A Study on Visitors’ Identity-related Motivations at Science Museums in China Chu, H Department of Science and Technology Studies, University College London (UCL)
In 2009, US scholar John H Falk published his book Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience. In this book, he introduces the concept of the “the Museum Visitor Experience Model” and categorises visitors into five groups: Explorer, Facilitator, Experience seeker, Professional/Hobbyists, and Recharger. This theoretical model is the result of empirical work arising from his research, based mostly in the US. There is no relevant research on this topic conducted under other cultural and social backgrounds, especially in China. By questionnaire survey and face-‐to-‐face interview, my project is conducted to find out what are the identity-‐related motivations (or categories) of visitors at China’s science museums, and what are the connections or relationships between visitors’ demographics (and other features) and their motivations. I have done more than 1200 questionnaires in three science museums in China to collect enough statistically significant data and all interview work also has been done. Based on the results I have gotten, it is clear that female visitors have advantages both in numbers and education levels. Also, more non-‐science background visitors than science background visitors. More important, Chinese visitors do not have so clear five motivation categories as US museum visitors. I will discuss my results and conclusions. Further more, I will try to do a deep analysis on the reason of these phenomena. Science museums are informal but popular learning places for university students. According to my survey, university students account for a big percentage in all visitors. By knowing them better what their motivations are and their knowledge about science museum will be helpful to university education. Also, my project can be an attempt to explore how to apply this western science communication theory in Chinese cultural background, and it can contribute to the science museum study in China by introducing a new theoretical model and help the English science communication world know the situation of China’s science museums.
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