Colleagues:

Over the last five years, my institution has made a committed effort to address the interests and needs of a broader and more diversified audience. We have expanded our programming to a wider audience, mounted changing exhibitions addressing a range of topics and installed a permanent children's garden.

Two years ago, a visitor research department was created to measure the results of ongoing and special activities. So far, we have shied away from attempting to collect data regarding our visitors' race and ethnicity, recognizing how sensitive these kinds of survey questions can be. We have gathered some information via observation, but this method has clear limitations. Yet increasingly we are being asked by other departments within the museum and by funders to quantify the impact of X program or Y exhibition on specific targeted audiences, which is some cases are defined in ethnic or racial terms. To measure any impact, of course, we also need to create a valid baseline.

My questions to list members:

*               Do you collect demographic data about your visitors beyond age, sex, zip code? Specifically, do you collect ethnic and/or    racial data in any systematic manner?
*       If so, what method(s) do you use to collect the information?
*       How do you ensure that you are obtaining a statistically valid sample of your population?
*       And, finally, would you be willing to share copies of any surveys, or at least the specific language, that you use to gather this     information?

Thank you for any insights you can provide;  you are welcome to respond to me off-list at [log in to unmask]

Mary Jane Taylor
Assistant Curator of Education for Exhibitions 
Department of Research and Interpretation

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