Make your data collection fun

Different evaluation methods

A downloadable resource developed as part of the Inspiring Learning for All Framework by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). Includes a table of research methods, along with the pros and cons (including questionnaires, graffiti walls and focus groups), a research question bank, focus group guide, and guides on involving users and interpreting visual images.

Collect and/or Retrieve Data

An outline of dozens of ways to collect or retrieve existing data, grouped around five clusters: information from individual, information from groups, observation, physical measurements, and reviews of existing records and data.

Responses to Tate's collection by our BAME network

The Tate has published reviews of its collection by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff, offering insight into the artwork that goes beyond the white gaze.

"Brunias shows the lighter the skin, the freer you are. Darker skinned women of colour are still disproportionately affected by this today."

"In the painting, Europeans are the only ones seated on furniture."

Using Walking Interviews

An overview of the 'walking interview' method, used in the Connected Lives, a research project of the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods: Real Life Methods node. Includes an interview script from the project

'The method can afford participants a greater degree of control over the research process, deciding where to take the researcher for example.'

Embedding Art in Research

Diversity Arts’ Executive Director Lena Nahlous and Creatives of Colour’s Rani Pramesti discuss innovative forms of research in the arts, especially in relation to diverse audiences.

"We're beginning to get a grip on the influence of this work and its impact and it's harder to measure than more traditional means of research, but that doesn't mean that it's not measurable, because it is." - Lena Nahlous