2005 Volume 8 Issue 2
The “Museum INSIDE Constant”: One-third A The “Museum Constant”: One-third plus or minus a bit plus or minus a bit Rob Hall...... 1 Rob Hall Punjab Students’ Perceptions of Science ABSTRACT Topics: Challenging Outcomes from a Front-End Study As well as attracting out-of-town visitors, many museums depend on the patronage David Anderson, Zuochen Zhang, of local residents and are expected to reach and serve the local population. This paper Sudeep Chatterjee, Randi Robin & explores the question “What proportion of the local population can museums expect to Phil Aldrich ...... 8 attract?”, using data on museum visitation collected by means of a population-based sample survey repeated each six months from July 1991 to February 2004 in Sydney, How the Affordances of Materials Australia. The links between reported museum visiting and self-described personality Affect Visitors’ Interactions with an attributes are also explored. The findings suggest that there is a limit to the audience Exhibit for museums and that this limit appears to be driven by people’s preferences for Christine A. Reich & Alana Parkes ...13 conceptual cognitive activity. According to the survey data, approximately one-third of the population of Sydney visits a museum, gallery or exhibition at least once in a six month period, and two-thirds of the population claim to have visited a specific B R museum at least once in their lifetime. Listening in on Museum Conversations Reviewed by George E. Hein ...... 18
The mission statements of museums investment that is measured by the Exploring Museum Theatre often talk in enthusiastic but non- number of people who come through Reviewed by Catherine Hughes...... 20 specific terms about reaching diverse the door or how extensively the museum audiences. Whatever the authors of reaches the local population (Sandell, C the mission statements had in mind, 2003). it is probable that the staff of almost Editor’s Exchange...... 2 every museum hope that all people who While there are museums in the major have the opportunity will visit their tourist centres of the world whose VSA N institution through personal choice at visitors come substantially from out-of- some time. town, these organizations also hope to Getting Published...... 3 Political and economic pressure can attract residents of the local catchment 2005 Conference Update ...... 3 shift this hope from being a simple area. One definition of the local aspiration to a necessity. Government catchment for a museum is the area in Membership Information ...... 21 or private funding agencies often look which it is possible to make a visit from for a return on their capital or social home and return in a single day.
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2005 Volume 8 Issue 2 Visitor Studies Today 1 The “MuseumBehind Constant” the Scenes (continued from page 1) Behind the Scenes
An important question for museums that substantially over a level that had been items. The self-description items such depend heavily on local patronage is static for some years. as “I want to achieve a lot” or “I am what proportion of the population they interested in abstract ideas” mirrored can expect to attract. In other words, Each survey was conducted by the kinds of items found in many how many local people are interested in telephone with samples of 1,000 personality inventories. The nine items visiting museums at all? Sydney residents. The samples were were selected on the basis of factor chosen using residential telephone analyses of a larger set of 44 items used Over the past few decades, this question numbers selected at random and a in a major population survey prior to the has been explored in a number of procedure (speaking to the adult who surveys described here. papers. In a seminal study, Hood most recently had a birthday in each (1983) conducted a survey amongst 502 household) to ensure a mix of age and RESULTS residents of Toledo, Ohio and divided gender amongst the respondents in the the sample into three segments based sample. General Visiting Behaviour on frequency of visiting museums. She The questions in the survey regarding demonstrated that the most frequent The questionnaire content remained participation in specific activities took visitors (an estimated 14% of the substantially constant from survey to the following form: “Thinking about population) saw museums as providing survey and so served as an instrument activities which you can do for pleasure an environment that matched their for monitoring change. The questions in and around Sydney, when was the leisure needs. were in four broad categories, namely: last time, if ever, you yourself did each recency of taking part in specific of the following for pleasure in and Studies by Hood and others have been activities (ranging from exercise around Sydney”. (The word “yourself” important in that they demonstrated programs to using the Internet for in the question was included to focus the link between leisure goals and pleasure); recency of visiting specific a respondent on their own behaviour subsequent behaviour in the museum venues (for example, Sydney Olympic rather than interpreting “you” in the sector. What has been missing is a Stadium or the Australian Museum); plural as meaning family, friends or study of the relationship over time and personal and household demographic household members.) The respondent across cities to demonstrate the robust details, and nine self-description nature of the relationship. This study is directed at filling this gap.
METHOD Since July 1991, Environmetrics Pty Limited, a social research company, has been conducting surveys of leisure behaviour in some of Australia’s major cities. This paper draws on data from surveys conducted twice per year in Sydney over 13 years from 1991 to February 2004. Australia celebrated its bicentenary of European settlement in 1988. At that time and in the few years immediately after, a number of major museums opened in Sydney. These included the Powerhouse, the Australian National Maritime Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Our surveys began, therefore, at a time when the Figure 1. Percentage of respondents claiming to have visited a museum, gallery or museum offering in Sydney increased exhibition in the six months before the interview date.
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was taken though 22 activities presented since 1857. In other words, it has been Obviously, population changes in rotated order from one respondent to available as an attraction for longer than influence the figure, as does the the next so that each activity appeared at any living person has been in Sydney. sampling variability inherent in survey different points in the list throughout the In contrast, the Powerhouse opened in samples. Taken together, however, these survey. The activity question relevant to its present form adjacent to the CBD graphs suggest that there is a plateau in museums was: “Visit a museum, gallery in 1988. The Powerhouse is housed the reach figure around two-thirds of the or exhibition”. in a large refurbished power station population. and has a collection covering the arts, Across the 26 waves of the survey, a sciences and social history. While the Interest in Museum Visiting mean of 36.2% of respondents claimed Powerhouse existed prior to 1988 in to have visited a museum, gallery or the form of a more modestly housed The finding that about one third of the exhibition in the six months before Museum of Arts and Sciences on land population visits a museum in a six the interview date as shown in Figure adjacent to the new site, its re-launch month period and that about one third of 1. The survey-to-survey variation was as a central part of the bicentennial the population has never been to each of reflected in a standard deviation of celebration meant that it was effectively the Australian Museum and Powerhouse 2.9%. The highest percentage (40.9%) a new museum with a greater portion of raises the question of whether these was in 1991 at the start of the series of its collection on display. patterns of “thirds” is simply an artefact surveys. After that, the figure tends to of the questions asked or of the time decline over time and stabilises round Figure 2 shows the reach of these two periods measured. To explore this 34%. The minimum figure (29.1%) museums into the local catchment i.e. further, we look now at stated levels of coincided with the period of the Sydney the percentage of Sydney residents who interest in museums. Olympics (September 2000) and was claim to have visited each museum at followed by a substantial rebound in least once in their lifetime. The figures On a number of occasions we have the following six months (39.2%). This for the Australian Museum vary from included a question in our surveys decline and rebound adds some support survey to survey but hover around to gauge general interest in museum to the idea that people have a relatively 65%. The figures for the Powerhouse visiting. The question invites people fixed quota of leisure venues that they begin from a lower base in 1991, and to say which of three options best will or can attend in a given period and then climb to a level that is comparable describes them in relation to museums. that visits to one kind of attraction are with that of the Australian Museum. The options are: “I keep an eye out “stolen” from visits that might have been made to another. The way in which the trend settles around the mean figure suggests that in the absence of major changes in the leisure market, around one-third of the Sydney population will visit a museum, gallery or exhibition at least once in a six month period. The generality of these findings will be addressed later in this paper.
Visits to Specific Venues Visiting patterns were examined in relation to two of Sydney’s major museums: The Australian Museum and the Powerhouse. The Australian Museum specializes in natural history and has been at its present site in the Figure 2. Percentage of Sydney residents who claim to have visited the Australian Sydney central business district (CBD) Museum or Powerhouse Museum at least once in their lifetime.
4 Visitor Studies Today Volume 8 Issue 2 2005 2005 Volume 8 Issue 2 Visitor Studies Today 5 TheBehind “Museum the ScenesConstant” Behind the Scenes for special activities and go when they museum, gallery or exhibition in any An explanation can be found in interest me”; “I go generally to see what six-month period is approximately one- Canberra’s population, which is is there; I don’t go to special exhibits third of the population. skewed toward people with tertiary or activities” and “I am not really education working for government interested in museums and I don’t go Looking more widely, we note a finding or in professions. The Australian very often”. When we ask this question from the opinion polling company Bureau of Statistics’ Household of Sydney residents, it tends to split the MORI in the United Kingdom based Expenditure Surveys show too that, population into thirds. on research conducted on behalf of the overall, households in Canberra spend When responses to this question are Museums and Galleries Commission substantially above the national average cross tabulated with intention to visit (24 Hour Museum, 1999) that “The on leisure goods and services. particular museums in the following six survey shows that in the 12 months 35 months, there is a strong relationship. percent of British adults had been to a What Kinds of People are Interested As an example, Figure 3 shows interest museum or gallery…”. crossed with intention to visit each in Museums? of the Australian Museum and the Is there evidence in Australia that There is an extensive body of literature Powerhouse. (The data plotted here are this pattern does not hold up in some linking formal education to the level from the February 1994 survey.) places? One case is Canberra in the of museum visiting. However, it might Australian Capital Territory. Canberra, be that education is not the trigger for The Overall Pattern the national capital of Australia, is visiting but plays some other role in An intriguing pattern can be seen located approximately midway between the process. It is likely that a useful in the various findings presented so Sydney and Melbourne and had a explanation of interest in museums far. It seems as if one-third of the population of almost 295,000 people is multi-factorial and depends on Sydney population has low interest at the most recent census (2001). characteristics of the person as well in museums, one-third has visited a Our surveys here find that museum as external forces such as opportunity museum in the past six months, and the attendance and interest in museums is to visit. Our survey data allow us to “high tide mark” of actual visitation much higher than in the larger urban explore some of these matters in more for two major museums in Sydney centres such as Sydney and Melbourne. detail. leaves approximately one-third of the population untouched. Of course, all of the people who express interest do not go and all of the people who express little interest do not stay away—they may still find themselves going in company with others or as part of group activities. The relationship between expressed interest and actually having visited a museum is shown in Figure 4. An important question is how general this pattern might be. As we have asked the survey questions in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide (Australia), we can a make a comparison between these cities. Melbourne, for example, has a population comparable to Sydney (approximately 4 million people) and has a number of long-standing major museums. Again, our data show that the proportion of the population visiting a Figure 3. Percentage of people intending to visit the Powerhouse and the Australian Museum by general level of interest in museum visiting.
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We have analysed two separate survey of people with a high score on the and that this limit appears to be samples (each of 1,000 people) using response variable. driven by people’s preferences for a CHAID algorithm (Magidson, 1993) conceptual cognitive activity. Education The outcome of both analyses was the with museum, gallery or exhibition is a strong predictor of museum use, same. The most significant predictor but its function is probably to teach visiting in the previous six months was the statement “I am interested in as the response variable and self- people how to respond to the museum abstract ideas”. This was then followed experience. Whether they want to or description items, education level, by education level, so that people who age group, marital status and having not is a more deeply rooted aspect of see themselves as interested in abstract personality. pre-teen or teenage children in the ideas and had a tertiary education were household as predictors. more likely to have visited a museum It may be that museums in large than were university graduates without population centres cannot hope to reach CHAID searches through a list of the same interest. To guard against categorical predictor variables to all the people in their catchment, but the possibility that the self-description perhaps over time, they can reach about see which, if any, have a significant statement was simply a broad-brush two-thirds of them. relationship with a response variable measure of willingness to engage in (in this case, museum visiting). It then any activity, we ran a similar analysis These findings have implications for splits the sample into two groups using with “attend a first-grade or professional policy makers who seek to set the goals the categories of the chosen predictor sporting event” as the response variable. for museums in society and for museum that result in the greatest significant In this case, the findings were quite management faced with accountability. difference. CHAID then takes each of different, with a measure of extraversion the two groups in turn and looks for being the prime predictor. REFERENCES predictors that split those groups. The Hood, M. (1983). Staying away–Why result of the analysis is a tree structure, CONCLUSIONS people choose not to visit museums. with the sample progressively broken Museum News, 61(4), 50–57. into smaller groups that have either an These findings suggest that there is Magidson, J. (1993). SPSS for Windows increasing or decreasing proportion a limit to the audience for museums CHAID Release 6.0. Illinois: SPSS Inc. Sandell, R. (2003). Social inclusion, the museum and the dynamics of sectoral change. Museum and Society, 1(1), 45–62. Retrieved 21 April 2004, from http://www.le.ac.uk/ms/m&s/ m&sframeset.html 24 Hour Museum. Retrieved 12 June 1999 from http:// www.24hourmuseum.org.uk. THE AUTHOR Rob Hall is an environmental psychologist. He is a director of the social and marketing research company, Environmetrics and is Director of the Centre for Visitor Studies in Sydney, Australia. He has a particular interest in how people make leisure choices and in what he describes as the “choreography of a visit”—the pattern of timing and Figure 4. Percentage of people who have ever visited the Powerhouse and the activity that is characteristic of specific Australian Museum by general level of interest in museum visiting. kinds of venues.
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