This is an abstract of Marilyn G. Hood's 1981 Ph.D. dissertation at Ohio State University. Hood researched the relationship between critical attributes of leisure choices and audience preferences for selected activities, such as museum participation. The research was carried out at the Toledo Museum of Art.
This article highlights findings from a study conducted by researchers at Jacksonville State University that assessed group visitor behavior at four exhibits at the Anniston Museum of Natural History. Researchers studied if male and female adults behave differently at exhibits when they are with a child than when they are with another adult as well as whether or not adult behavior was consistent across different types of exhibits.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Stephen BitgoodChifumi KitazawaAndrea CavenderKaren Nettles
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Amy Cota and Stephen Bitgood share findings from a study of label content, specifically the effects of length and sequence. Researchers aimed to answer the following questions: (1) If the entire label is read, will retention of information be related to the length of the text? and (2) When information is presented in two paragraphs, is the order of presentation important?
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Ann Cleghorn summarizes a 1993 "Museum Management and Curatorship" article written by Paulette M. McManus. The article cites findings from a study of visitor's memories as indicators of the impact of museum visits. The study analyzed visitors ages 8-50 years, who visited "Gallery 33, A Meeting Ground of Cultures in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery," an exhibition about human society and includes materials on beliefs, values, customs, and art from around the world.
In this article, researchers from Colorado State University discuss a research study at the Denver Art Museum. The study investigated how one survey of visitors to the museum was used to increase staff awareness of different levels of audience commitment, while at the same time yielding evaluation information about an Asian Art exhibit to guide planning of new interpretation materials.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ross LoomisMarc FuscoRuth EdwardsMelora McDermott
In this article, Eileen Walker of the Royal Ontario Museum discusses the usefulness of front-end evaluation as the museum renovates all of its galleries. In particular, Walker outlines the front-end evaluation process of the museum's new European Galleries, which aimed at determining visitors' interests, prior knowledge, activities, and preferences in areas related to European Decorative Arts and to the display of such objects. The data informed and facilitated decision-making in the early stages of the gallery development project.
In this article, M. Hagedorn-Saupe discusses visitor-related research efforts at the Institute fur Museumskunde in Berlin. Hagedorn-Saupe provides an overview of data collection studies on museum visits and related projects, visitor research projects and collaboration with other institutions, and long-term projects at the Institute.
In this paper, Elena Pol and Mikel Asensio of the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid discuss their research about how visitors perceive different kinds of artistic representations and which elements they interpret from masterpieces. The authors provide an overview of their work in this area, including three studies about artistic style.
In this paper, Daryl Fischer of MUSYNERGY discusses the Denver Art Museum's use of "visitor panels" to generate substantive changes in new exhibits. These qualitative studies rely on input from panelists who are representative of the museum's target audience. Fischer provides an overview of how the Denver Art Museum used visitor panels in the reinstallation of the two ares of the museum's permanent collection.
Children feed alphabet letters to a talking baby dragon, drive a New York City fire truck, paint on a six-foot art wall, and crawl through a challenge course in PlayWorks™ at the Children's Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) in New York. Manhattan’s largest public play and learning center for early childhood marries the skills that children need to succeed in kindergarten with fun stuff that kids love. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) funded the project through a 2006 Museums for America grant to support the museum as a center of community engagement and lifelong learning. “PlayWorks™ is a joyful place for learning science, math, reading and other things. We incorporate fun and learning into the whole design to create a scaffold of learning. Families come to the museum to supplement preschool experiences,” said Andy S. Ackerman, CMOM’s executive director. The museum also offers parents, sitters, and other care-providers guidance on engaging their children with the exhibit. Based on the concept that children’s learning and personal growth is rooted in play, the 4,000-square-foot space is divided into five learning areas: Language, Math and Physics, Arts and Science, Imagination and Dramatic Play, and Practice Play (for infants and crawlers).
This report presents findings from a joint study carried out by the Museum of Science, Boston Research and Evaluation Department (MOS) and Art Beyond Sight (ABS, formerly Art Education for the Blind) with museum visitors who are blind or have low vision. The purpose of this study was to gather information that can inform the development of pilot museum programs that meet the needs and interests of visitors who are blind or have low vision and to provide professional development for museum professionals. Focus groups were used as the primary data collection method, as they enable idea sharing
Goodman Research Group, Inc., (GRG), Cambridge, MA, conducted the formative evaluation of The Music Instinct project. The NSF-funded project aims to bring to PBS viewers the strong evidence of the connections between music and science, as well as to facilitate a deeper understanding of both fields. The Music Instinct project, presented by WNET/Thirteen, in collaboration with Mannes Productions, includes a two-hour television program, a website, and ancillary educational materials. The purpose of the formative evaluation is to obtain timely information to support and guide the producers as they
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Rucha LondheMiriam KochmanNivedita RanadeIrene F GoodmanWNET/ThirteenMannes Productions Inc.