In this paper, Douglas Hoy of the National Museum of Natural Sciences the impact of new admission fee guidelines from a comprehensive study commissioned by the Canadian government. Hoy presents an overview of the new fees program enacted in June 1988 and its influence on museum attendance throughout Canada.
In this paper, Conny Graft presents a brief overview of the interpretive planning process used on larger projects at Colonial Williamsburg as well as lessons learned from one specific program. Graft provides insight into the challenges of planning interpretations and evaluating live interpretive programs.
This paper discusses the Museum Impact and Evaluation Study, a research collaborative originated by the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and made up of nine museums from across the country. The intent of the study was to reach toward understanding the long-term outcomes of museums visits, focusing on the relationships that develop between visitors and museums and exhibits within museums over time. This overview provides a summation of the project's scope, research process, plan, and current status.
In this paper, Tara D. Knott of Evaluation Resources, Inc. discusses the importance of summative evaluation to assess the value of a museum program in addition to setting clear goals. Knott argues that summative evaluation helps museums establish accountability--to business, the government, schools, and to the public.
This paper explains the Interactive Experience Model, which encompasses the actions that the visitor is engaged in during a museum visit. This model is useful for thinking about issues related to museum learning and provides a framework for understanding the totality of the museum experience--a socially, cognitively, kinesthetically, and aesthetically rich experience.
This paper outlines theoretical foundations, methodology, and key findings from a membership survey conducted by the San Antonio Museum Association in 1987. The study was designed to provide insights to a variety of assumptions upon which the Association's membership management and marketing strategies were based. Central among the questions to be answered were the determination of the motivations expressed by members for joining the Association and forecasting potential changes in member program preference and member attendance patterns.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
James D. BigleyDaniel R. FesenmaierMark LaneWesley S. Roehl
This paper describes the rationale, objectives, methodology, and key findings of a marketing research project on the motor coach business at the Ships of the Sea Museum. The study was designed to better understand how to use promotional materials to best attract tour operators to come to Savannah and the museum as well as attract tour operators already coming to Savannah to the museum.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David T. Guernsey, Jr.Douglas Robideaux
This paper deals with two major audience research projects. One is a community perceptions study conducted by telephone with citizens of St. Louis city and county in 1990 by the Missouri Botanical Garden. The second is a year-long on-site visitor study at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. Both studies were designed, analyzed, and interpreted by Marilyn G. Hood of Hood Associates. Dr. Hood will present the settings in which these two projects were accomplished and describe how they were carried out; Ernestina Short, Community Liaison for the Missouri Botanical
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marilyn G. HoodErnestina ShortG. Donald Adams
This paper is based on presentation given at a participatory session at the Visitor Studies Conference with the aim of creating a descriptive list of the qualities and conditions that lead to a positive museum experience (PME). This article sorts, names, and discusses the characteristics generated by the group.
This paper presents an overview of the Museum Impact and Evaluation Study and some of its key findings. The project that began in January 1990 and was completed in 1992 explored relationships between museums and their visitors and was intended to help staff members understand how they develop these relationships, what characterizes these relationships, and how these relationships are maintained.
This paper discusses how audience research can help staff at historic houses monitor the quality of their offerings and attract visitors. It provides a review of evaluation efforts at one historic house, the Moody Mansion and Museum, from the perspective of the museum director, Patrick H. Butler III, as well as an evaluator, Ross J. Loomis of Colorado State University, who worked with Butler and other museum staff. This paper includes questions from a short visitor survey used in the research.
This paper presents strategies for audience development, using a research project of the Toronto Historical Board as an illustration. The project was comprehensive, and this paper focuses on some of the strategies used for development of the research design, the methodology and applications of the results. These strategies can be used by others facing the challenges of audience development. The paper is organized into four parts: 1. Definition of the audience development problem; 2. Strategic decisions for developing the research design for audience development; 3. Outcomes and impacts of
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Rosalyn RubensteinLeslie MunroKaren Black