An Evidence Based Methodology for Cultural Institutions Seeking to Identify and Profile their Local Populations

Abstract

Community is a term utilised in policy to describe a collective target audience for public services. Political requirements mean that delivering direct and indirect benefits to local people is regarded as essential to obtaining public sources of funding for cultural organisations. Regardless of any external pressure, cultural organisations strive to be conscious, receptive or inclusive of the views of the public. This paper summarises how a robust approach was developed to identify and profile groupings of residents within an area in relation to their local civic museum (UK). This method resulted in a nuanced understanding of a museum’s local population, identifying groupings upon which to base its future plans. Crucially, the methods outlined in this paper are transferable to cultural institutions in different settings worldwide. Our discussion contributes to the wider endeavour of evidencing impacts of museums on variously defined communities.