At least half the challenge in learning about juries is replacing your stereotypes, projections, and assumptions about people with real awareness. If I had to face that challenge with just one news source, it might be the Gallup Poll.
Actually it's a handful of news sources, because Gallup has different feed "channels" in which they report research results on different topics. I subscribe to all of them: business and economy, government and politics, health and healthcare, religion and social trends, and education and youth. They send me a handful of reports a week, most of which are eye-opening in some way.
Here are a few recent stories from Gallup that challenged what I thought I knew, or highlighted something I hadn't thought about:
- "Public Not That Worried About Mortgage Crisis Affecting Own Finances": "Americans appear to be far more apprehensive about the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis on the national economy than on their own financial situations."
- "The Divide Between Public School Parents and Private School Parents": "Parents with children who attend private, parochial, or who are home schooled are much more positive than parents with children in public school about the quality of education their children receive, and are less likely to report concerns for their children's physical safety."
- "Americans Put Obesity On Par With Smoking in Terms of Harmful Effects": "More than one-quarter of Americans report that obesity has been a cause of serious health problems in their family. Americans are more than three times as likely to say they are sympathetic to those who are significantly overweight as to say they are unsympathetic."
- "Most Americans Approve of Interracial Marriages": "The vast majority of whites and an even larger majority of blacks approve of interracial marriages. Older Americans -- regardless of race or ethnicity -- are less inclined to support interracial marriages than are younger Americans, but still, older Americans show majority support."
- "Sixty Percent of Americans Approve of Labor Unions": "60% of Americans say they approve of labor unions, while 32% disapprove. The public's approval rating of labor unions has not shown much significant change in the past four years." But more people approve than belong: "Only about 1 in 10 Americans say they personally belong to a labor union."
(Photo by Kate Mereand at http://www.flickr.com/photos/katmere/63785117/; license details there.)