It’s been 40 years since the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences was founded in 1985. In that time, the program, the first in the organization’s history to carry the Pew name, has supported more than 800 outstanding young researchers, many of whom have gone on to receive major scientific awards, including six Nobel Prizes.

When The Pew Charitable Trusts created Pew Research Center in 2004, we were surveying Americans using the established industry method at the time: calling people on their landline phones and hoping they’d answer. As the Center marked its 20th anniversary last year, survey methods have become more diverse, and we now conduct most of our interviews online. Public opinion itself has also changed in major ways over the last 20 years, just as the country and world have. Here’s a closer look at how Americans’ views and experiences have evolved on topics ranging from technology and politics to religion and social issues.