Depending on the questions to be addressed and the context of the research, and of course in consultation with the client for the research, a suitable approach is sought. What exactly are we trying to find out? Measuring an organisation’s image (image research) is a completely different form of research than measuring the satisfaction of visitors to a specific exhibition (satisfaction research).
In practice, the different types of research are often combined and, for example, a single questionnaire may include questions that explore the types of visitors to a certain institution, their degree of satisfaction and their appreciation of the services provided (evaluation).
Below, we provide an overview (and brief explanation) of the major types of research.
In audience research, only users and visitors are questioned. This provides insight into who is currently visiting your institution or making use of the services provided. This is by far the type of research most frequently performed by the Visitors Observatory. Generally speaking, we can distinguish two different types of audience research:
These research types are not restricted to the current visitors or users, but rather explore the potential visitors or users of your institution, service or campaign that your institution offers to “the public”. A number of these types of research fall under the heading “market research”.
