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Date: | Tue, 30 Aug 1994 09:40:56 EDT |
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Institutional Studies
In the past few years, museums have begun to look at their
economic impact on communities, cities, and regions. In
fact, a session has been proposed for the AAM 95 meetings
called "Museums are also Good Business: Educating Our
Communities." Conducting economic impact studies, however,
is difficult. What should the museum "take credit for?"
As a behavioral social scientist, I am somewhat skeptical of
asking visitors "how important" a museum or exhibition was in
the decision to visit a specific community; instead, I prefer
to estimate impact based on behavior (i.e., how they spent
their time). In addition, it is often difficult to get good
data on museum expenditures by locale. In any case, the
Smithsonian has just completed an impact study, and others
exist out there. My query to the list: Can you send me
references to other studies and tell us how to get copies?
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