knowledge gap/Research gap

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INCREASING GAP BETWEEN HIGHER AND LOWER EDUCATED PEOPLE

History and Orientation
The knowledge gap theory was first proposed by Tichenor, Donohue and Olien at the University of Minnesota in the 70s. They believe that the increase of information in society is not evenly acquired by every member of society: people with higher socioeconomic status tend to have better ability to acquire information (Weng, S.C. 2000). This leads to a division of two groups: a group of better-educated people who know more about most things, and those with low education who know less. Lower socio-economic status (SES) people, defined partly by educational level, have little or no knowledge about public affairs issues, are disconnected from news events and important new discoveries, and usually aren’t concerned about their lack of knowledge.
Core Assumptions and Statements
The knowledge gap can result in an increased gap between people of lower and higher socioeconomic status. The attempt to improve people’s life with information via the mass media might not always work the way this is planned. Mass media might have the effect of increasing the difference gap between members of social classes.
Tichenor, Donohue and Olien (1970) present five reasons for justifying the knowledge gap. 1) People of higher socioeconomic status have better communication skills, education, reading, comprehending and remembering information. 2) People of higher socioeconomic status can store information more easily or remember the topic form background knowledge 3) People of higher socioeconomic status might have a more relevant social context. 4) People of higher socioeconomic status are better in selective exposure, acceptance and retention. 5) The nature of the mass media itself is that it is geared toward persons of higher socioeconomic status.
Conceptual Model




Source: Tichenor, Donohue and Olien, 1970.
This example shows that education level or socioeconomic status made a difference in knowledge. The question was whether or not respondents felt astronauts would ever reach the moon. Those with high levels of education (based on three levels: grade school, high school and college) were more likely to agree that man would reach the moon than those with lower levels of education both at a certain point in time and over all four intervals. Most important was that the gap between levels widened over time in that the percentage of respondents in the high education level who agreed rose more than 60 percentage points over 16 years while those in the low level of education category rose less than 25 percentage points.
Favorite Methods
Surveys of mass media and tests of knowledge.
Scope and Application
Media presenting information should realize that people of higher socioeconomic status get their information in a different way than lower educated people. Furthermore, this hypothesis of the knowledge gap might help in understanding the increased gap between people of higher socioeconomic status and people of lower socioeconomic status. It can be used in various circumstances.
Example
The knowledge gap was used in a research for presidential campaigns. The knowledge gap hypothesis holds that when new information enters a social system via a mass media campaign, it is likely to exacerbate underlying inequalities in previously held information. Specifically, while people from all strata may learn new information as a result of a mass media campaign, those with higher levels of education are likely to learn more than those with low levels of education, and the informational gap between the two groups will expand. The results of the analysis show that knowledge gaps do not always grow over the course of presidential campaigns and that some events, such as debates, may actually reduce the level of information inequality in the electorate.

Research Gap refers to knowledge gap that yet to be researched 

knowledge gap on the other hand is a wider conception about something that we have not explore , by scientific / academic research or by other mean

Additional Resources and/or Skills Needed for Implementation

Not Specified

Steps for Using Method/Tool

The proposed framework includes two major components:
  • identification and classification of the reasons why the research gap exists
  • characterization of the research gap using the PICOS (population, intervention, comparison, outcomes, setting) elements
A) Identifying reasons for the existence of the research gap:
  • Choose the most important reason(s) for the existence of the research gap
  • Select the reason(s) that prevent conclusions about the evidence from being made
  • Classify the reasons for research gaps, including:
  1. insufficient or imprecise information
  2. biased information
  3. inconsistency or unknown consistency
  4. not the right information
B) Characterizing research gaps:
  • Use the PICOS framework to characterize research gaps related to interventions, screening tests, etc. The framework organizes research gaps as follows:
1. Population (P): information regarding the population that is not adequately represented in the evidence base (gender, race/ethnicity, age, etc.)
2. Intervention (I): information regarding the specific intervention that is inadequately included in the evidence base, the duration of the intervention, etc.
3. Comparison (C): lack of information regarding the comparison intervention or standard intervention
4. Outcomes (O): information regarding outcomes of interest, organized by type of outcome or timing of outcomes, to delineate where information is lacking
5. Setting (S): information regarding the relevant settings for research gaps
A worksheet is provided on p. 20 to identify and organize research gaps from systematic reviews.

Who is involved

Individuals and groups involved in conducting evidence reviews and systematic reviews, or those using the results of systematic reviews, would benefit from the proposed framework.

Conditions for Use

Not specified

Evaluation and Measurement Characteristics


Evaluation

Information not available

Validity

Not applicable

Reliability

Not applicable

Methodological Rating

Unknown/No evidence

Method/Tool Development


Developer(s)

Karen A. Robinson
Ian J. Saldanha
Naomi A. McKoy

Method of Development

The developers contacted 12 Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) associated with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in the U.S. and Canada, and 64 other organizations internationally that conduct systematic reviews, cost-effectiveness analyses or technology assessments. Based on feedback from four EPCs and three other organizations, the authors developed and refined the proposed framework. In general, there is no specific process for identifying research gaps during systematic reviews. Organizations most commonly used variations of the PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcomes) framework.
The developers used this six-step process to develop a framework to identify research gaps:
  • Step 1: Focused literature review
  • Step 2: Review of current practices of evidence-based practices (EPCs), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
  • Step 3: Review of current practices of organizations involved with evidence synthesis
  • Step 4: Development of framework
  • Step 5: Pilot testing framework
  • Step 6: Refining the framework

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