Americans’ Social Media Use

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to the Pew Research Center's findings on social media use among Americans.

Pew Research Center

A nonpartisan, nonadvocacy fact tank that informs the public about issues, attitudes, trends shaping the world.

National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS)

A survey conducted by Pew Research Center to better understand the social media usage of U.S. adults.

Demographic research

Research that studies the characteristics of populations, including age, race, ethnicity, education, and other factors.

Data-driven research

Research that relies on data analysis to draw conclusions and insights.

Address-based sampling

A sampling method that selects participants based on their residential addresses.

Social media platforms

Websites or applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

Misinformation

False or misleading information shared intentionally or unintentionally.

Data privacy

The protection of personal information shared online.

Video-based platform

A type of social media platform primarily focused on video content, like YouTube.

Survey weighted

Adjusting survey results to accurately reflect the demographics of the target population.

BeReal

A photo-based social media platform launched in 2020, noted for its emphasis on authenticity.

Statistically significant

A result that is unlikely to have occurred under the null hypothesis, indicating a meaningful difference between groups.

Raking calibration

A statistical technique used to adjust survey weights to ensure they reflect the target population accurately.

Design effect

A measure of how much the survey estimates' variance is affected by the sampling design.

Margin of error

A statistic that expresses the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results.

Hispanic population

A demographic group defined primarily by ethnicity, including individuals of Latin American descent.