Kecskés Péter (szerk.): Ház és ember, A Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum Közleményei 4. (Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 1987)

Közlemények - KOVÁCS JUDIT: A Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum 1982. évi látogatottságának vizsgálata

STUDY OF THE NUMBER OF VISITORS TO THE HUNGARIAN OPEN AIR MUSEUM IN 1982 Today, adult education by museums is still in the period of experimentation and this is even more true of the adult education work carried out by skansens. Besides the already traditional forms of adult education, skansens have the potential for far more possibilities and tasks in this area, particularly because of the way in which their material is presented. The author — a staff member of the Adult Education Department — conducted a survey by questionnaires in an attempt to measure the results of the work on the basis of the answers giben by visitors. The purpose of the survey was to find out who visits the museum (distribution bysex, age, schooling, place of residence) and what adult education forms are of interest among the displays and events; people's museum-visiting habits; the ways in which visitors can be activized and what they expect of the museum. The museum must also change with the changing demands and the survey by questionnaire attempted to determine the demands and expectations in this direction, in order to seek ways and means of advancing in the light of the answer. The author used selfanswering questionnaires for the survey and the sample was formed by giving a questionnaire to approximately every tenth visitor. Of the 800 questionnaires distributed, 480 were returned and of these 466 could be evaluated. The questionnaire contained alternating open and closed questions. The author usedsthe statistical processing method, setting up a ranking on the basis of the scoring method given for the 5th and 7th questions and typifying the responses given to the open questions. The questionnaire contains 22 questions. It can be divided into three main sections: 1. the composition of visitors, 2. visiting habits and impressions of the museum, 3 questions measuring the adult education influence of the museum (and the demands of visitors in this direction) and public service questions. In harmony with the findings of other museum sociology studies, it can be said that there are slightly more men than women among the visitors here too. The highest proportion of visitors interviewed fell into the category of mature adults covering the age group from 26 to 50 years. The number of visitors declines both below and above these levels. The higher a person's level of schooling, the greater his drive for education, in our case, to visit a museum. Accordingly, persons with university and higher college schooling represented the highest proportion of visitors. This representative sample is quite stratum specific since intellectuals represented the largest number of those answering the questionnaire and their opinions and responses had a decisive influence on the results obtained. In evaluating visiting habits, the author considers it an encouraging fact that close to 60% of the visitors questioned can be regarded as regular museum visitors. Whether the subjects accept what they see without adopting a position or critical view of their own, or whether they make some kind of value judgment is important in evaluating visiting habits. In our case the latter was found and it is encouraging that out of 466 visitors questioned only 34 did not answer this question. A wider range of copies of art objects, postcards and information materials must be provided corresponding to visitors' demands. More effective publicity activity should be carried out in the plants, factories and agricultural units. Visitors expect us to adjust to the changed function. We must ensure greater possibility for the active acquisition of infoormation and the practical applicability of the information obtained heres should not be neglected either for it can be put to use in our everyday life, help us in our work, building, home furnishing and dressing. In short, this information permeates our whole life and contributes to raising the standard of our visual culture. In addition to the displays on technical history that attract general interest, there is a need for assistance in acquiring deeper knowledge that can be achieved by providing more and higher standard lectures, film screenings and sessions. This survey helped us to assess our work and to establish more dynamic contact with the museum-going public on the basis of the demands and expectations expressed. We must take this recommendation into consideration and kuild on it in organizing our adult education work in the future, also involving the "more passive" visitors.