1st Edition
An Introductory Guide to Qualitative Research in Art Museums
An Introductory Guide to Qualitative Research in Art Museums is a practice-based guide that is designed to introduce qualitative research to established and upcoming museum professionals and increase their confidence to conduct this type of research.
Highlighting the work of researchers who are studying museums around the world, the book begins by explaining why there is a need for qualitative research in museums. Rowson Love and Randolph then go on to provide guidance, including theories and frameworks, on how to envision a qualitative research project that facilitates meaningful interpretation of visitor experiences. Chapters in the methodology section begin with descriptions of featured qualitative methodologies and will assist readers as they determine which are most appropriate for their projects and as they advocate for their research. The final section will prepare readers still further by demonstrating data analysis and reporting using the examples in the book.
An Introductory Guide to Qualitative Research in Art Museums will help museum professionals and students engaged in the study of museums expand their repertoire to include qualitative methodologies and explain the methods needed to conduct, analyze, and report their qualitative research. It will be particularly useful to those with an interest in museum education, visitor studies and audience research, exhibition development, leadership, and management.
PART 1
Developing a Qualitative Research Project
Artist Segue 1: Jeffrey Cook
1 Introduction
Research Currents Interview: Patricia Leavy
Artist Segue 2: Shawne Major
2 Getting Started
Research Currents Interview: Swarupa Anila
Artist Segue 3: Will Hutnick
3 Choosing Theory and Frameworks
Research Currents Interview: Pat Villeneuve
Artist Segue 4: Elizabeth Alexander
4 Selecting Methodologies and Methods
Research Currents Interview: Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert
PART II
Methodologies
Artist Segue 5: José Bedia
5 Ethnography and Indigenous Methodologies
Research Currents Interview: Tanja Schubert-McArthur and Puawai Cairns
Artist Segue 6: Gina Phillips
6 Case Study
Research Currents Interview: Victoria Eudy
Artist Segue 7: Mary Mattingly
7 Action Research
Research Currents Interview: Amanda Blake and Tina Fletcher
Artist Segue 8: Rania Matar
8 Narrative Inquiry
Research Currents Interview: Sofia Natalia González-Ayala and
Claudia Marcela Velandia-Pirazan
Artist Segue 9: Tomas van Houtryve
9 Arts-Based Research
Research Currents Interview: Interpretive Wonderings Team: Campbell Drake, Jock Gilbert, Sven Mehzoud, Uncle Barry Pearce, and Sophia Pearce
Artist Segue 10: Renée Stout
10 Historical Methods
Research Currents Interview: Seph Rodney
Artist Segue 11: Lilian Garcia-Roig
11 Phenomenology
Research Currents Interview: Kiersten F. Latham
Artist Segue 12: Taha Heydari
12 Grounded Theory
Research Currents Interview: Ina Ross
Artist Segue 13: Pete Hoffecker Mejía
13 Mixed Methods
Research Currents Interview: Alice Anderson
PART III
Analysis and Reporting
Artist Segue 14: Jennifer Drinkwater
14 Data Analysis
Artist Segue 15: Katy Mixon
15 Reporting and Interpretation
Artist Segue 16: Christina Kim
16 Conclusion
Biography
Ann Rowson Love, PhD, is the Director of the MA/PhD program, Museum Education and Visitor-Centered Curation, in the Department of Art Education at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, USA. Her research interests include interpretive planning and strategies, collaborative curation, feminist systems thinking, and visitor studies in art museums. She co-edited three previous books including Dimensions of Curation: Considering Competing Values for Intentional Exhibition Practices and Visitor-Centered Exhibitions and Edu-Curation in Art Museums with Pat Villeneuve and Systems Thinking in Museums with Yuha Jung.
Deborah Randolph, PhD, is a Principal Researcher for International Scholars Group and is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and New Orleans, LA, USA. She is the former Curator of Education at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC, and the former Associate Curator of Education at The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA. She has co-written chapters in five edited volumes. Her research interests include arts and social justice, art museums, qualitative research, artistic practice, museum environmental resistance, arts integration, and historical weaving.
