Differences in Crisis Knowledge Across Age, Race, and Socioeconomic Status During Hurricane Ike: A Field Test and Extension of the Knowledge Gap Hypothesis

Abstract

Previous research in crisis and risk communication has suggested differences across demographic groups in informational needs and response, including the presence of knowledge gaps. In the wake of Hurricane Ike, the current study surveyed 691 Houston area residents to investigate these differences and contrast them with similar data collected following Hurricane Katrina. The results suggest narrowing knowledge gaps, as socioeconomic status did not predict informational needs or preparations for the storm. Differencesin these needs were still detected across sex and ethnicity. A substantive body of media effects research has examined the relationship between socioeconomic status and access to mediated information. Although dozens of studies have provided evidence for the knowledge gap hypothesis in public affairs, news, and technical information, few have attempted to examine knowledge gaps related to major public health issues, and almost none have explored the phenomenon in the context of an immediate crisis or disaster. Events such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and repeated flooding in the Midwestern United States all emphasize the need to explore and understand knowledge gaps in issues of public healthandrisk.Socialscientistsandotherscholarsinthepasthavepossiblyoverstated the importance of socioeconomic status, while ignoring relevant cultural factors. The current study seeks to extend knowledge gap to include some demographic considerations independent of socioeconomic status or education, and illustrates this theoreticalextensioninthecontextofarecentnaturaldisaster.Itoffersthatknowledge gaps can be expected during major disasters affecting historically underserved populations, thus rendering at-risk subpopulations especially vulnerable to knowledge