The article from which the above quote originated was the beginning of the knowledge gap hypothesis as we know it. The researchers studied whether or not factors such as education level or socioeconomic status made a difference in knowledge. They proposed that such factors are, in fact, the independent variables by which the level of knowledge is dependent. Important to note is that they predicted this gap in knowledge would be in effect not only at a certain point in time, but that it would increase over time.

The researchers compiled information from other studies to analyze in the context of the knowledge gap hypothesis. One study used data gathered by the American Institute of Public Opinion between 1949 and 1965. One question was whether or not respondents felt astronauts would ever reach the moon. Respondents were asked this question at four points in time. Predictably, the percentage of those who agreed that man will eventually reach the moon rose as man’s activities in space and subsequent media coverage made the prospect seem more probable. More interesting to knowledge gap researchers is that 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.

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