Americans Know: 1989-2007: Public Knowledge

¶ … Americans Know: 1989-2007: Public Knowledge of Current Affairs Little Changed by News and Information Revolutions is an initiative of the Pew Research Center, an independent opinion research organization that focuses on political studies. This article was released on April 2007 with the aim of providing insights about the American public's level of political awareness and knowledge.

The insights from the article came from a survey conducted via telephone interviews, which was directed by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. It was a nationwide survey with a total sample of 1,502 adults who were 18 years old and older. The survey was conducted in February 1-13, 2007 and was analyzed with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.

Although historically speaking, the surfacing of 24-hour cable news as a major news source and the massive growth of the internet have major effects on the news habits of the American public (the Pew Research Center, 1), according to the findings of the study, these phenomena did not have that much of an impact on the level of knowledge Americans have regarding national and international affairs. Results of the survey showed that "on the average today's citizens are about as able to name their leaders, and are about as aware of major news events, as was the public nearly 20 years ago" (the Pew Research Center, 1) suggesting that that there was minimal change in the American public's overall level of public knowledge. The Pew Research Center says that the difference in the level of knowledge between the two time periods can be accounted by the "differences in the amount of press coverage of a particular issue or public figure at the time the surveys were taken." (1)

There was also evidence that illustrates that changes in news format did not have any major impact on the level of knowledge the public has on both national and international affairs. (the Pew Research Center, 1) Interestingly, findings of the study showed that there are significant differences in the level of knowledge of the audiences for the different news outlets although there were no clear link between news format and the kind of knowledge that the audiences know. (the Pew Research Center, 2) Most of the well-informed audiences have reported tuning into cable television, the internet, broadcast television and radio.

Findings of the study also showed that education still "proves to be the single best predictor of knowledge." (the Pew Research Center, 3) the more educated the audience, the more knowledgeable they are of national and international affairs. Results showed that 63% of those who belonged to the high knowledge group, or those who got at least 15 correct answers out of the 23 questions, are college graduated. (the Pew Research Center, 6) Meanwhile, almost half (49%) of those who fell in the low knowledge group have no more than a high school. diploma (the Pew Research Center, 6) Unfortunately, when Pew Research Center conducted a deeper analysis of the survey data, they found that the Americans did poorly in 2007 compared with how Americans of the same level of formal education performed in 1989. (the Pew Research Center, 10)

The article also reported that people who are knowledgeable tend to be knowledgeable about politics and foreign affairs. And on the contrary, those who are less knowledgeable appear to know little about both subjects. (the Pew Research Center, 7)

In terms of gender, results showed that on the average, women are less knowledgeable than men wherein 45% of the high knowledge group is males and only 25% are females. (the Pew Research Center, 6) Furthermore, women appear to be more knowledgeable about local politics than they did about international affairs. (the Pew Research Center, 8) it was also found that men were more likely to be knowledgeable about both domestic and international politics.

Further demographic characteristics showed that half (55%) of those who belong in the high knowledge group are affluent with over $100,000 household income. On the other hand, 60% of the low knowledge group is composed of those who have less than $20,000 household income. (the Pew Research Center, 6)

In general, Americans enjoy keeping up with the current events. They like being informed, according to the study. (the Pew Research Center, 8) as expected, results showed that audiences who have claimed to watch, read, or listen to the news on a regular basis are more knowledgeable compared to those who do not. (the Pew Research Center, 11)