MusLi (Museums Literacy) - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

16 MusLi - No qualifications needed: museums and new audiences
ences and analysis. In the selection of the case studies the project had to look at already existing
experiences (museum projects, research), already carried out, completed and documented in
different ways.
Special attention was therefore paid to methods for comparing elements of knowledge emerging
from different experiences, mainly those responding to the basic questions which the project aims
to answer. Being aware of this lack of homogeneity in the experiences and documents, the project
partners chose a qualitative approach instead of using the quantitative data coming out from single
research studies and reports (which were considered just as an indicative reference).
A list of information outcomes to be expected from the selected experiences was then drawn
up to evaluate whether these could be analysed in the context of the project:
• data (at least indicative) about the participation of audiences with a low schooling level in
the museum experiences considered
• definition of audience satisfaction with the initiatives and, if possible, reasons behind their
dissatisfaction
• (when possible) data about the motivations behind the participation of audiences with a low
schooling level
• (when possible) data about the expectations and needs of such audiences towards the
museum experience
• profile elements about audiences with a low schooling level: residence (if significant for
•
geographical or social reasons), employment, habits of cultural consumption (museums and
exhibitions, other...), likelihood of participating or not in the initiatives proposed by the museum
in question (retention)
channels for contact (with special attention to spaces and forms of personal mediation or to
new technologies and social networks)
• information about possible additional elements to the museum experience which can be
perceived as added value (opportunities for socializing, learning, amusement, etc.) and, if
possible, data about satisfaction (an assessment of their effectiveness as an element of the
success of the initiative for these audiences was always required, at least from the point of
view of the organiser/responsible)
3. Specific surveys
Some experiences – running throughout the project lifetime (2008-2010) – were included amongst
the case studies proposed by the project partners, and these carried out some surveys about
their audience directly. In order to collect useful data in a homogeneous way a common list of
basic questions was agreed among the partners.
As for the survey methods great freedom was left to each partner, depending on the nature of
the analysed experience, the number of participants, their degree of involvement, the existing
relationships between audiences and the museum’s staff and their mutual acquaintance.
The partners adopted, then, different tools for their surveys: