Museums are becoming increasingly aware of their growing need for visitor studies. This information is used in various ways, for example in making decisions, improving the experience and establishing relationships between the museum and the local community. Museums are trying to listen and respond to the needs and interests of the public. Through the feedback provided, museums develop programming, museum spaces and exhibitions. They also measure social impact on public value, which can be used as feedback to stakeholders, board members and sponsors. The essay will outline some of the key visitor studies theories and methodologies currently in practice, and address the usefulness of these studies for discovering why people visit museums and galleries. Focusing on quantitative methods, I will outline how visitor motivations can be reviewed through evaluation and survey techniques. Through qualitative methods, I will address how museums use focus groups and written feedback. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Quantitative methods focus on audience segmentation such as demographics and attitudes that can be quantified. The quantitative method is for research that requires statistics, the results are very well measured and of high credibility. They are clear and well-defined variables. The quantitative method can collect information such as the percentage of locals versus tourists who visit the museum, how far away visitors live from the museum, how many repeat visitors versus unique visitors. In this method, research can use tools such as surveys, open-ended and closed-ended questions, systematic monitoring and visitor observation. Doering's key theory is that museum visitors arrive with “different entry narratives” and visiting expectations. To satisfy museum visitors, museums have increasingly started to use an evaluation method. The mixed method combines quantitative and qualitative methods. It is the most detailed and inclusive method. Korn states that “evaluation” is the systematic collection of data and information about the characteristics, activities, and results of an exhibition or public program.” It provides different perspectives on the same problem providing both measurement and understanding. It includes individual interviews, open questions, focus groups and monitoring. Although not widely used in Britain, the evaluation methodology is used in the United States, in order to obtain further funding and demonstrate that the exhibitions are worth the grants. It is designed to have a problem-solving focus that asks questions about specific processes or outcomes. The evaluation method is conducted in four different stages of exhibitions: front-end evaluation, formative evaluation, summative evaluation and corrective evaluation. Front-end evaluation takes place in the development phase of an exhibition, assists in defining objectives, “exhibition layout, terminology, approaches to motivate visitors' attention and interest, text formats, titles, in the graphics and, in particular, in the management of the distortions that arise from visitors' preconceptions on the theme of the exhibition". Through this approach it is possible to explore visitors' point of view on the topic of the exhibition. You can test titles, script ideas, and themes. The tools used can be both qualitative and quantitative. Formative Assessment is used during the planning phases, it teststhe current plan and modify the development process. Through the training approach it is possible to explore visitors' understanding, reading and viewing of the exhibition. In this phase qualitative tools are mainly used. Change of corrective evaluation identity after the opening of an exhibition, which is a refinement of an exhibition after its opening. Both qualitative and quantitative tools are used. SummativeThe evaluation is used at the end of the exhibition. Measure impact and outcome. You need to define the value to measure the success of this phase. This phase produced the final report which can be used as a reference for sponsors or administrators. Although assessment is a very effective approach to gathering information, the resources required make it difficult to apply it frequently. The main resources needed are time and personnel. Dedicated and trained staff or external consultants require a lot of budget. If selected, it is also time consuming and must be integrated as part of the budget and calendar of the exhibition and programme. Despite these disadvantages, the evaluation approach has demonstrated its usefulness and effectiveness. It introduces shared authority into the planning and execution of an exhibition or program. The Allentown Art Museum in Pennsylvania used the assessments to help with the creation and modification of a junior gallery. An initial assessment took place in the planning phase of the tunnel. The interactive components for the outcomes provided staff with feedback to design the content of each activity prior to the exhibition, formative assessment was performed during the exhibition to assess both the quality and value of each activity. Some components have been modified and improved based on feedback. The result of this evaluation helped staff members create activities that helped visitors better understand the exhibition and collection. The interpretative path was set up in collaboration between visitors and museum professionals. Surveys can allow museums to understand demographics such as age and gender, or geography, local or tourist, and even the socioeconomic and educational levels of their visitors. The usefulness of knowing demographic data allows the museum to understand who visits the museum, but not necessarily help them attract more visitors. In 2013, user surveys were conducted in around 200 cultural organizations and museums in Denmark. The investigation focused on four contemporary challenges faced by these organisations: identity and learning behaviours, space for intercultural dialogue, gender equality and cultural tourism. The survey was carried out through short structured questionnaires. The questionnaire asked visitors about their experience in the museum. He questioned their motivation to visit the museum, dividing responses into two categories: reloader and explorer. “Recharger (I am here to recharge my batteries and to find peace, quiet and time for introspection…)” or “Explorer (I am curious and interested. I am here today to gain new knowledge and inspiration)”. John Falk and Lynn Dierking (2012) developed visitor profiles, highlighting that visitors may have different motivations for visiting museums on a given day. Explorer, facilitator, experience seeker, professional and recharger are the profiles they identified. The museum and its staff cannot know what profile the visitor is taking when they enter the museum, however the strategy allows museums to divide visitors into segments and help facilitate better engagement, for example by creating specific routes and maps forsome profiles, personalizing experiences. The survey results led to several articles reflecting on the four challenges the museum faces. Collecting data using closed-ended survey allows researchers to obtain simple analysis of relationships. This is appropriate for large sample sizes, however it is arguable that some of the information collected using this method is considered superficial and narrow for measuring visitor experiences (Daidson museum practices). Surveys can allow museums to understand demographics such as age and gender, or geography, local or tourist, and even the socioeconomic and educational levels of their visitors. The usefulness of knowing demographic data allows the museum to understand who visits the museum but does not necessarily help it attract more visitors. Qualitative data focuses on the expectations, motivations and needs of visitors. Visitor studies are relatively new in museum studies, due to the fact that museums are moving from the traditional focus on preserving and displaying objects to educating and sharing information about their collection, which Doering recognizes. To study visitors, Falk and Dierking are key theorists who have developed a contextual learning model approach, identifying motivations, incentives and expectations about why people visit museums. Taking into account the personal, socio-cultural and physical context, as well as the time flow, the qualitative method provides in-depth answers and investigations. Grounded data explores visitors' perspectives and interpretations of the world. Through the qualitative method, researchers are able to ensure the inclusion of various community voices, such as minorities. It helps the researcher understand the response to museum experiences, the path they take, and their reactions to the collections. A more recent example of using various methods is through qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, surveys and focus groups is John Bull and Shaikha Al Thani's (2011) research focusing on the needs of family audiences in Qatar. Six key findings emerged through the research, including social motivation playing a key role in museum visits, the understanding that families were often mother-led, and that parents and children often ignored exhibits. While using these methods can be time consuming and expensive, the utility of this visitor research was important due to the lack of visitor research in Qatar and the lack of family visits to museums identified by Bull and Al Thani, This provided key insights to enable museums to understand learning needs and modalities and implement this in future exhibitions and understand how families in Qatar valued and perceived museums. Hudson (1975) notes that it is not possible to satisfy every person's needs, but identifying their reasons for visiting allows museums to satisfy those specific needs. Eilean Hooper-Greenhill, a key theorist of museums and visitors, stated that “people from different backgrounds have different perceptions and interests in relation to museum exhibitions”. However, a key issue is that previous experiences and social interactions influence visitor decision making, so a key methodology for gaining insight into visitors' previous experiences is through focus groups. Museums can be places where visitors feel uncomfortable or intimidated, especially if previous experiences are negative focus groups are a useful way to invite minority communities to express their opinion in a context which in turn allows the museum to,.