April 21st, 2019 | RESEARCH
This commentary explores the kinds of audiences who attend science festivals in the United States by examining data from nearly 10,000 attendees from 24 festivals. Findings are presented to describe festival audiences overall and in comparison to national census and polling data. Results are similar to those for other public science events, with the majority of attendees being well-educated and middle-class. Even so, approximately two thirds of festival-goers are new each year. The findings are discussed in relation to evidence that begins to establish a typology of public science event attendees, and the need to reach "new" versus "different" audiences.
Document
(no document provided)
Team Members
Katherine Nielsen, Author, University of California, San FranciscoM. J. Gathings, Author, North Carolina State University
Karen Peterman, Author, Karen Peterman Consulting, Co.
Citation
Identifier Type: ISSN
Identifier: 1075-5470
Identifier Type: DOI
Identifier: 10.1177/1075547019832312
Publication: Science Communication
Volume: 41
Number: 2
Page(s): 254-264
Funders
Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: AISL
Award Number: 1423004
Related URLs
Full Text via EBSCO
Collaborative Research: EvalFest (Evaluation Use, Value and Learning through Festivals of Science and Technology)
Tags
Audience: Evaluators | General Public | Museum | ISE Professionals | Scientists
Discipline: General STEM
Resource Type: Peer-reviewed article | Research Products
Environment Type: Public Events and Festivals | Public Programs