Doing (and Using) Research in Arts and Cultural Management: (Discovering the Creative Industries)

This book offers a rich, critical, and engaging exploration of cutting-edge methods for studying arts and cultural management in a digital age. The content will appeal to those who seek to study these topics by employing the latest data gathering and analytical methods. It is an informative resource for academics, including advanced masters’ and PhD candidates, as well as professional arts managers seeking to understand the changing landscape. This book is relevant to arts and cultural management, creative industries, cultural policy, festivals and events, heritage, museum studies, arts consumption and marketing, and cultural tourism. It will also appeal to consultants, evaluators, and fundraisers who do research on a regular basis. The chapters engage with both traditional and contemporary research topics, including providing examples of high-quality research from national, regional, and local settings in various parts of the world. The co-authors are five diverse scholars who are experienced not only in standard qualitative and quantitative methods but also emerging techniques such as netnography and digital analysis. This book provides real-world, empirical, and theoretical insights on how to navigate the complexities of research methods in a creative context.

Preface

Chapter 1 Foundations of arts and cultural research

What is research?

Academic research

Information search from the manager's point of view

Qualitative Research

Quantitative research

The importance of writing clearly

How to use this Book

References

Chapter 2: Research Questions and Research Designs

Introduction

Step 1: Identify Your Potential Contribution

Step 2: Clarify Your Research Goal

Step 3: Specify Your Research Question

Step 4: Select Your Research Design

Conclusion

References

Chapter 3: Doing ethics in arts and cultural management research

Introduction

Ethical dilemmas

Types of ethical dilemmas

Types of ethical breaches

A research ethics framework

Steps in the research ethics process

Gaining Respect

Building Trust

Being responsible and accountable

Individual

Community

Institutional

Conclusion

References

Chapter 4 What, Why and How: Writing a Literature Review

Introduction

What is a literature Review

Steps in a Literature Review

1. Define the boundaries/gaps of your subject.

2. Define the constructs or concepts you are going to use.

3. Explain your contribution to knowledge.

4. Address Your Audience

Types of Literature Review

1. Thematic literature review
2. Systematic Literature review
3. Annotated bibliographic analysis
4. Netnography
5. Meta-analysis
6. Spectroscopy

Conclusion

References

Chapter 5: Survey Research

Introduction

Step 1: Selecting and Sampling Participants

Step 2: Measuring the Variables

Step 3: Designing and Distributing the Survey Questionnaire

Step 5: Analyzing and Presenting the Data

Conclusion

References

Chapter 6: Depth Interview Research

Introduction

Step 1: Literature Review and Research Question

Step 2: Locating Participants and Preparing for Interviews

Step 3: Conducting the Interview

Step 4: Transcribe, Code, Analyze

Step 5: Write-up or Edit your Findings

Conclusion

References

Chapter 7: Experimental Research

Introduction

Step 1: Selecting the Type of Experiment

Step 2: Determining the Factorial Design

Step 3: Designing and Pretesting the Manipulations

Step 4: Designing and Distributing the Questionnaire

Step 5: Analyzing and Presenting the Data

Conclusion

References

Chapter 8: Case Studies

Introduction

What is Case Study?

When to Use Case Studies as a Research Method?

3.0 Key stages in case study research

Step 1: Define a research question

Step 2: Determine the subject and set the boundaries

Step 3: Craft and test the tools

Step 4: Collect data

Principle 1: use multiple sources of evidence

Principle 2: create a case study database

Step 5: Analyze the data

Conclusion

References

Chapter 9: Ethnography, Netnography, and Observation

Introduction

Ethnography

Netnography

Step 1: Locate Data

Step 2: Data Analysis

Step 3: Data Interpretation

Step 4. Publishing your Netnography

Observation

Autoethnography

Mechanical Observation

Non-Participant and Unobtrusive Observation

Conclusion

References

Chapter 10: Effective Writing and Presentations

Introduction

Step 1: Preparing to Communicate Your Research

Step 2: Framing the Phenomenon and Research Question

Step 3: Writing a Literature Review and Theoretical Foundation

Step 4: Writing Methods Sections and Findings

Step 5: Writing Discussion and Conclusion Sections

Writing for a Managerial Audience

Conclusion

References

Conclusion

Russell Belk is York University Distinguished Research Professor and Kraft Foods Canada Chair in Marketing at Schulich School of Business, York University. His research involves the extended self, the arts, collecting, gift-giving, sharing, digital consumption, and materialism. He is primarily qualitative and often conceptual, visual, and cultural. He has over 800 publications; in 2012 a 10-volume subset was published in Sage’s Legends in Consumer Behavior series. In 2023 he received an honorary doctorate with festschrift from Université de Reims. He co-initiated the Consumer Behavior Odyssey, the ACR Film Festival, and the Consumer Culture Theory Conference.

François Colbert has been active in the field of arts and culture for over 50 years, particularly in the performing arts, museum, and film sectors. He has given numerous training and professional development seminars in arts management, with a focus on the field of marketing management in a cultural context. He is professor of marketing and holder of the Carmelle and Rémi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management at HEC Montréal. He founded the AIMAC Conference and the International Journal of Arts Management. He is the codirector of the Master of Management in International Arts Management and author of the book Marketing Culture and the Arts published in 16 languages.

Danilo C. Dantas is Professor of Marketing at HEC Montréal, Canada, where he serves as the pedagogical director of the Professional Master’s and Graduate Diploma in Management of Cultural Organizations. His research focuses on the marketing of music, employing various research methods. His work has been published in the European Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Interactive Marketing, the International Journal of Arts Management, and the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, among others. He is also the co-chair of AIMAC, the International Association of Arts and Culture Management.

Ruth Rentschler OAM is Professor of Arts and Cultural Leadership, UniSA Business, Adelaide, Australia. Is an Honorary Visiting Adjunct Professor at John Moore’s Business School University, Liverpool, and is a Guest Professor Peking University and Supervising Professor Flinders University.Her research entails creative topics focusing on inclusion and diversity. Ruth’s work is often qualitative, with particular interest in unique longitudinal secondary data sets, the self and others, and more recently film and the digital world. She has designed and taught research methods at PhD level in numerous universities around the world. Ruth has received national and international awards for her contributions to arts and cultural management and higher education. She is widely published, including her most recent book, Routledge Companion to Governance in the Arts World (Rentschler, Reid & Donelli, Routledge, Eds., 2025).

Jennifer Wiggins is Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at Kent State University, Ohio, USA, and Co-Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Arts Management. Her research on consumer willingness to donate, willingness to pay for arts experiences, and willingness to support new creative and social ventures has been published in top journals in marketing, entrepreneurship, and arts management. Her methodological expertise is in experimental design and measurement. She has mentored over two dozen doctoral students and teaches philosophy of science, theory development, and research methods at the doctoral level.

"As data continue to drive decision making, funding, and policy cultural managers need resources like this book to aid them in learning, doing, and using research." Constance DeVereaux, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA

"Written by five experienced arts management professors this comprehensive and digestible book about research methods and publication practices in arts and cultural management, specifically, is a much-needed practical resource for undergraduate and graduate students as well as their professors and mentors. The authors provide clear definitions, detailed research design descriptions and examples that will inspire fellow researchers and professional managers working in an increasingly complex and complicated arts and cultural economy." Diane Claussen, DePaul University, USA