Using Concept Mapping and Stakeholder Focus Groups in a Museum Management Case Study

Abstract

This chapter describes a participatory case study undertaken at a museum in New Zealand, involving a varied range of museum stakeholders. The research investigated aspects of museum performance assessment in the context of public accountability from the perspectives of different communities of interest, including Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. The complex research design involved identifying key stakeholders, and then conducting focus groups with a diversity of stakeholder types. Through a brainstorming process, these groups co-created texts which formed the raw data for the study. The stakeholder-generated texts were interpreted at various stages to produce ‘Possible Performance Statements’ which reflected the understandings and concerns of the various stakeholders in relation to the case museum's performance. Adopting the concept mapping approach developed by Trochim, the focus group participants then sorted the statements into conceptual constructs which made sense to them, and also rated the statements according to their relative importance as criteria for assessing their museum's performance. Proprietary software that is used to analyse the sorting and rating data produced concept maps and pattern matches which facilitated interpretation of the participants’ perspectives. The visual representations of the quantitative analyses enabled qualitative consideration leading to the development of a framework for museum performance assessment which would be more holistic and locally relevant and which would address stakeholder concerns.

The application of this intricate hybrid research design provided lessons which suggested other ways to gain richer data and deeper insights from the concept mapping approach, especially in a cross-cultural context. Participatory approaches which allow collective, as opposed to individual, interpretation of the co-created texts may be more suitable in certain cultural contexts, in this instance among Maori participants. The approach adopted was resource-intensive, requiring tight organisation and flexibility, greatly assisted by piloting the processes and using a professional editor to prepare the texts for interpretation by the participants. To maximise the insights from the focus groups, audio-recording of the research participants’ discussions as they generated their texts relating to museum performance assessment should be considered, as well as involving participants in the interpretation of the concept maps.

Citation

Legget, J. (2012), "Using Concept Mapping and Stakeholder Focus Groups in a Museum Management Case Study", Hyde, K.F., Ryan, C. and Woodside, A.G. (Ed.) Field Guide to Case Study Research in Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure (Advances in Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 61-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1871-3173(2012)0000006007