Scottish Government

SEED RESEARCH STRATEGY 2004-2007 - TOURISM, CULTURE AND SPORT

March 2005 (revised May 2006)

A Research Strategy for culture, sport and cultural tourism has been drawn up by the Tourism Culture and Sport Analytical Services Unit for the period 2004-2007. The Strategy covers not only relevant subjects of research, agreed by the Department's Tourism, Culture and Sport policy teams as appropriate to address Ministers' priorities for the forthcoming period, but also key approaches such as partnership working, sharing information and providing support to agencies, and dissemination and knowledge transfer, all vital to effective analytical support and policymaking in the Scottish Executive.

Contact point: SEED Information and Analytical Services Division, ASU-TCS Research, 1B, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ (Tel: 0131-244-4939)

This document is also available inpdf format(76kb)

UPDATE: This Research Strategy was written in 2004, and since then cultural, sport and architectural policy and their evidence base have evolved. January 2006 saw the publication of a new cultural policy, "Scotland's Culture", including new investment and initiatives for Scotland's future provision. Following discussion with colleagues in Tourism, Culture and Sport Group of plans to implement the policy, certain priorities noted in this Strategy in 2004 have changed and new ones have arisen. Other recent developments affecting planned research include the establishment of an evidence research network with non-departmental bodies and associated agencies, a review of Sport 21 and research arising, and the establishment of Architecture & Design Scotland in 2005, whose aim is to inspire higher design quality across the public and private sectors an contribute positively to quality of life and our built heritage..

The basic structure of the Research Strategy and its contents remains the same, but new priorities for research have been noted in Annex II, which sets out research that has been completed over the last two years, and work which is proposed for 2006-07.

Reference to the proposed National Cultural Participation Survey within the Strategy has now evolved to a proposed culture and sport module within the Scottish Household Survey, which will provide robust, comprehensive information on participation in, barriers to, and attitudes towards cultural and sport activities. The common appraisal, research and evaluation methodology which was proposed to assist organisations in evaluating their activities, has now been overtaken by the establishment of Evaluation Support Scotland (ESS), with which the Scottish Executive will work closely to ensure that organisations involved in providing activities in the arts, culture and sport fields are able to access, use and customise as appropriate, the evaluation guidance and support available. In particular, the Scottish Executive will be working with ESS to produce an 'evaluation package' to assist Pathfinder cultural entitlements projects in local authority areas to evaluate their activities.

Furthermore, since the Strategy was written, the 'ArtFull' Arts and Mental Health Programme has been set up, involving partnership working between the Scottish Executive (Cultural Policy and the National Programme for Mental Health and Well-Being) and the Scottish Arts Council (SAC). A selection of exemplar projects involving arts and mental health will be evaluated and a report produced by SAC that draws together the findings, provides examples of good practice, lessons learned and which will contribute to the evidence base for arts and health (particularly mental health) in general.

The above changes therefore should be borne in mind when reading the Strategy.

INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT

1 Culture , Sport and Tourism [1] are high profile and rapidly developing policy areas. Important policy documents such as the National Cultural Strategy and Sport 21 have set out the Executive's objectives for culture and sport in Scotland. The Partnership for a Better Scotland and the First Minister's 2003 St Andrew's Day speech have also made it clear that culture and the arts should sit at the heart of life in Scotland - he emphasised the importance of culture in people's lives, and that "culture cuts across all portfolios of government"…..it "can not be an add on" but should be at the core of life in Scotland. The Minister for Tourism Culture and Sport's April 2004 Cultural Policy Statement also set out the vision for Scotland's culture, and the remit for the Cultural Review, which chimes with those key policy aims.

2 The role of evidence is vital to ensure that evidence based or informed policy is, wherever possible, at the core of policies announced by the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and work carried out by the Tourism, Culture and Sport Group in the Executive's Education Department. This Research Strategy is written with a view to covering the next three years of cultural (including cultural tourism) and sport policy development, setting out research and analytical work that may, or will, require to be conducted to inform Ministerial priorities, needs and investment. It takes into account the current and potential research needs (including statistical and economic research where relevant) to support the evolving needs of policy, and in particular to inform the 2006 Spending Review and to support cross-cutting policy agendas such as health, education, regeneration, justice, social inclusion and communities.

3 The Research Strategy is in effect 'a statement of understanding' between the Minister, the Tourism, Culture and Sport Group (TCS Group) and the TCS Analytical Services Unit (TCS ASU), on the provision of analytical support to policymaking and the prioritisation of research in these areas. It aims to cover not only relevant subjects of research need, but also key approaches such as partnership working, sharing information and providing support to agencies, and dissemination and knowledge transfer, all vital to effective analytical support and policymaking in the Scottish Executive.

4 The document is divided into three main areas -

Part A The Policy-Research Interface

Part B Effective Delivery of Analytical Support

Part C The Way Ahead

5 Annexes are attached to provide more detailed information on specific pieces of research identified as desirable, their prioritisation over and within the next 3 years, and the format of the proposed Evidence Network mentioned in Part B of the Strategy.

PART A THE POLICY-RESEARCH INTERFACE

Policy Context and Priorities

6 This Research Strategy is based on anticipated research support for the following policy areas within the TCS Group: Lottery & Sponsorship Unit, National Cultural Strategy (NCS) Unit, Arts & Creative Industries Policy Unit, Gaelic Unit, Sport Policy Unit, Group Project Co-ordination Unit, Tourism Unit (cultural tourism led by NCS), major events, (EventScotland, VisitScotland, and NCS collaboration with International Division), and Architecture Policy Unit. Since culture and sport in particular are of a cross-cutting nature and impact on other policy areas such as education, health, justice and communities, the Strategy covers the need for research into the impact on these areas and encourages collaborative working between different departments, divisions and external agencies.

7 The Strategy covers themes highlighted by the National Cultural Strategy, the Cultural Policy Statement and Sport 21, and gaps in evidence found by the recent Literature Review of research for the cultural and sport evidence base. It is also devised to cover research needs to meet objectives set out in 'Building a Better Scotland' (2004) such as 'to ensure that everyone of all ages has the opportunity to take part in a variety of cultural and sporting activities' and 'to support social inclusion by ensuring the widest possible involvement in cultural, social and sporting opportunities'. Targets accompanying these objectives are to increase numbers taking part both in cultural activities funded by the Scottish Executive, and in sport, by 3% by March 2008, maintaining the balance of participation across the population. Research will therefore investigate aspects that will inform and help achieve these targets.

8 Main themes where culture and sport can make an impact and highlighted by the above documents include:

· promoting social inclusion,

· improving educational attainment,

· enhancing Scotland's culture and sense of pride,

· influencing community development,

· promoting creativity,

· increasing access and opportunities for under-represented groups,

· promoting social cohesion,

· assisting regeneration,

· growing the economy and creating employment,

· boosting health, recovery and general well-being,

· increasing physical activity, and

· reducing offending

9 There is a wealth of research findings that demonstrate that the above aspirations can be achieved by participation in cultural or sport/physical activities. However, there are certain areas that we need to understand better, or that require more robust or long-term research to demonstrate sustained impact.

Building the Evidence Base

10 A Literature Review of the Evidence Base for Culture, the Arts and Sport Policy was carried out in the period up to February 2004 to draw together robust research evidence on the impact of these policy areas on the individual and on communities, and in relation to cross-cutting areas such as health, education, economic development, social inclusion and justice. The Review identified much evidence of the benefits of culture in a wide range of settings; and provided a coherent social research evidence base to inform Scottish policy development and future investment in culture, the arts and sport. The Review also identified gaps in research and evidence, and in the type of research that would require to be conducted to provide further robust, long-term research findings. A key purpose of this Strategy is to address those gaps.

11 The Review identified particular gaps in evidence which, if filled, will result in a clearer, robust and consistent evidence base for culture, the arts and sport policy. These include specific evidence gaps found in the following areas in Table 1 (more detailed notes on each research need are found in Annex I). Resources permitting, it is proposed that each piece of work will be carried out according to priority and need over the next 3 years, and as cited in the annual Analytical Work Plan. Certain research will require to be carried out long-term to produce meaningful and robust results, whilst other research can be conducted to provide new and useful evidence previously unavailable, to assist in the achieving of TCS objectives and targets.

Table 1: Gaps in evidence identified by Literature Review

12 Some of the research identified above and below has now declined in priority (October 2005) or has since been taken up by other policy areas (eg creativity and physical activity). Annex II sets out the most recent agreed priorities for research to inform TCS policy. Other research areas (some of which will be supported by research listed above, and others which will require specific research to be conducted) that policy colleagues have specified to support and inform policy development and implementation are listed below in Table 2:

Table 2 - further research areas specified for 2004-2007

13 Other general emerging areas in culture, sport and cultural tourism policy have been identified as:

Broadcasting - an evaluation of BLAST is presently being conducted, and other research needs into the broadcasting area will be identified as they emerge. These may include best methods for showcasing young people's excellence and talent; and media literacy in its various guises (technological awareness, cineliteracy, moving image education, critical discernment etc).

Highland 2007 - at present, Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Executive are putting together a programme for Scotland's Year of Highland Culture. Scottish Executive social and economic research resources can be utilised to provide advice in the setting up and conducting (in due course) of the programme's evaluation so that both economic and social outcomes are robustly measured.

Burns Year 2009 - Similar to Highland 2007 above, social and economic research support may be provided by TCS ASU to assist the evaluation of Burns Year 2009.

14 In order to build the evidence base for culture, sport and cultural tourism policy and to address the above research proposals, research will either be commissioned out to external contractors to timeously inform policy, or where possible, in-house reviews will be carried out according to resources available.

PART B - EFFECTIVE DELIVERY OF ANALYTICAL SUPPORT

Improved and enhanced methods of delivery

15 Although the Literature Review identified some very good evaluation (social and economic) of programmes and initiatives, there appears to be a need for a consistent method of evaluation which should be easily accessible to organisations involved in evaluating their activities. There are therefore gaps that require to be filled in these areas:

15 a) Appraisal, Monitoring and Evaluation: various toolkits and guidance already exist to assist organisations to evaluate individual projects; however, these are often focused on the particular research area in question, and there appears to be a lack of a consistent, common appraisal and evaluation framework which could be used by all sectors to appraise and evaluate programmes and initiatives in assessing the impact of culture and sport, and measuring outcomes.

There is the need for the development of a general, easily accessible and available on-line, appraisal and evaluation guidance/toolkit to assist organisations in evaluating projects and programmes and being able to provide required information on impact to funders. There is potential for the Scottish Executive and DCMS to jointly commission such work, as DCMS is currently considering the same issue. Discussions will take place with DCMS to establish the best way forward in this regard. Before discussions take place however, a review of existing appraisal and evaluation guidance will take place, to establish whether any existing 'toolkit' can be adapted to meet the needs of guidance for different agencies in a cross-sectoral approach. This study would also look to advise on approaches to research, designed to achieve Best Value and cross-sectoral benefits.

15 b) Combined Social/Economic Impact Evaluation: related to the above, it would be useful if government policy teams and organisations involved in the delivery of programmes, initiatives and policy (eg Highland Year of Culture 2007), were to carry out at the start an economic appraisal of the programme, evaluate the social and economic outcomes, and carry out a cost benefits analysis of the initiative. The TCS Analytical Services Unit will be available to advise and guide policy teams on such evaluation, and through guidance available to NDPBs etc (see Evaluation Toolkit above), can influence external organisations to do so.

15 c) Dissemination of information: in response to the forthcoming requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, the TCS Group plans to revamp its cultural website to include key financial and other information which may be of general and public interest. This will link to the data-holdings being developed by the ASU. ASU will devise a central website or publication which provides data on the level of attendance/participation in sport, arts and cultural activities, and the frequency and intensity of use of facilities across the different cultural and sport sectors in Scotland. This will enable Ministers, TCS policymakers and external bodies to have easy access to such information. The TCS ASU statistician has already begun this process, and a publication and website will be available in 2005. The statistician will continue to gather and build up such information, and the national participation survey, once complete, will be able to provide consistent and robust data at 'all Scottish' and local authority levels.

15 d) Partnership Working: in order to deliver effectively Executive Ministers' sport and cultural policy objectives, partnership working across the Executive and with sponsored agencies and external bodies is critically important. Sport and cultural agencies look to the Executive to give a strategic policy lead to inform their research work. All organisations (culture and sport) have indicated that there is scope for more co-operative working, and partnership working to take place in researching and evaluating initiatives. The new Evidence Network (see below) will provide a forum for the encouragement of collaboration and co-operation between the NDPBs and agencies, and dialogue will be built up between external organisations and the Scottish Executive on the need for research into particular areas.

Sharing information and Providing Support to Agencies

16 TCS Group and the TCS ASU have recently set up an Evidence Network (Evidence in Culture and Sport - ECSnet) which will provide a forum to promote research that addresses Ministers' policy priorities. It will also generate debate on culture, sport and cultural tourism research, exchange research knowledge and information, encourage collaboration and co-operation between members, obtain expert information (eg academic) input, avoid duplication of work and generally provide a facility for keeping up to date on current and recent research that has implications for government policy. ECSnet will be hosted by the Scottish Executive (chaired by TCS Policy) and will organise and host seminars on a periodic basis where research consultants and academics can present latest research findings that may influence culture and sport policy areas.

17 ECSnet will consist of a core Working Group (the Hub), comprising SE policymakers and analysts in TCS, the sponsored NDPBs and other related agencies, all of whom are research funders in these areas. The 'outer' part of the Network (but still integral to the network as a whole) will comprise external organisations interested in culture and sport research, consultants and academics. A diagram of ECSnet is attached at Annex III. The Hub of ECSnet will meet twice-yearly (or more if required) and the SE will be responsible for setting the agenda and the secretariat of the group.

18 ECSnet will provide a facility for fostering open dialogue with NDPBs and other organisations involved in culture and sport research, and building up close working relationships with the relevant research contacts in each organisation. It will also link with other Government Departments and explore opportunities for collaboration and joint commissioning opportunities. Following the Literature Review on the Evidence Base for Culture, the Arts and Sport Policy, gaps in the evidence base are better understood, and bodies such as the Department for Culture Media and Sport, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Office share the Executive's interest in seeing them addressed.

Partnership Working Within The Scottish Executive

19 Due to the many cross-cutting areas that are impacted upon by culture and sport, there is scope for jointly commissioned research and/or joint interest and liaison between different departments within the SE. For example, arts and health is an area where funding is obtained for drama organisations, performers etc, from the Scottish Arts Council, to put on initiatives and events for patients in hospitals and residents in care homes etc. Benefits to the NHS have been demonstrated by way of improvement in patients' health, resulting in earlier discharge from hospital, reduced blood pressure, reduced stress levels etc. There is therefore potential for working more closely with the Health Department to ascertain the full benefits from participation in arts activities in the health arena, including the economic benefits to the Health Service as a whole, and encouraging joint funding of research and evaluation of arts and health projects and programmes. Similarly, links with the Education Department including liaising on the developing Youth Strategy and cross-cutting areas on youth leisure time and activities (including culture and sport), collaboration with the Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department (ETLLD) on 'creative/enterprising' projects in education, and keeping in touch with the outcomes of Future Learning and Teaching projects (FLAT), will serve to provide evidence on the contribution of culture and sport to education more generally. Active Schools is an example of sport, health and education working in partnership. Learning and Teaching Scotland, sportscotland and the local authorities are actively engaged at the grass roots level. There also is scope for partnership working with other departments in the SE such as Justice and Development (e.g. regeneration and communities), which have demonstrated potential beneficiaries of culture, the arts and sport activity. All Scottish Executive Departments and portfolio Ministers have received the Literature Review.

Dissemination And Knowledge Transfer

20 As a result of the Literature Review, a database of the research that the Review covered was set up to provide easy access for Ministers and policymakers in cross-cutting areas such as arts and health, culture, sport and social inclusion, culture, sport and justice etc. NDPBs and associated cultural agencies had indicated that they would find a central point of information on research carried out into the fields of culture and the arts, a useful reference point when considering research into these areas. The contract for the resulting database, entitled "Impact", was awarded to the Centre for Cultural Policy Research at Glasgow University, for its development, maintenance and updating as new and robust research findings become known. The database is available on line at CCPR's website ( www.culturalpolicy.arts.gla.ac.uk/), providing current and up to date information on recent and current research in the cultural and major events areas (sport research is now provided on a separate database entitled "The Value for Sport Monitor" and a link to that is provided in the Impact database). CCPR's contract is to maintain the database for the next 3 years - it is easily accessible to the user, searchable by key words and topics, and provides a valuable reference point for those interested in research and evaluation in the fields of culture, the arts and major events.

21 Research and evaluation reports that are commissioned by Culture and Sport divisions will be disseminated to the relevant NDPBs, agencies and organisations by way of a Research Findings (a summary of the full report) in hard copy, and the availability of the Research Findings and full Research Report on the Scottish Executive website. Organisations will be contacted by email to alert them about the forthcoming publication and distribution lists will be agreed with policy colleagues.

22 The Analytical Support Unit will advise policy colleagues of any external relevant research being carried out or having been published, that may impact upon policy development in the fields of culture and sport. The ASU will also provide ad hoc advice to policy colleagues on any research issues arising in these areas.

Resources

23 The present team of five (below) comprises the Education Department's Analytical and Services Unit (ASU) which provides analytical support to policy areas in the Department's Tourism, Culture and Sport Group, including carrying out internal reviews, commissioning required research, collecting and producing cultural and sport statistics, and providing ad hoc advice on research issues when required. There are proposals to expand the team to include a part-time C1 economist.

24 TCS ASU can draw on the annual Education Department Research Budget of £2.184 million but this is currently heavily committed to meet the needs of the Schools and Children, Young People and Social Care Groups. It is therefore important to prioritise research requirements at an early stage so that funding can sought and achieved in time for the forthcoming financial year's budget allocation. It is envisaged that the scale of research set out in this Strategy [2] will cost some £150,000 per annum, which is anticipated to be available over the next three years.

25 Some of the linked Non-Departmental Public Bodies and related agencies also retain a research budget to cover relevant research to inform, for example, new audience development and the implementation of policy. The Scottish Arts Council has a budget of £246,015 for 2004-05 and there will be a dedicated research budget in 2005-06 which will address research priorities linked to the Council's corporate objectives. The National Library of Scotland has a current research budget of £38,000, the National Galleries of Scotland has some £30,000, whilst the Scottish Museums Council has a limited budget of £10,000 available. VOCAL (the Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association in Scotland) does not have a budget for research but would consider funding research subject to the limitations of a modest resource budget of £10,000. The National Museums of Scotland has some £30,000 in budget for visitor research in 2005-2006 - this covers a planned annual programme including benchmarking for corporate targets as well as tactical evaluation of specific programmed exhibitions and events. Scottish Screen has no dedicated research budget, with costs for research coming from budgets allocated to the specific work areas. Similarly, COSLA's culture and leisure unit has no research budget and funding for research would have to be found from other budgets. sportscotland has an annual research budget of between £100,000 and £200,000 per annum depending on research requirements for that year, and VisitScotland has a core research budget of £800,000, plus, depending on priorities, is able to access another £100,000-£200,000 from other departmental budgets. It is likely that VisitScotland's budget will be increased to about £1.5m in 2005/2006 as it develops into a much larger organisation.

26 There is clearly an opportunity for the Scottish Executive to work collaboratively with the NDPBs and relevant organisations, and also for partnership working between them. All NDPBs and related agencies have indicated that they see scope for working with each other to research areas of mutual interest, thus avoiding duplication and promoting cost-effective research. Liaison and discussion between the different funding partners working in the culture, arts, cultural tourism and sport arenas can lead to co-operation and collaboration in research, and the proposed Evidence Network will be a forum for much of this discussion and joined-up working to take place.

PART C - THE WAY AHEAD

Five Steps Forward

i Analytical Services Provision

ii Liaison with Scottish Executive policy colleagues

iii External Liaison

iv Liaison with other Scottish Executive Departments

v Liaison between the 'Four Nations'

i Analytical Services Provision

27 A programme of research will be discussed with policy colleagues in Tourism, Culture and Sport Group and submitted to the Minister for agreement at the beginning of each financial year. The programme will be devised to meet the needs of policy requirements at that time and in accordance with financial and in-house resources available. In-house intelligence gathering will be an ongoing function of the Analytical Services Unit, providing research, economic and statistical advice, and ad-hoc advice will be provided when required.

• Programme of research to be agreed spring 2005
• In-house intelligence and ad-hoc analytical advice ongoing

ii Liaison with Scottish Executive Policy Colleagues

28 TCS Policy Group will brief ASU on developing policy priorities as these affect research and analytical requirements. TCS ASU will keep policy colleagues informed of latest developments in research and research findings in the areas of culture, the arts, cultural tourism and sport. The ASU will also specify, manage and disseminate information from TCS commissioned research projects, in consultation with policy colleagues. For individual research projects, Advisory Groups will be set up where appropriate, and policy colleagues will be invited to join and to advise on other appropriate members. TCS ASU will also respond to ad hoc policy requirements as and when they emerge, providing a professional, coherent and consistent service. Analysts will also meet with policy colleagues as and when discussion on the next Spending Review is required, and when early consideration of research requirements to inform the Review takes place. Close working relationships between analysts and policy colleagues are essential to provide a mutual understanding of each others' roles, a sense of the 'bigger picture' of overall aims, the opportunity for analysts to feed in at the earliest opportunity, and analytical advice on evaluating and researching cultural and sport policy.

• Meetings and liaison with policy colleagues will be ongoing over the Strategy period

iii External Liaison

a) Liaison with the NDPBs and relevant cultural and sport agencies

29 As in paragraph 15 above, an evidence network will be set up to facilitate liaison between the SE and the NDPBs and relevant agencies, encouraging co-operative working and exchange of information.

• The network will be set up by early 2005.

30 By way of the network, close liaison will also take place with the NDPBs on the national participation survey, where all those wishing to participate in the survey will have the opportunity to comment on the research specification, the devising of questionnaires and so on. NDPBs have already taken part in a consultation exercise on the survey, and will be continually kept informed of progress.

b) Networking with the external research community

31 Apart from using ECSnet as a knowledge transfer facility, analysts will also attend relevant conferences and seminars that provide information, developments and research findings in the areas of culture, the arts and sport. Such information will be disseminated to policy colleagues following attendance at the event. Analysts will also take the opportunity, where possible, to present information and findings to the external research community, at appropriate seminars and conferences.

• Attendance at seminars and conferences by analysts will be ongoing throughout the Strategy period.

iv Liaison with other Scottish Executive Departments

32 The Literature Review of cultural and sport research has shown that both can have an impact on various aspects of society, such as social inclusion, health, education, diversionary activity and community regeneration. Also, bi-lateral meetings between Scottish Executive Ministers and between their respective teams of officials are convened to discuss the mutual benefits of engagement in, and use of, culture in a wide range of policy settings. These meetings also consider the scope for unilateral or possibly joint research activity, to help fill gaps in evidence.

33 Policy and Analyst teams will build on this bi-lateral engagement, arranging a series of meetings with the relevant research and policy contacts in each department, to discuss and agree where joint working in research projects would be valuable and provide useful information to each respective department on the impact of policy or the potential impact of future policy on certain groups in society. Mobilising joint, or co-funding research projects will also be an aim of such liaison, encouraging joint ownership and interest in cross-cutting research, and providing a cost-effective method of working.

• The first of several meetings with other SE Departments will be arranged in early 2005 and will continue throughout 2005 and 2006.

v Liaison between the 'Four Nations'

34 A 'four nations' group has already been set up to discuss the possibility of a national UK survey on cultural participation. Although it has now been decided that this particular survey will be England and Wales only (the SE will carry out a national Scottish survey which will be comparable to the Eng/Wales survey), the group will continue to meet three or four times a year to discuss progress on the national survey(s) and to exchange information on progress within each government's cultural and sport departments. The group also provides a forum to discuss future research requirements, and for collaboration in research where feasible and cost-effective. In this regard, analysts will liaise with relevant contacts in DCMS regarding future work on developing Evaluation Guidance to assist cultural and sport organisations to evaluate programmes in a robust and consistent way. Policy officials also liaise with their counterparts in other government departments (eg DCMS), to explore, scope and share good practice and research plans in support of policy.

35 Meetings between government analysts take place on a rota basis at each Department's location, and minutes of each meeting will be circulated to policy colleagues in cultural and sport divisions.

• The most recent meeting of the 'Four Nations' took place in 2005 and meetings will continue every 3-4 months throughout 2006 and 2007.

CONCLUSIONS

36 This Research Strategy sets out the priorities for research over the next 3 years. However, the Strategy is not 'fixed', but will evolve over time, responding and reacting to emerging priority requirements, particularly where deadlines are set to provide results of evaluation and research to inform future policy. The Strategy will be reviewed on an annual basis to reflect changing policy requirements and developments.

37 The Research Strategy will however, retain its main focus of working towards building up a robust, coherent and consistent evidence base to assist the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and TCS Group in policy development and implementation, and to provide data that will inform the next two Spending Reviews.

ANNEX I

Specific Evidence Gaps identified from an examination of the evidence base (principally through the Literature Review)

a) National Cultural Participation, Attendance and Attitudes Survey: Cultural Policy Division and all the NDPBs have indicated the need for a national survey in Scotland on cultural participation, attendance and attitudes to provide robust information at both Scotland-wide and local authority level. Although some of the NDPBs carry out their own surveys that provide information at a national level, a large-scale national survey covering all the cultural sectors, that is able to be disaggregated to local authority level, has never been conducted before. Such a survey will provide valuable information to the Scottish Executive and the NDPBs on the level of participation of different groups, access to cultural facilities in their area, and attitudes towards culture and participation. Under-represented groups can be identified from such a survey, and further qualitative research can explore barriers etc to participation. Once a clear understanding has been reached about why certain groups do not engage with cultural activities, and whether any particular initiatives would encourage them to participate, agencies can target their marketing and promotion more effectively to increase participation.

It is intended that the survey be comparable to the DCMS survey of England and Wales, using some core questions from their questionnaire. It is envisaged that the survey would begin spring 2005 and complete spring 2006. In order to track trends in data, the survey would be repeated some 2-3 years later. Liaison will take place with the NDPBs to establish relative levels of co-funding of the survey, and other sources will be identified, such as the Education Research Budget and any other appropriate pots of funding available.

At present, the sportscotland large-scale survey will identify under-represented groups in sport and physical activity, and liaison can take place with sportscotland on further qualitative research on these groups.

b) Well-being and Quality of Life: research has consistently found that individuals and communities perceive that their quality of life and sense of well-being has been enhanced through participation in a cultural or sport activity. However, there needs to be more research done on the definition and measurement of these concepts, and on the measurement of the relative contribution of arts, culture and sport to indicate the value of both their social and economic contribution, A 'think-piece' could be commissioned to examine the literature in this field and suggest how such research and measurement can be conducted.

c) Arts and Prisons: there appears to be little, or no research evidence of evaluation of long-term outcomes of arts (and sport) projects and programmes in UK prisons and rehabilitation centres. Consideration of examples of short-term benefits of such participation, across the UK and internationally will take place, and arts projects for developmental purposes eg learning life skills such as literacy, and increased employability might be developed as pilots in Scotland. Such pilots would be subject to full evaluation to establish their contribution to a reduction in re-offending. Longitudinal research would be required in this area to establish sustained impacts.

d) Arts and Health: there are many arts projects and programmes taking place in hospitals and health centres, but little formal outcome evaluation of the role the arts play in improving health; there is also the need for evaluating the economic, as well as the social or medical impact of arts in health, to demonstrate savings to the National Health Service through the benefits brought to patients' health.

e) Creativity in Education: the concept of creativity in education has come to the fore over the last two years, and is important as a basis for developing social and educational skills in children from an early age. Research requires to be carried out in Scottish primary and secondary schools to establish the long term impact of creativity in education and how it contributes to problem-solving skills, and cognitive and social development (eg confidence, self-esteem, enterprising attitudes) in school and beyond.

f) Employment: previous research has demonstrated that participation in arts activities at school can develop transferable skills for the workplace, but there is little evidence on the actual employment effect. Research is needed to assess the role such participation plays in pupils' gaining employment, and whether arts' participation influences the type of employment achieved, including whether it has influenced a choice of career in the creative industries.

g) Art as Itself: research on the intrinsic nature of art and its capacity to provide meaning to different individuals and different cultures would assist art providers to better understand what art means to target audiences and perhaps encourage more participation/attendance. This is a piece of research that could potentially be commissioned jointly by some of the NDPBs, to inform their marketing departments on how to attract more visitors and attenders to exhibitions, displays, arts events etc.

h) Major Events: examination of evaluations of major events has shown that there is little evaluation of any social impact of events such as enhanced quality of life, sense of place, improved image of the host area etc; evaluations do not also highlight the negative social impact of events such as traffic congestion, overcrowding, noise pollution etc. There is therefore scope to influence any evaluations of forthcoming major events, ensuring that the social as well as the economic impact is evaluated, and both social and economic outcomes measured.

i) Physical Activity: on examination of previous research, little large-scale research has been carried out on programmes promoting children's physical activity, or that has focused on socially excluded children. There has also been little evaluation of physical activity interventions that have built on young people's ideas. There is therefore scope for social research to be carried out jointly by TCS and the Physical Activity Task Force in the Scottish Executive to fill this evidence gap.

j) Understanding the drivers for participation in sport and the reasons for non-participation. Although we have robust information on the extent of participation and non-participation in sport activities in Scotland, we still do not understand the reasons why people do or do not participate, and research should be carried out to provide an insight into people's motivation to participate or not, so that policies can be developed to increase participation by under-represented groups.

ANNEX II

Proposed Research Priorities 2004-2007

The following list prioritises (some retrospectively) specific pieces of research and work to take place over the next 3 years. These priorities may change however, according to the needs of Ministers and TCS Group at the time.

ANNEX III

[1] At present, VisitScotland carries out tourism research for the Scottish Executive. However, research support for cultural tourism, the remit for which falls explicitly within the Cultural Policy Division in the SE, is provided and close links with VisitScotland research are maintained so that a comprehensive evidence base for tourism in Scotland is available.

[2] Excluding the costs of proposed National Cultural Participation Survey

Back to contents

• The Scottish Parliament
• The UK Parliament
• National Assembly for Wales
• NorthernIreland Assembly
• openscotland

Direct.gov

• Impact 'arts and culture' research database - www.culturalpolicy.arts.gla.ac.uk/
• DCMS research http://www.culture.gov.uk/global/research/

• Crown Copyright
• Privacy Policy and Content Disclaimer
• General Enquiries

Page updated: Friday 5 May 2005

• Home
• About
• Topics
• News
• Publications
• Consultations
• FOI
• Junior Exec