Abstract
ABSTRACT There is a normative assumption that a knowledgeable populace can make informed civic decisions that are central to the well-being of society. Yet, access to knowledge is not equitable. Using the context of science information, the present work is a step toward understanding inequities in knowledge and addressing this challenge among underserved groups. A paucity of data presents a critical challenge in studying and understanding underserved communities’ access to knowledge. Here, we rely on a probability sample of American adults that includes oversampling of two hardly reached populations, Black and Hispanic Americans, to examine socioeconomic inequalities in science knowledge and the contributions of media attention on these gaps in knowledge. We found that SES positively predicted factual knowledge among all the groups in our sample but was only positively associated with perceived knowledge among White respondents. Significant interactions were found primarily among Hispanic respondents in both models; these results show several differences in which media attention was associated with larger or narrower knowledge gaps highlighting the need to utilize samples that allow researchers to better understand media use dynamics among underserved groups.
Published Version
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