TY - JOUR
T1 - Another (methodological) look at knowledge gaps and the Internet’s potential for closing them
AU - Cacciatore, Michael A.
AU - Scheufele, Dietram A.
AU - Corley, Elizabeth
N1 - Funding Information:
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. SES-0709056 and SES-0531194). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2012.
PY - 2014/5/11
Y1 - 2014/5/11
N2 - Members of the World Economic Forum recently identified the economic, health and knowledge disparities between the “haves” and “have-nots” in the world as one of the central risks in the global risk landscape. However, research on the role of communication in reducing knowledge disparities for emerging technologies is rare. More importantly, little research has tracked knowledge gaps about emerging technologies in representative populations over time. In this study we examine U.S. public knowledge levels across different levels of education and media use using data from two nationally representative telephone surveys. Our results show that increased science Internet and television use among low education groups can help narrow, or significantly reduce the growth of knowledge gaps that are forming based on educational disparities.
AB - Members of the World Economic Forum recently identified the economic, health and knowledge disparities between the “haves” and “have-nots” in the world as one of the central risks in the global risk landscape. However, research on the role of communication in reducing knowledge disparities for emerging technologies is rare. More importantly, little research has tracked knowledge gaps about emerging technologies in representative populations over time. In this study we examine U.S. public knowledge levels across different levels of education and media use using data from two nationally representative telephone surveys. Our results show that increased science Internet and television use among low education groups can help narrow, or significantly reduce the growth of knowledge gaps that are forming based on educational disparities.
KW - media and science
KW - nanotechnology
KW - public understanding of science
KW - science communication
KW - science knowledge
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U2 - 10.1177/0963662512447606
DO - 10.1177/0963662512447606
M3 - Article
C2 - 23825272
AN - SCOPUS:84904070833
SN - 0963-6625
VL - 23
SP - 376
EP - 394
JO - Public Understanding of Science
JF - Public Understanding of Science
IS - 4
ER -