Public Engagement with Culture and Digital Technology
MLA has joined with Arts Council England and Arts & Business to commission a study exploring the extent and nature of digital participation in our sectors.
The study has involved a quantitative internet survey of a representative sample of the English online population to understand the relationship between people’s engagement with, and attitudes to, digital entertainment and their engagement with the arts, museums, libraries and archives sectors.
The study intends to generate insights into cultural participation and to establish the scope for engaging new audiences for culture online.
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Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
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Annual Visitor Attractions Survey
The Annual Visitor Attractions Survey (AVAS) is commissioned each year by Visit England with support from the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council and English Heritage.
The purpose of the AVAS is to monitor trends in the visitor attraction sector in England and to improve understanding of the dynamics of the sector. The findings contribute to regional and national estimates of the economic impact of tourism and inform regional development and planning work. The results of the survey allow operators to benchmark their operation within their category, within their region and across the sector as a whole.
The survey was carried out by means of online survey or a postal self-completion survey. All attractions for whom email contacts were held were sent an email invitation to take part, with a link to their own attraction’s online questionnaire. Attractions not responding to this invitation were subsequently sent a postal questionnaire alongside attractions for whom no email contacts were held.
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Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
Renaissance Hub Exit Survey
The Renaissance Hub Exit Survey (HES) is a visitor exit survey commissioned to measure the impact of Renaissance funding on Hub museums.
The Survey will be carried out at approximately 45 museums and galleries with a total of 11,000 interviews being conducted.
The interviews are conducted ‘face-to-face’ on site at the museums themselves. With this data collection method visitors give their feedback immediately after completing their visit and the interviewer is able to ensure all questions are understood and answered. A random sample of visitors to the museum is interviewed, so that findings are representative of the actual visitor profile.
The survey questionnaire has been designed to measure:
- Visitor profile: gender, age, place of residence, social class, ethnic background, whether has limiting disability.
- Museum visiting: previous visits to this museum, recent visits to any museum or gallery.
- Rating of visit: enjoyment, satisfaction, engagement, likelihood to return, likelihood to recommend,
- Agreement with statements designed to measure impact of museum improvements funded by Renaissance on visitor experience.
- Influences on the decision to visit.
BDRC Continental, an independent market research consultancy specialising in the tourism, travel and leisure sectors, has been commissioned to run the Survey from 2007-10.
Further Information
Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
Taking Part Survey
The Taking Part Survey collects data on many aspects of leisure, culture and sport in England, as well as an in-depth range of socio-demographic information on respondents fulfilling the need for consistent, high quality national data on engagement with culture and sport.
The survey has been jointly commissioned by DCMS, Arts Council England, English Heritage, Sport England and the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council. It is a continuous national survey, with fieldwork conducted by TNS-BMRB. It sampled responses from around 14,000 people in 2008/09.
The survey's main objectives are to:
- provide a central, reliable evidence source that can be used to analyse cultural and sporting engagement, providing a clear picture of why people do or do not engage.
- meet the needs and interests of everyone who uses Taking Part data, including relevant public bodies and the public.
- underpin further research on driving engagement and the value and benefits of engagement.
The survey provides annual data for children, and both annual and quarterly data for adults. To support survey analysis, the partners have developed NETQuest, a user-friendly online program that enables you to quickly and easily analyse Taking Part survey data. NETQuest currently contains data for the survey years up to 2007/08 Taking Part has been designated a National Statistic by the UK Statistics Authority, meaning that it meets the highest possible standards of quality.
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Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
Active People Survey
The APS has been commissioned by Sport England to identify how participation in sport varies from place to place and between different groups in the population. It also measures; the proportion of the adult population that volunteer in sport on a weekly basis, club membership, involvement in organised sport/competition, receipt of tuition or coaching, and overall satisfaction with levels of sporting provision in the local community.
In April 2008 DCMS, the Arts Council England and the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council jointly commissioned additional cultural questions on the APS to provide the measurement for cultural National Indicators NI 9, NI 10 and NI 11.
- NI 9 Use of public libraries
- NI 10 Visits to museums and galleries
- NI 11 Engagement in the arts
Baselines for the indicators were published in December 2008 with interim progress results published in December 2009. Final assessments against the baselines are expected in December 2010.
Survey partners have also commissioned the Active People Diagnostic (APD) tool to support users to analyse the survey data.
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Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
Active People Diagnostic
Active People Diagnostic is an innovative online reporting and analysis tool which gives partners access to Active People Survey results at the touch of a button.
In 2009, the Arts Council England and the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council commissioned the development of the Active People Diagnostic Culture Module which allows users to assess levels and patterns of cultural participation in their area, and to benchmark and profile performance against other areas.
Active People Diagnostic is a powerful local strategic planning tool and is used by local authorities, county councils, county sports partnerships, national governing bodies, and many other national and regional partners.
To access the APD, users can register by completing an online registration form on the Active People Diagnostic website.
Further Information
Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
Culture and Sport Evidence Programme (CASE)
CASE is the new £1.8M, 3-year joint programme of research led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in collaboration with the Arts Council England, English Heritage, the MLA and Sport England. The overall aim is to strengthen our understanding of how best to deliver culture and sporting opportunities of the highest quality to the widest audience generating the best outcomes for society.
The first phase of the CASE programme is now underway with a consortium of the University of London's EPPI-centre and Matrix Knowledge Group undertaking a key evidence and data review on the drivers and impacts of public participation in culture and sport. For more information, visit the dedicated CASE Programme wesbsite.
Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
CASE Regional Insight Reports
This series of eight reports (with accompanying datasets) summarises regional/local and sector-specific quantitative data and evidence on culture and sport providing valuable insight into past and current trends as well as the role that culture and sport play in geographical regions.
These resources have been provided by the Culture and Sport Evidence Programme (CASE) - a joint strategic research programme led by DCMS in association with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, Arts Council England, English Heritage, and Sport England.
The Regional Insight Reports are now available on the CASE website.
CASE Local Culture and Heritage Profile Tool
This Tool provides local contextual data as well as culture and heritage data to help local authorities generate a cultural profile for their areas. It brings together data on cultural participation and covers arts, museums, libraries, archives and heritage. The Tool contains locally available data on a range of topics including: local area profile, economic performance, attendance and participation, quality and satisfaction, education, sites and assets, financial investment and nearest neighbours (based on CIPFA model). The Local Cultural and Heritage Profile Tool is now available on the CASE website.This Tool has been provided by the Culture and Sport Evidence Programme (CASE) - a joint strategic research programme led by DCMS in association with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, Arts Council England, English Heritage, and Sport England.
Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
Evaluation of BLF Community Libraries Programme
The Community Libraries Programme is managed by the Big Lottery Fund (BLF), with support from the MLA. The programme involves an £80 million investment from BLF which has been allocated across 58 local authorities in England. All successful projects are required to engage communities in the development, delivery and management of library services.
MLA is leading a rolling evaluation of this Programme. Local authorities that successfully secured funding were announced in October 2007. For Year 1 of the Programme, Sector and The Research Unit were commissioned by MLA to carry out a baseline qualitative evaluation for the programme and its impact on community engagement in public libraries.
The evaluation of subsequent years of the Programme is currently underway and seeks to capture the social return on investment (SROI) of the Programme, encapsulating its outputs, outcomes and assessing the effectiveness of the processes underpinning its delivery.
Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
Evaluation of Community Engagement at Renaissance Hub Museums
The MLA and Hub museums are interested in identifying the outcomes of community engagement activities at Hub Museums, and in providing additional support to colleagues who are managing community engagement projects. This evaluation will closely track a number of projects, to capture the full impact of community engagement activities and to calculate the financial and social returns on investment by identifying the costs of these activities and quantifying the outcomes/impacts.
Specifically, the evaluation seeks to identify:
- the outputs of community engagement activities and tracking, when possible, progress of outcomes and
- capture the effectiveness of organisational development activities undertaken to deliver these activities.
Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
Tools and guidance on using the Generic Social Outcomes Framework
The GSO Framework is an approach that can be used to gather and present robust evidence of the contribution of projects or programmes to wider social outcomes. The Framework was developed for MLA in 2005 by Burns Owen Partnership; the original report can be viewed here. The MLA is now undertaking new work to gather up to date examples of GSO use across the sector, to provide guidance, tools and case studies which will support its greater use. The new tools will be available here in Spring 2010.
Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
Living Places Year 2 Evaluation
The MLA has recently commissioned an evaluation of the Year 2 Living Places Programme. This evaluation will measure the success of the programme, identify the elements of the Living Places programme that have/have not worked in making an impact on 'place-shaping&', and identify the specific interventions and plans for cultural provision that have delivered this impact, particularly in the priority place areas.
Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.
Contribution of Public Libraries to health and well being
The MLA has recently commissioned research that will examine the contribution public libraries are making to the health and wellbeing of the communities they serve. More specifically, we will examine the current landscape of health-related library work, focusing in particular on partnerships with health service providers such as the NHS and on a wide range of delivery models. This work aims to contribute to the evidence base to inform the development of future health outcomes research.
Please contact research@mla.gov.uk with any enquiries about this project.