Audience research: narrowing down the questions…
April 15, 2008
Well, I posted a lot about this last week, so now I think it is time to address exactly what our overarching “big” question is, and then determine the many questions that might come out of that. It looks like Katherine is thinking, ““What factors influenced your choice to come to the Corcoran today?” I think this gets at what we have been discussing, but I only worry that it is too open-ended to produce any solid results. Or, on the other hand, maybe is works well as our bigger question and we can get at details with smaller questions that relate to it. I think Farolyn is working on another question/topic now, so maybe we don’t even want to worry about the demographics that we were initially considering. Ultimately, we have narrowed down on seeking answers to why visitors chose to come to the Corcoran over all the other (free and more well-known) options in the city.
I still believe a questionnaire is the best format for us to work with. It could contain the questions, Have you been to the Corcoran before? Are you a member? How did you first learn of the Corcoran? Are you from DC area? If not, how did you hear about the Corcoran? Did you see advertisements for the American Evolution show? Did you know there was an admission price? and, (getting at Katherine’s earlier interests), Were you satisfied with the show? I am curious if anyone thinks putting these types of questions, and about this many of them, on a questionnaire is too much to throw at visitors? Are they likely to fill it out? Also, is it best to hand it out as people enter the show, throughout the show, or as they exit? My initial feeling is at the beginning so they have time to walk around, and fill it out at their leisure (before they leave). But with the expectation question, if we include it, we should probably aim for visitors exiting the show.
I think this type of research will lead us to learning a lot about questions, what type is best to ask, yields better results/answers, and how to phrase things.
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1.
Kate Libcke | April 15, 2008 at 2:20 am
Yes, I think that is ALOT of questions to be throwing at them if you are just handing them a questionnaire. When coming up with these surveys, I think that it is best to think of it as if you were filling it out. Would you stop to fill it out? OR Would you use the piece of paper to spit out your gum?
It might help to ask the questions yourself. If you don’t want to take this route, I totally understand. But if you do, think about how you can make that faster. Have boxes with answers that you think they might give, for you or them (if they are filling them out) to check off as you go through the questions.
I hope this helps. See you tomorrow.
2.
bawakate | April 15, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I was originally going to comment on your last post. I think you had good ideas about necessary background info– trying to find out all the ways the Corcoran promoted the show: “What methods were used to promote show?” “Has Corcoran done similar studies for past shows?” “What were the results of such studies and how did they influence Corcoran PR methods?”
We can totally drop my interest in EXPECTATIONS. I think questionnaire format is way to go and would suggest PRE. I was going to say that we should leave it totally open-ended: 1. What was the most important factor in your choice to come to the Corcoran today? 2. What other things influenced your choice to come to the Corcoran today? BUT looking at your suggested questions, maybe open-ended will not get us any recognizable categories. Open-ended will require more initial data analysis to group responses into themes.
YOUR QUESTIONS:
Have you been to the Corcoran before? Are you a member? (does this necessarily correlate to their choice to come to the American Evolution show?– maybe an “if so,’ follow-up to this like, “If so, did your prior experience at the Corcoran influence your choice to come to this show?”)
How did you first learn of the Corcoran? (good, this will get at sources of knowledge about CORC)
Are you from DC area? If not, how did you hear about the Corcoran? (good– not sure about place in scheme of questions)
Did you see advertisements for the American Evolution show? (GREAT– this is our point. I would add, “If so, where?”)
Did you know there was an admission price? (This is part of your motivation for topic– where in order of questions? Maybe 1st?)
3.
amanda Dudek | April 15, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Hi Brianna-
After reading your blog it seems like you guys are at a good point. A few things regarding your questions- I like the idea of letting the visitors walk around with the survey and not throwing it at them right when they get into the door- but my only concern is that will they actually get it done, or will it get lost or thrown away?? maybe if there is someone there collecting them when they leave the gallery might help with this problem. Perhaps if you do want to do the expectations question you have 2 sheets one that they fill out with jsut that question b4 they enter the museum and another to walk around wtih them. I am assuming the expectation question wouldnt take to long and most people would be open to it. I also am thinking that if you can narrow down your questions to as specific and as little as possible to answer that might help in people actually participating in this. No one is going to want to answer 2 pages of of questions when they expect to come to the museum. I think it is resonable to ask them about 5. I do like how katherine chose a few questions and then depending on the answer they had a question to follow them. That was a good idea.
Well good luck guys!
4.
moana | April 20, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I think we are heading in a great direction. Having fewer questions but allowing them to be more open ended will allow for a bigger picture to be created. These are good questions that will tell us a lot about our museum and its place in the art and education communities.
I see no problem having guests fill out a single page survey sheet with a handful of open ended yet targeted questions. I think the “Were your expectations met” question is valuable and will tell us a lot about what a museum goer expects from a museum. Thinking about what kind of data we are hoping to get will help us tailor our questions suitably.