Insights and trends: Supporting the sector through our biennial survey

Museums Galleries Scotland undertook our third sector survey with DC Research this year. It’s a piece of work that takes place every two years and for me it’s a really exciting project to work on. The purpose of the survey is for us to be able to check how the sector is doing, what is going well and what challenges are being faced. The results enable us to work with and for the sector from a position of knowledge.

Some of the same questions have been asked each time we conduct the survey and allow us to see what the trends are across the sector. One example of this is the number of visits to museums and galleries. Other questions are additional to the core questions and allow us to focus on an area where we have a data gap. This year we asked additional questions around workforce development needs and capital works.

We use the data provided to advocate for museums and galleries to the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament, COSLA, and other stakeholders. Results from our previous sector surveys gave us the information needed to make the case for additional sector investment such as our Museum Futures programme.

We also use the results to plan where we can best focus our support. For example, the responses to the workforce questions this year will give direction to the skills development offer we need to provide.

The survey can indicate areas where more research is needed. This year the responses to our questions on capital work show that there is much more we need to know and understand. With limited resources available we want to be sure we are focussing them on the right areas, whether this is providing advice, skills development, or funding.

The importance of museum organisations taking the time to participate in the survey can’t be underestimated. Having a range of responses from across the country and across the different types of museums ensures that we are able to represent the whole sector more effectively.

You might wonder why the survey only takes place every two years. Well, we understand the capacity issues facing the sector and that completing the survey takes time. With this in mind, we are purposeful in the questions that we choose to include. We don’t ask questions that we already have the data for across the sector, or that provide data which is readily available elsewhere. We do ask questions that will develop our understanding and help us to move forward. Responses can be useful to test if experiences and challenges we are hearing about anecdotally are shared across the sector.

The survey results can help to supplement information we are sourcing through other means. This year we were able to use the Museum Futures Organisational Health Checker to provide data on reserves, one of the areas that is usually included as a core question.

This year we’ve already seen the survey results used to present evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee. This generated a huge amount of publicity for the work of both the Scottish museum sector and MGS.

There is often interest in the sector from museums outside of Scotland and from non-museum sector organisations within Scotland. The sector survey reports are a way for us to easily share data about Scottish museums and galleries. If there is one thing we can assure you, it’s that the sector survey report does get used and is not left to gather dust on a shelf!