Research and development

The aim of methodology research is to prepare museums and their professionals for new socio-economic challenges.

Aims to be achieved by research:

The short term aim is to start a process by which the long term aim can be fulfilled, which is to search for national and international best practices, to analyse them and to form them into an adaptable unified methodology, to develop them continuously on the basis of implementation and feedback. After exploring international trends, the results are blended with domestic possibilities and a recommendation will be made for adapting them domestically.

The long term aim is that schools automatically consider museum education possibilities/offers of museums when curriculums are designed by organically fitting them into their pedagogical programmes.

Four research and methodological development linked to them

  1. 1. Service provider museum

The aim of the research is to gain information about the situation of domestic museums reflected in the services provided by them. The key question is to what extend the museums have put the idea into practice that the museum is not an end in itself, it is not a “closed” scientific institution, but it is open for the needs and opinion of the public, in fact it is a cultural institution providing services to the public in accordance with these needs.

Relevant methodologies:

  • Methodology of modern museum interpretation
  • Cooperation between the museum and other service providers – developing entrepreneurial/ foreign language/communication competencies.

  1. 2. Museum professionals

The research exploring the current professional situation of museum professionals by applying questionnaires and in-depth interview builds on the results of Museum professionals for public education, a research having been carried out in 2009.

Relevant methodology:

  • New employee at the museum

  1. 3. Museum education in Hungary

The research carried out by applying questionnaire and focus group survey studies the relationship of museums and public education from two sides. On one hand the museum education activities and opportunities of museums are surveyed, while it also builds on the needs assessment of active teachers and public educational institutions on the other.

Relevant methodologies:

  • Museum education methods for supporting vocational education
  • Is the museum ours? Methodological guide for managing volunteers and students doing compulsory community work at museums
  • Educational use of digitalised collections
  • Preparation of museums for developing competencies of groups with a disadvantaged social background

  1. 4. Research studies building the basis for creating quality management system of museums

The research studies have a double aim: on one hand it is a review of the state of museums, namely, if they have elements that can be considered as germs of quality management, and studying the quality management systems used in the cultural sector (primarily in higher education an at libraries) and in for profit institutions on the other, as well as surveying and analysing the experience of quality management systems applied by museums over the border.

Currently, the museum sphere does not have a system of quality management in Hungary. Working out a quality management system for museums will create the basis for a career path model for museum staff, which can give a long term perspective to people working in the museum sector, and can contribute to retaining highly qualified professionals, ensuring the next generation of museum professionals, and to the museum profession becoming more attractive. Working out a museum quality management system will release new perspectives for museum education programmes and sessions to be fitted in the national curriculum, too.

Relevant methodology:

  • Defining quality requirements for the museum field

Present situation at museums: Quality management of museum services: visitors research, processing data, analysis, evaluation, feedback

Surveying possible tools for motivating museum staff

Quality museum services – visitor friendly museum

Self-assessment of museums

Creating quality policy at museums

Creating the quality handbook

Partner centeredness, Analysing direct and indirect partner relationships

Collection of good practices – domestic and international

Surveying higher education of quality management professionals. Institutions, curriculums, learning materials

  • Working out a framework for museum quality management

Determining, justifying and recommending activities and the scope of activities to be regulated in the system of museum quality management

Quality management of museum services: methodology of visitor survey and marketing research, data processing, analysis, evaluation, feed back

Working out quality management criteria for museum education activities and programmes

Working out criteria for assessment and quality management of museum professionals

Quality management of school community service and volunteering

Working out, testing, recommendations, suggestions for criteria for child-friendly environment

Working out criteria for winning the titles of school-friendly/learner and child-friendly museum (see: eco-school/green pre-school)

Working out testing recommendations, suggestions for criteria for family-friendly museum

Working out analysis and further development of a system of criteria museum-friendly school and pre-school – working out the conditions of MesoSchool and MuseoPre-school