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A Place for Kids? The Public Image of Natural History Museums
Author(s) -
Strager Hanne,
Astrup Jens
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
curator: the museum journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.312
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2151-6952
pISSN - 0011-3069
DOI - 10.1111/cura.12071
Subject(s) - natural history , natural (archaeology) , literacy , perception , scientific literacy , history , visual arts , sociology , media studies , aesthetics , political science , art , epistemology , pedagogy , science education , archaeology , ecology , philosophy , biology
Scholars, commentaries, guide books, and people “on the street” seem to agree and take for granted that natural history museums are mainly aimed at children. Nevertheless, no studies have specifically investigated the public image of natural history museums. In this study, we provide quantitative evidence that natural history museums are indeed seen by the public as being primarily aimed at children and families with children, and we discuss the consequences that this fact has for the potential role that natural history museums could have in promoting science literacy and for the perception of science in general.