A benchmarking exercise conducted for Creative Scotland. The project involved reviewing comparator models and creating a framework for the benchmark. Data was collected from secondary sources including recruitment adverts. The output was a populated benchmark and recommendations for ongoing benchmarking.
Planning and delivering consultation for Edinburgh International Festival on The Hub which was used as a public space during the 2024 festival. The research included mystery shopping and face to face interviews to understand who was using the space and their experience.
Undertaking an annual audience survey to understand how the audience profile has changed as well as explore key development areas to inform strategy, programme and marketing.
Undertaking a evaluation of the long term impact of Craft Scotland's participation in Collect the leading international art fair for contemporary craft and design. The evaluation will inform Craft Scotland's future programme.
Working with Tangent to test brand designs for the new Perth Museum with potential attenders from across Scotland through online interviews.
Supporting consultation with BSL users about the best options for Deaf audiences for NTS's digital short films.
Delivering focus groups to explore options for event programmes, audio content and other tools which support the audience experience.
Focus groups with members of Edinburgh International Festival to inform the development of its new membership programme leading to growth in memberships.
Radical Care was a Creative Scotland funded action research programme to test new approaches to support those with care responsibilities working in the arts, screen and creative industries. The aim of the programme was to identify what works to create models which can be delivered across the sector. The report was published by Creative Scotland.
Undertaking an annual audience survey which creates trend analysis with previous years and in 2024 particularly explored the move to the new site at Edinburgh Futures Institute providing detailed feedback to inform future development of the site.
The Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards (VACMA) is a programme of small grants schemes delivered in partnership with local authorities and art agencies across Scotland. VACMA is designed to support Scotland-based visual artists and craft makers in their creative development. Creative Scotland provides funding and supports the overall coordination of the VACMA programme. Local partners provide co-funding and are responsible for administering the scheme in their area. The evaluation had a twin approach looking both at the perspective of the funded artists/makers and the VACMA partners. Funded artists/makers completed a survey which looked at the impacts from the funding on their practice; the survey also tested areas of change within VACMA to identify the perspective of recipients. VACMA partners took part in individual interviews which focused on the impacts of VACMA, tested views on recent VACMA changes and identified commitment to VACMA going forward. The evaluation was published by Creative Scotland with recommendations informing the 2024 programme.
Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and delivered by thrive and Arts & Business NI, Re:Model was a programme that works with heritage organisations in Northern Ireland to support organisations to plan for change in order to make their organisation more resilient and sustainable. The cornerstone of the evaluation was creating a logic model which included a range of outcomes including internal outcomes. A baseline was measured in relation to the outcomes with key measures tracked stage by stage and at the end of the programme to identify impact and change.
A significant range of lessons were identified with recommendations made about future programmes of this type particularly in terms of the best programme design to meet specific outcomes.
Gathering evidence of the impact of Craft Scotland’s learning and development programme including developing case studies to show the longer-term impact on participants.
Undertaking stakeholder interviews with funders, partners, promoters and competitors to inform business planning as part of the BK team for: Dance Ireland, Derby Hippodrome, Ramsbottom Co-Op Hall and Tyne Theatre.
Evaluating the Applied Arts Scotland/ Craft Scotland Resilience programme of peer-to-peer and traditional mentoring. Identifying the impact that participation has had on individual makers as well as wider impacts related to mentoring within the sector.
Working with Edinburgh International Festival in an action research methodology to identify people's barriers to classical music, test different presentation and contextualisation options and measure the impact on attenders including people attending their first classical music concert.
Conducting research to inform the new Digital Engagement Strategy for Museums & Galleries Edinburgh. The research covered digital channels, online events and activities, as well as use of digital within venues. People were asked to identify examples of content and online events to show what engaged them.
Undertaking a research programme with Edinburgh International Festival focused on brand. This was a phased approach which included one on one interviews with attenders and non attenders, these informed focus groups with key segments including non attenders with the final stage being a survey of 1000 Scottish residents. The public survey was repeated in 2023 and 2024.
Consultation with D/deaf and disabled audience members to inform the delivery of the International Festival's new Access Pass service.
Undertaking research with visitors to inform COVID planning by identifying the visitor response to, and satisfaction with, the COVID safety measures.
COMPASS is Craft Scotland’s learning and development programme created specifically for makers, focussing on developing craft talent and equipping individuals with skills to create a sustainable craft practice. The evaluation involved planning to understand the intended outcomes and develop an evaluation framework around these. Each COMPASS participant was interviewed to understand what benefit they had from their participation related to the outcomes both immediate (skills, confidence, peer network) as well as longer term impacts (business action, business viability). The report was used by Craft Scotland to secure funding for the programme.
Working with thrive audience development agency to conduct online focus groups with potential family visitors to Clifton House including testing response to the application of augmented reality.
Evaluation of the impact of the Recovery & Resilience funding programme and assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on the independent museum sector in Scotland. Involving over 40 interviews with independent museums, the findings of the research informed the next phase of Covid-19 funding.
Online focus groups with attenders to Sunday Classics to understand their motivations for attending and explore the specific experience of the events. Also looking at marketing materials to evaluate their success and impact for different audience segments. The research informed the re-fresh for the 2022 season.
Prescribe Culture was a pilot social prescribing project delivered by The University of Edinburgh Museums Service which looked to engage students in cultural activities to improve their mental health. The evaluation was funded by MGS.
The evaluation included the following methodologies:
With participants quantitative measures were used including using the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale to measure mental wellbeing before and after participation in the pilot. Surveys were used to collect this data with these subject to participant coding to achieve total anonymity given the sensitivity of the data.
Qualitative interviews were also conducted with the participants to gather their feedback including their own assessment of the impact on their wellbeing and their feedback on how the programme could be improved.
Interviews with the referring organisations (health and student welfare) and the delivery partners (eg National Library of Scotland, SCO) to identify what worked well and what needed to be adapted from the pilot programme.
The evaluation was drawn together into a report which matched the findings to the programme’s objectives to identify to what extent the outcomes had been met. It also identified recommendations for the development and roll out of the programme.
Conducting visitor surveys of attenders to seven key Museums & Galleries Edinburgh sites and with participants at activities and events to understand the visitor profile, experience and needs in 2019.
The evaluation of Inverclyde’s Great Place Scheme incorporated a mix of primary and secondary research. The secondary research took information collated during the programme including feedback processes, media and monitoring evaluation. This provided the context for the primary research which included surveys and interviews with participants and partners. The report included case studies drawn from desk and primary sources of activities which provided the best examples of how the programme met the intended outcomes. The evaluation was shared with stakeholders and informed the next stages of community engaged practice in Inverclyde.
Working with Craft Scotland to undertake a sector wide survey to understand the routes to become a maker as well as future business and creative ambitions to enable Craft Scotland direct its work as a development agency.
Working with the Fringe to consult with users of the Access Booking Service to assess their satisfaction with the service as well as understand their wider experience of the Fringe.
Creating a research strategy with The Byre to would allow the theatre to better understand both its current audiences as well as the wider market. This included non attenders research and market analysis.
Working with the Lyceum to update its audience research enabling the theatre to track change and understand differences in the views and experiences of subscribers and other attenders.
Using data analysis and audience surveys to help the Usher Hall make evidence based decisions about its programme and marketing. Undertaking specific research into programme using data analysis, survey and online focus groups.
Undertaking analysis of the schools programme at the four NMS sites to provide an overview of the scope of the activity enabling NMS to make strategic decisions about future direction. Also evaluating the East Asia and Ancient Egypt National Programme
Clair led two projects related to the theatres’ communication with its audiences both through its brochure and its digital channels. The recommendations made changed the approach to communications with a segmented approach and new formats delivered. This enabled the theatre to reduce its spend on print.
Clair worked with NGS to undertake qualitative research as part of the brand development process. As part of a wider review of the brand, NGS sought to include the perspective of attenders. The research was delivered as a series of focus groups with current attenders. These covered the language used to name the galleries as well as the associations with each and collectively with NGS. The findings were used by the SMT to inform a decision about the next steps for the brand.
Clair led research with the Royal Collection Trust focused on The Palace of Holyrood House and Queen’s Gallery. This started with a quantitative exercise to understand its attenders and their motivations to attend. This led to some key findings which suggested a change in approach for the RCT. This was followed up with some qualitative research with explored the options for change in more depth. This included focus groups with both attenders and non attenders. The results were presented to the master planning board as well as a forum of key stakeholders to inform the future activity for the Palace.
Clair has delivered research for Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society both with Culture Republic and as CG Research. This has included an annual online survey which tracked the profile of attenders and tested new initiatives as well as potential future options such as digital ticketing. Clair also led complex data analysis of box office information identifying the overall trends in Fringe attendance and behaviour as well as significant variations within that market. In addition, Clair led focus groups for the Fringe looking at how the Fringe can better engage with local families
Clair led tracking research for the National Theatre of Scotland. A survey was sent to attenders after each production. This enabled NTS to collate an annual audience profile as well as make comparisons between the profile of attenders to different shows and the variations in satisfaction. Clair worked with NTS to develop an overview of the world of NTS for the incoming artistic directors in 2013 and 2017. This synthesised all the data about the audiences of NTS and the wider market to provide the new Directors with the information they needed to understand both the wider context and specific information about NTS activity and audiences.
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies. Privacy Policy