figure substantially underestimates the true cost.

The article discusses shortcomings of data that seek to show participation levels in various sporting and recreational activities in the U.S. and Great Britain, including differences in how separate organizations define "participation," and incomplete survey results.

The article discusses the difficulties many U.S. fire departments were experiencing in meeting guidelines set by the U.S. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in recording response time to emergency calls as of April 22, 2012.

The article discusses the scope and mandatory nature of the U.S. Census Bureau's once-per-decade American Community Survey, with a particular emphasis on complaints from some that it is intrusive and should be conducted on a voluntary basis only.

The article discusses job prospects for U.S. law school graduates and the veracity of job placement claims by U.S. law schools as of 2012. According to the article, lawsuits in the U.S. were initiated by many law graduates against their alma maters alleging the misrepresentation of employment figures. The author also discusses the methodology of law schools in reporting or not reporting salary data to the American Bar Association (ABA). The article states that the ABA accredits U.S. law schools.

The article discusses metric measurements on nutrition labels in the U.S. According to the author, grams are difficult to understand for Americans unaccustomed to the metric system. The article cites a 2010 survey conducted by the U.S. Center for Science and Public Interest that found that 72 percent of Americans wished to see sugar content on food labels measured in teaspoons. The article offers comments from U.S. interest group Americans for Customary Weight and Measure founder Seaver Leslie.

The article discusses the practice of using social media such as messages posted on the microblogging Web site Twitter to assess public opinion, and gives reasons why this approach may not be reliable.

The article discusses a study co-authored by economist Steven J. Davis on the role of private equity in job creation in the U.S., which concludes that companies acquired by private-equity firms both create and destroy jobs at a faster pace than other firms, but on balance have slower growth in employment.

The article discusses a tendency among people in the U.S. to have mistaken impressions about such data as the fraction of those in the U.S. who are foreign-born or how much the U.S. spends on foreign aid, with commentary presented on various factors conducive to mistakes in estimation including political rhetoric they are exposed to and a tendency among people to have selective recall of facts.

The article reports that actual Internet download speeds often lag behind those promised by Internet service providers and presents a comparison of U.S. download speed with those in several countries.

The article reports that the growing use of cellphones among Americans have cost implications for public-opinion pollsters.

The article deals with the impact of social inequality on the trends concerning the mobility of U.S. workers in 2011.

The article examines the job-generating reputation of U.S. small businesses based on an analysis by the Small Business Administration on how small is a small business.

The article focuses on the view of several security analysts in the U.S. concerning the threat posed by al Qaeda militants to the national security of the U.S. during the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The article reports that meteorologists have few precedents to predict the damage that Hurricane Irene was likely to inflict in the U.S., wherein only six storms were identified by University of Colorado's Roger Pielke Jr. that have hit the U.S. with similar characteristics to Irene since 1900.

The article discusses a voting method adopted by several U.S. cities called instant runoff that can alter election results which caused a dispute among scientists and statisticians.

The article examines the link between divorce, Internet and other social media in the U.S. and suggests that data on divorce rates in the country do not support the notion that Facebook is not compatible with marriage.

The article reports on the growing trend of March madness pool in the U.S., which refers to betting contests in offices in sports and other events

The article explores the difficulty of quantifying the regulatory burden faced by U.S. small businesses based on an analysis of a study released by the Small Business Administration in September 2010.

This article discusses the results of a study on the critical thinking skills of college students in the U.S.

The article reports that individual mental illnesses outnumber the overall prevalence of mental illness in the U.S., according to a survey conducted by Ronald Kessler and colleagues at Harvard Medical School.

This article discusses research which raised questions on the factuality of the widely held assumption that 1-in-4 homes in the U.S. have mortgages higher than the value of the home.

The article reports on the criticism against interpretation of criminal statistics compiled by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which was used by CQ Press to rank cities in the U.S.

The article reports on the unemployment data produced by economist Doctor Robert Scott for a study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which is cited by representatives from both the Republican Party and Democratic Party in a letter requesting the leadership of the U.S. Congress to pressure China to allow its currency to appreciate against the U.S. dollar.

The article examines the lack of consensus among election forecasts in the U.S.