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Peer-reviewed article

Predicting Visitor Behavior

December 1, 1985 | Public Programs, Exhibitions, Informal/Formal Connections
Every year, millions of people stream through museums--young people and old people--people with varying degrees of education, people alone and in groups. How can museums best serve this diverse audience? One kind of service that museums try to provide is education. Unlike schools, which have age-graded classes and compulsory attendance, museums come face to face with the realities of "free-choice" learning. These realities ensure that predicting what and how visitors learn--let alone if they learn--will be very difficult. One useful index of visitor behavior in a museum becomes an important issue. How predictable is museum behavior?

TEAM MEMBERS

  • Smithsonian Institution
    Contributor
  • 2013 05 23 Falk headshot
    Author
    Oregon State University
  • John Korgan Jr.
    Author
    University of Florida
  • 2013 11 21 Dierking photo
    Author
    Oregon State University
  • Lewis Dreblow
    Author
    University of Florida
  • Citation

    DOI : 10.1111/j.2151-6952.1985.tb01753.x
    Publication Name: Curator: The Museum Journal
    Volume: 28
    Number: 4
    Page Number: 249
    Resource Type: Research Products
    Discipline: Education and learning science
    Audience: General Public | Museum/ISE Professionals | Evaluators
    Environment Type: Public Programs | Exhibitions | Informal/Formal Connections

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