Topic
Knowledge gap hypothesis
About: Knowledge gap hypothesis is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 69 publications have been published within this topic receiving 6638 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
TL;DR: Tichenor et al. as discussed by the authors found that increasing the flow of news on a topic leads to greater acquisition of knowledge about that topic among the more highly educated segments of society, and whether the resulting knowledge gap closes may depend partly on whether the stimulus intensity of mass media publicity is maintained at a high level, or is reduced or eliminated at a point when only the more active persons have gained that knowledge.
Abstract: Data from four types of research-news diffusion studies, time trends, a newspaper strike, and a field experiment-are consistent with the general hypothesis that increasing the flow of news on a topic leads to greater acquisition of knowledge about that topic among the more highly educated segments of society. Whether the resulting knowledge gap closes may depend partly on whether the stimulus intensity of mass media publicity is maintained at a high level, or is reduced or eliminated at a point when only the more active persons have gained that knowledge. Phillip J. Tichenor is Associate Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. George A. Donohue is Professor of Sociology and Clarice N. Olien is Instructor in Sociology, also at the University of Minnesota. This analysis was supported by Project 27-18, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station.
1,544 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that respondents' background level of political knowledge is the strongest predictor of current news story recall across a wide range of topics, suggesting that there is indeed a general audience for news and that this audience is quite sharply stratified by preexisting levels of background knowledge.
Abstract: This article investigates patterns in audience recep- tion of 16 news stories that received prominent media coverage in the summer and fall of 1989. Using a national sample of American adults, it compares education, self-reported rates of media use, interpersonal communication, and prior levels of general political knowledge as predictors of individual differences in recall of cur- rent news events. Results indicate that respondents' background level of political knowledge is the strongest and most consistent predictor of current news story recall across a wide range of topics, suggesting that there is indeed a general audience for news and that this audience is quite sharply stratified by preexisting levels of background knowledge. Thus, in survey research appli- cations that require estimates of individual differences in the re- ception of potentially influential political communications, a mea- sure of general prior knowledge-not a measure of news media use-is likely to be the most effective indicator. The article fur- ther concludes that the tendency of individuals to acquire news and information on a domain- or topic-specific basis fails to un- dermine the value of political knowledge as a general measure of propensity for news recall.
765 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the theoretical potential of the knowledge gap perspective for Internet research is explored and data based on two recent Internet surveys, which demonstrate a double digital divide between well-educated, affluent, young males and less educated seem to be interested particularly in the entertainment functions of the Internet.
Abstract: Although the knowledge gap hypothesis is often mentioned in connection with the social consequences of the Information Society, there is little discussion of its theoretical background or specific empirical evidence. Therefore, this article explores the theoretical potential of the knowledge gap perspective for Internet research and presents data based on two recent Internet surveys, which demonstrate a double digital divide. Access to the Internet in Switzerland is still dominated by well-educated, affluent, young males and between 1997 and 2000 the gap between those who do and those who do not have access widened not narrowed. Furthermore, there are gaps in the use of the Internet too. More educated people use the Internet more actively and their use is more information oriented, whereas the less educated seem to be interested particularly in the entertainment functions of the Internet.
646 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the relative size of gaps in knowledge and participation between the more and less educated as they vary by the quantity and type of news media use and predicted that the gap was larger for the more educated than the less educated.
Abstract: This article examines the relative size of gaps in knowledge and participation between the more and less educated as they vary by the quantity and type of news media use. We predicted that the gap ...
574 citations
TL;DR: Citizens’ acquisition of mass media information has long been a concern of social scientists and policy makers and the conventional wisdom that increasing the flow of information will ensure its widescale spread is misguided.
Abstract: Citizens’ acquisition of mass media information has long been a concern of social scientists and policy makers. The conventional wisdom that increasing the flow of information will ensure its wides...
352 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 2 |
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2018 | 5 |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2016 | 2 |