Knowledge and opinion gaps on local and national issues

Two of the earliest findings in mass communications literature are that some portions of the public tend to be chronically uninformed and that, in general, the greater the level of education, the greater the knowledge of various topics" (Gaziano, 1983, p. 447). This research project will examine these early findings to determine how much influence level of education has over the knowledge of various topics and over a person's willingness to address an opinion on that topic. Other factors will also be studied to determine whether they might exert more influence over knowledge and/or expression of opinions than education does. These factors are a person's level of interest in the various topics, and the amount of available mass media publicity on the topic.