Museum Research Methods

MUSM7034Semester 1 2009

Session 2.1 Quantitative methods

www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/museum

http://musm7034.ning.com/

[2] Museum Research Methods 2009

When do you need quant data? Methods and issues Project outline Questionnaire design

1. Introduction

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Descriptive numbers and %

How many people do/think.. Audience profile Audience segmentation Trends KPIs Report to funding agency Expenditure

2. You need quant data when…

Advanced analysis

Choice modeling Contingent Valuation Cluster analysis Segmentation Mapping Economic value

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3. Quant methods

Interview

Population survey Telephone

Onsite Exit Other

Self-completion

Exit surveys Other onsite surveys Online surveys Mail surveys

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1. Decide what you want to find out

2. Decide what research method you will use

3. Design questionnaire (draft, pilot, revise)

4. Fieldwork

5. Data processing

6. Data tables

7. Report

8. Disseminate / apply / file

4. Project outline

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5. Questionnaire design

Example questionnaire

A dialogue – personal respect

Easy to navigate

Easy for data entry

Don’t ask what people don’t know

Ref: Veal, p249

Standardisation Use the same basic questions every

time, so you build a databank that allows comparison.

Types of questions Pre-coded / closed vs Open Rating scales Unprompted / prompted

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6. Question wording

Order of questions

Start with easy and immediately relevant

Rating questions early

Put demographic questions last, and income last of all

Question wording

Simple

One topic

Unambiguous

No jargon

Don’t lead

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7. The sample

Sample sizes

Balance between precision and cost

Sample selection

Random samples Week day/weekend Time of day

Systematic

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8. Coffee Cart Exercise

Who uses the coffee cart? How often do they use it? When do they use it? What do they buy? How do they rate the quality of what

they bought? How much do they spend? Likes and dislikes? Other products they would like?

Design a questionnaire Interview 2-3 people.

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Your experiences

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Survey design, due 5 June 2009

www.surveymonkey.com name: museum_studies password: research_methods

“Create Survey”

Assignment 2