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This report updates a 1983 analysis of fifty-eight knowledge gap studies, adding thirty-nine studies and pointing out innovative ways to improve research in the area. The persistence of knowledge inequalities across topics and research settings has serious consequences. Gaps in public affairs and health knowledge have an especially severe impact on those groups most negatively affected by socioeconomic changes, who also tend to be information poor. Rapid growth of socioeconomic divisions between "haves" and "have-nots" in the last two decades suggests that knowledge gaps deserve increased research attention because they are related and potentially affected phenomena.

ObjectiveStudies show that public service broadcasters narrow knowledge gaps between politically interested and disinterested because such contexts encourage incidental learning. This reasoning, however, fails to explain why gendered knowledge differences persist in environments that equalize learning. Using stereotype threat theory, I argue that news content emits symbolic gender cues that encourage or discourage women to become politically informed.MethodsEmploying European Election Study 2009 voter data (N = 27,000), and multilingual news content analyses from 27 E.U. member states, I test whether more egalitarian representation of women as newsmakers correlates with narrower gaps between men and women.ResultsAggregate and multilevel models show that greater representation of women as newsmakers correlates with smaller gaps in news exposure and political knowledge. Analyses also consider competing explanations such as women's electoral representation, education, labor force participation, and knowledge item guessing rates.ConclusionFindings support the theoretical expectations regarding symbolic cues and knowledge gaps.

A valuable strategy to support conservation planning is to assess knowledge gaps regarding primary species occurrence data to identify and select areas for future biodiversity surveys. Currently, increasing accessibility to these data allows a cost-effective method for boosting knowledge about a country's biodiversity. For understudied countries where the lack of resources for conservation is more pronounced to resort to primary biodiversity data can be especially beneficial. Here, using a primary species occurrence dataset, we assessed and mapped Mozambique's knowledge gaps regarding terrestrial mammal species by identifying areas that are geographically distant and environmentally different from well-known sites. By comparing gaps from old and recent primary species occurrence data, we identified: (i) gaps of knowledge over time, (ii) the lesser-known taxa, and (iii) areas with potential for spatiotemporal studies. Our results show that the inventory of Mozambique's mammal fauna is near-complete in less than 5% of the territory, with broad areas of the country poorly sampled or not sampled at all. The knowledge gap areas are mostly associated with two ecoregions. The provinces lacking documentation coincide with areas over-explored for natural resources, and many such sites may never be documented. It is our understanding that by prioritising the survey of the knowledge-gap areas will likely produce new records for the country and, continuing the study of the well-known regions will guarantee their potential use for spatiotemporal studies. The implemented approach to assess the knowledge gaps from primary species occurrence data proved to be a powerful strategy to generate information that is essential to species conservation and management plan. However, we are aware that the impact of digital and openly available data depends mostly on its completeness and accuracy, and thus we encourage action from the scientific community and government authorities to support and promote data mobilisation. ...

A valuable strategy to support conservation planning is to assess knowledge gaps regarding primary species occurrence data to identify and select areas for future biodiversity surveys. Currently, increasing accessibility to these data allows a cost-effective method for boosting knowledge about a country's biodiversity. For understudied countries where the lack of resources for conservation is more pronounced to resort to primary biodiversity data can be especially beneficial. Here, using a primary species occurrence dataset, we assessed and mapped Mozambique's knowledge gaps regarding terrestrial mammal species by identifying areas that are geographically distant and environmentally different from well-known sites. By comparing gaps from old and recent primary species occurrence data, we identified: (i) gaps of knowledge over time, (ii) the lesser-known taxa, and (iii) areas with potential for spatiotemporal studies. Our results show that the inventory of Mozambique's mammal fauna is near-complete in less than 5% of the territory, with broad areas of the country poorly sampled or not sampled at all. The knowledge gap areas are mostly associated with two ecoregions. The provinces lacking documentation coincide with areas over-explored for natural resources, and many such sites may never be documented. It is our understanding that by prioritising the survey of the knowledge-gap areas will likely produce new records for the country and, continuing the study of the well-known regions will guarantee their potential use for spatiotemporal studies. The implemented approach to assess the knowledge gaps from primary species occurrence data proved to be a powerful strategy to generate information that is essential to species conservation and management plan. However, we are aware that the impact of digital and openly available data depends mostly on its completeness and accuracy, and thus we encourage action from the scientific community and government authorities to support and promote data mobilisation.

In a secondary analysis of data from three panel surveys from Germany, the author tries to extend and specify the `knowledge gap' hypothesis of Tichenor et al. (1970) and Ettema and Kline (1977). Education, interest and motivation, which have been advanced as the central factors in explaining the differential knowledge gain, are tested within all possible circumstances of widening, constant and closing gaps. Also tested are various routine and specific media variables. As a consequence of the low empirical value of these central factors, especially education, this analysis suggests a fundamental modification of the hypothesis.

This study tests hypotheses regarding the distribution of beliefs and knowledge about health care reform. The belief gap hypothesis suggests that in an era of political polarization, self-identification as a Democrat or Republican would be a better predictor of knowledge and beliefs about politically contested issues than would one's educational level. Findings show that gaps in beliefs and knowledge regarding health care reform between Republicans and Democrats grew, and gaps based on educational levels disappeared.

Abstract: Das Management von globalem Wandel erfordert neben der Nutzung vorhandenen Wissens auch einen kompetenten Umgang mit Nicht-Wissen. Blindspots (unsichtbares Nicht-Wissen) stellen dabei die größte Herausforderung dar. Der Band beschäftigt sich mit grundlegen Fragen in den Bereichen Naturschutz, Forstmanagement, Klimapolitik und Entwicklungskooperation.