Illustrative engagement. A representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work in culture & heritage. It does not describe a specific client; outcomes are described qualitatively.
Industry overview
What is shaping culture & heritage
Museums, festivals and heritage sites need to understand visitors, build new audiences and show the value of their work to funders and communities.
- Funders expect evidence of impact
- New audiences need different programming
- Heritage tourism depends on visitor experience
Client background
An arts council, working in United Kingdom. This is an illustrative engagement: a representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work, not a named client project.
- Organisation
- An arts council
- Sector
- Culture & heritage
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Qualitative research, Quantitative research, Reporting & insights
Client challenge
The council needed evidence of social impact to justify renewed funding for community arts workshops.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: evaluating a community arts programme.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of participants.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 10 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 600 participants.
- participants600
Audiences we typically reach in culture & heritage
VisitorsNon-visitors and new audiencesLocal communitiesArtists and performersFunders and partners
Geographic coverage
Coverage: United Kingdom. Market: United Kingdom.
- United Kingdom
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Participant surveys
- 3Case interviews
- 4Insight
We surveyed participants before and after workshops on wellbeing and connection and interviewed facilitators and participants for case stories.
Qualitative researchQuantitative researchReporting & insights
Sampling strategy
- participants
- 600
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Participants reported stronger connections with their neighbourhoods.
Pair numbers with stories to show impact.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: pair numbers with stories to show impact.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: participants reported stronger connections with their neighbourhoods.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The evidence supported the council's funding renewal application.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: what impact did the festival have?