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.

Table of Contents:
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 Thematic literature review Systematic Literature review Annotated bibliographic analysis Netnography Meta-analysis 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

About the Author :
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. 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.

Review :
"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