1. Research Methods for Museums
Prepared for PRAM Mid-Atlantic Summit
May 31, 2012

2. Research Methods
Goals Method
Branding/Image Focus groups
Building membership Focus groups, IDIs, Mail, Online
Interest in upcoming exhibitions Online
Profile of current visitors Onsite intercepts
Looking for potential visitors Phone/Online panels
Tomorrow’s visitors Facebook
Economic Impact Visitor and institutional data gathering
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3. National Museum of American
Jewish History
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4. Branding/Image
• Prior to the visioning sessions (MetStrategies;
Tsang/Seymour), ARA conducted focus groups
in Philadelphia and New York to understand
the identity and image of the museum.
• The overall objective was to see how the
museum was perceived by Jewish and non-
Jewish audiences locally and nationally.
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5. Methodology
• Six groups were conducted with nine
respondents in each two-hour group.
Philadelphia New York City
NMAJH Members Jewish visitors to Philadelphia who
had not visited NMAJH and were
active NY museumgoers
NMAJH Non-Member Visitors Non-Jewish visitors to Philadelphia
Jewish Non-Visitors who had not visited NMAJH and
were active NY museumgoers
Non-Jewish Non-Visitors
• NYC chosen because it was the #1 feeder market; two
million Jews living in the New York Metropolitan Area
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6. Research Objectives
• Members and Visitors: Explore reasons for visiting /
becoming a member and understanding the Museum
experience
• Among non-Visitors: Understand awareness/
familiarity of the Museum, gauge perceptions of the
Museum as well as who the typical visitor is, assess
interest in attending and why
• All groups: understand equity value of current
Freedom identify, review response to the current
mission statement and marketing materials, and
gauge awareness of and interest in public programs
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7. Findings to Build Upon
• Museum had universal appeal, not just Jews
• Story of Jews in America was largely unknown
• Drill down on which exhibits resonated
• Identified with stories of everyday life
• More than one visit required to see everything
• Good place to take out of town guests
• Challenge to get the word out to other cities
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8. 92nd Street Y
• Understand perceptions and images of the 92nd
Street Y and its Westside facility Makor.
• Explore the strength of the brand.
• Learn if the name Makor had brand equity, and if its
new downtown home should be branded as part of
the 92nd Street Y.
• Eight groups, one patron and one non-patron in each
of four categories
– Young families
– Younger boomers
– 20s & 30s
– Older boomers
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9. 92nd Street Y and Makor became
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10. Membership
• Focus groups to explore:
– Preferred format for publications
– Desired benefits
– Motivations of new members
• Online/mail questionnaires to test findings
– Motivations for joining
– Membership benefits
– Evaluate experience, service, value
• IDIs among patrons
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11. Interest in Upcoming Exhibitions
• In-person: intercept current visitors to show
descriptions and images.
• Online: more time to show multiple images.
• Use rating scales to test interest.
• Analyze results among members, frequent
visitors, age, gender, geography.
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12. Testing a Museum Concept
• Theatre Museum Canada currently exists only
in virtual form.
www.theatremuseumcanda.ca
• After a Visioning session (John Vollmer
Associates), we arrived at three possible
scenarios for a physical space.
• Used online panel to show descriptions and
images for each concept.
• We used a ten-point rating scale to test
interest in visiting. 12

13. Question asked:
• Theatre Museum Canada is considering different
concepts for the design and operation of a
permanent facility in the entertainment area of the
Toronto Theatre District. Please read each
description and view the accompanying images.
Then rate how likely you would be in visiting on a
scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means not at all
likely and “10” means extremely likely.
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14. Traditional Museum
• A museum with an emphasis on theatre collections and
related programming. Permanent exhibitions would
survey Canada’s theatre heritage from the 17th century
to the present. Temporary exhibitions might feature in-
depth examinations of playwrights, actors, designers,
and theatre companies. Some exhibitions would focus
on other aspects of performing arts. All exhibitions
would include two and three dimensional archival and
contemporary materials, as well as multimedia and
interactive media.
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15. Temporary Exhibition
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16. Experience Centre
• An experience centre with programs and activities that
emphasize audience interaction and learning by doing.
Activities would recreate the experience of being on
stage, backstage, and in the wings. It would feature
demonstrations and participation in direction and
blocking, and equipment such as a computer light board.
Programmed activities would include readings, panel
discussions, interviews, and demonstrations of make-up,
costuming and wigs.
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17. Learning by Doing
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18. Social Centre
• A theatre arts hub that would be an actual and virtual
interactive hub for the performing arts in Canada. One
area would function as an evening club where there
might be readings of new works and current
productions, short interviews, and music, as well as a
place to exchange ideas and meet people. At other
times, the space would be programmed for groups and
targeted audiences featuring behind the scenes access to
processes in the performing arts, panel discussions,
interviews and events. There would also be an
information centre and resource people.
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19. Pub-like Atmosphere
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20. Profile of Current Visitors
• Onsite intercepts are comprehensive
• Incentive recommended
• Translations where appropriate
• Cover representative hours and days
• Seasonal waves
• Link entrance and exit questionnaires to tie
experience to visitor profile
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21. Topics for Incoming Questionnaire
• Demographics and geography
• Sources of information
• Are they reading newspapers in print or online
• Visiting with including children under 18
• Have they visited your website? How have
they used it?
• Using social media? Following you?
• Media habits, prior visits, frequency, etc.
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22. Topics for Exit Questionnaire
• Exhibits visited
• Other activities participated in
• Satisfaction with staff, services, store, café
• Did they share experience on social media
• Likelihood to recommend to others
– Why?/Why not?
• Rate the value received from your visit
• Duration of visit (time stamp incoming & exit)
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23. Useful Findings
• At one major art museum, we found that ¾ of the
visitors did not live in the NY Metro Area.
• At another, 75% knew the exhibit sponsor.
• We found that 60% needed to ask for help during
their visit at one large museum.
• For a museum needing to relocate, we identified
preferences for different neighborhoods.
• While 5 out of 6 knew about the special exhibitions,
only 1 in 7 were aware of family programs.
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24. Looking for New Visitors
Quantitative Research
• Need to go beyond pool of current visitors
• Short-cut: conduct intercepts at other similar
types of museums
– Assess awareness of your museum
– Gauge prior attendance
– Evaluate interest among non-visitors
• Market studies
– Telephone samples
– Online panels
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25. Telephone Study
• Kimbell Museum of Art
– Surveyed 500 museumgoers in six North Texas
counties in anticipation of Renzo Piano expansion
to Louis Kahn building
– Qualified by visiting at least one museum in past
12 months (31% qualified; mean age of 47; 62%
female)
– Included landline and cell phone numbers
– Identified person in household who made decision
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26. Evaluating Data
Museum (2009) Visited Past Visited Heard of Not
(Percent Museumgoers) 12 Months Previously Only Heard of
Dallas Museum of Art 57 18 20 5
Dallas Museum of Natural History 23 34 31 12
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27. Online Study
• Newark Museum Signature Project: used a
panel of residents in northern NJ
counties/Manhattan
– Far more cost-effective than phone
– Large metropolitan area with more panel members
– Qualified in NJ by visiting at least one major NY/NJ
museum in past 12 months
• 28% incidence in NJ
• 33% in Manhattan based on at least two museum visits
and recent travel to NJ
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28. If We Build It, Will They Come
• Three target groups
– Current visitors – increase in frequency
– Former visitors – would they return and how
often
– New visitors
• Aware of Newark Museum but never visited
• Not aware of Newark Museum
• Beyond N. NJ (Manhattan)
• Projected total future visitor count based on
likelihood to visit and expected frequency 28

29. Good News
Traveling to Newark Compared Six Core 13-County Manhattan
to Five Years Ago (2008) NJ Counties NJ Area
(Percent non-Newark residents)
Just as comfortable 53 56 66
More 28 24 21
Less 18 20 13
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30. Younger Visitors
• More ethnically diverse
• Far more likely to read publications online
• More likely to be first time visitors
• More likely to:
– Visit the museum website
– Use a social media network
– Follow the museum on a social media channel
– Share experience on a smartphone
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31. Facebook Wisdom*
• Web built around people instead of content
• The online world catching up with offline
• People have consistent conversations with
between 7 and 15 people
– Most conversations are with 5 strongest ties
– These small groups of friends are more influential
than “opinion-leaders”
• Move from interruption to permission model
From “Grouped” by Paul Adams
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32. Facebook Audience
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33. Incidence of Museum Interest
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39. Preliminary Findings for Whitney
Museum FB Survey
• After submitting their answers, 93% shared
that they took the survey on their newsfeed
• 74% said FB was the main way they received
information about the Whitney
• 75% said following content on the FB page
inspired them to visit the museum
• 71% had visited the Whitney in-person
• 88% followed other museums on FB
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40. Economic Impact
• Measures the impact your institution and its
visitors has on the local economy
• Includes all local spending of the museum and
non-local visitors whose primary reason for
being there was to come to the museum
• Study for MoMA in 1998 estimated $2 billion
impact from the expansion
• ARA is currently conducting an economic
impact study of the 9/11 Memorial
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