Arts participation 2008 : highlights from a national survey

"Whatever art offered the

men and women of previous eras,

what it offers our own, it seems

to me, is space — a certain
breathing room for the spirit."

— John Updike

Preface

There are many ways to measure a nation's cultural
vitality. One way is to chart the public's involvement
with arts events and activities over time. The NEA's
Survey of Public Participation in the Arts remains the largest
periodic study of arts participation in the United States, and it
is conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau. The
large number of survey respondents — similar in make-up to
the total U.S. adult population — permits a statistical snapshot
of America's engagement with the arts by frequency and
activity type. The survey has taken place five times since 1982,
allowing researchers to compare trends not only for the total
adult population, but also for demographic subgroups.

In any given year of the survey, however, researchers face
a practical challenge. To what extent is arts participation
shaped by broader social, cultural, or economic patterns — or,
for that matter, by policies and programs affecting the arts?
The survey is not designed to ascertain why arts participation
levels have shifted over the years — although researchers can
test correlations between arts activity and a host of behaviors
and characteristics.

The challenge is especially acute when reviewing the 2008
results. The survey's planners, along with most of the nation,
did not anticipate the economic downturn that began in late
2007. When the survey was conducted in May of the following
year, the recession (though still undeclared) had been in
effect for nearly six months, and gas and airline prices were
making travel costs prohibitive for many Americans. The
survey cannot prove that weak consumer spending over this
period directly affected arts participation rates. Yet this
much is certain: adult attendance at arts events declined for
virtually all art forms in 2008, compared with the prior survey
period, 2002.

For the 12 months ending in May 2008, more than 81 million
Americans visited an arts museum or gallery, or attended at

least one of the following types of arts events: theater; opera;
ballet or other dance; or classical music, jazz, or Latin/salsa
concerts. This group composes over 36 percent of the U.S.
adult population, and it does not include those who visited an
arts or crafts fair or festival, took an architectural tour, or read
literature. Yet for most of these individual activities — literary
reading is the single exception — participation rates have
weakened over the past six years.1

Taking a long view of arts participation trends, one suspects
that other factors besides the economic climate contributed
to the generally lower rates of attendance. (After all, the
recession spanned only half of the May 2007-May 2008 survey
period.) For one thing, 18-44-year-olds are not attending
arts events at the same rate as they did 26 years ago. As a
group, arts participants are older than before. They also
are increasingly older than the average adult. Nowhere is
this trend more apparent than for jazz concert-going, which
formerly drew a larger percentage of young adults than all
other art forms. Arts attendance continued to decline for
the youngest Americans in 2008, but it also dropped for
45-54-year-olds — a group that historically has made up a
significant share of arts audiences.

More research is needed to understand this latest
development — and also to learn why another group with
traditionally higher attendance rates is now participating
less than before. Throughout the 26-year history of the survey,
college-educated adults have been among the most active arts
participants. Although the same is true in 2008, they have
markedly reduced their attendance levels since 2002 and 1982,
even as declines have persisted for less educated groups.

1 Fur musical theater, however, the decline in attendance from 2002 to 2008 was statistical!) insignificant
For more analysis of the data on literarj reading, see National Endowment foi the wis.AV winuim, ti„
Rise. A New i'lmplcr in American I.ilcrnci/ (2009).

\n> Participation

Quite possibly, an explanation for the changes in attendance
levels can be found in other parts of the survey, those dealing
with more varied forms of arts participation. Such forms
include arts creation and performance, arts learning, and
participation through new media technologies. More detailed
questions about Internet use were added only in 2008, and so
we lack trend data to show how the relationship between arts
and online activity has changed over time. Yet one captivating
finding is that most adults who use the Internet to engage with
artworks do so at least once a week. Future analyses will show
the extent to which online participants differ from other arts
participants, and what are some overlapping characteristics.2

Similarly, new questions addressing arts learning — and
the use of community venues for arts participation — will
shed light on the substantial role that civic and educational
institutions play in fostering arts appreciation. Already we
know from previous research that arts participation and
civic engagement are measurably linked, with arts attendees
and literary readers more than twice as likely as others
to play sports and attend sports events, do exercise and
outdoor activities, and volunteer in their communities.3 We

also know that prior education, including exposure to arts
education, are critical factors associated with high levels of
adult participation in the arts. Data from the 2008 survey may
support more findings in this vein.

For the time being, the survey poses an opportunity to
contemplate the costs of reduced arts participation, and to
review strategies — in arts programming and arts learning,
in public policy and popular media — for cultivating this vital
form of personal and social engagement. In a recession, those
costs may be even greater than before, as entire segments
of the U.S. population, especially young adults and less
educated and lower-income groups, are denied life-changing
experiences through art. Such experiences are important not
only for producing an inspired and imaginative citizenry,
but also for preserving and articulating our cultural heritage
as Americans.

Sunil Iyengar

Director, Research & Analysis
National Endowment for the Arts

■' See "Conclusion," p. 10.

' NEA, The Arts and Civic Engagement: Involved in Arts, Involved in Life (200G).

National Endowment for the Arts

Key Findings

The source for the following statistics, charts, and tables is the XEA's Surrey of Public Participation in the Arts, unless
otherwise specified. The survey was conducted most recently in May 2008. and it asked a large, nationally representative
sample of adults (18 and above) about their participation in arts events and activities over the previous 12 months.

ATTENDING ARTS EXHIBITS
AND PERFORMANCES

1) One in three adults attended
an art museum or an arts
performance in the 12-month
survey period.

• 36.2 percent of all U.S. adults— or 81.3 million
Americans — visited an art museum or gallery
or attended at least one type of performing
arts event.1

• 22.7 percent of all adults visited an art museum
or gallery.

• Plays or musicals drew 20.5 percent of all
adults. Fewer adults attended other types of
performances: classical music or jazz (14.0
percent of all adults): ballet or other dance

(7.0 percent): Latin or salsa music (4.9 percent);
and opera (2.1 percent).

Percentage of U.S. Adult Population Attending Arts
Events, 2008

Millions of adults attending arts events, by type

51.1 million

46.1 million

31.6 million

10.9 million

4.8 million

Classical Latin, Play or Ballet or

music or jazz Spanish, or musical other dance

concert salsa music

Opera

Art museum

In this chart, adults are counted multiple times if they participated in more than one type of arts event.

2) Smaller percentages of adults
attended performing arts
events than in previous years.

• Opera and jazz participation significantly
decreased for the first time, with attendance
rates falling below what they were in 1982.2

• Classical music attendance continued to
decline — at a 29 percent rate since 1982 — with
the steepest drop occurring from 2002 to 2008.

• Only musical plays saw no statistically
significant change in attendance since 2002.

Percentage of U.S. Adult Population Attending Arts
Performances: 1982-2008t

Change

Rate of change

2008

2008

2002-
2008

1982-
2008

Jazz

9.6%

10.6%

10.8%

7.8%

-3.0 pp

-1.8 pp

-28%

-19%

Classical
music

13.0%

12.5%

11.6%

9.3%

-2.3 pp

-3 7pp

-20%

-29%

Opera

3.0%

3.3%

3.2%

2.1%

-1-1 PP

-0.9 pp

-34%

-3C

Musical plays

18.6%

17.4%

17.1%

16.7%

-0.4- pp

-1.9 PP

-2%*

-10*

Non-musical
plays

11.9%

13.5%

12.3%

9.4%

-2.9 PP

-2.5 pp

-24%

-21%

Ballet

4.2%

4.7%

3.9%

2 9 .

-1.0 pp

-1.3 pp

-26%

-31%

pp=percentage points

- In this brochure, all tables reporting long-term attendance trends exclude "other dance" and "Latin. Spanish.
or salsa concerts. " Participation in these activities has been tracked, respectively, since 1992 and 2008

' statistically insignificant

Key Findings

3) Attendance for the most
popular types of arts events-
such as museums and craft
fairs— also declined.

• After topping 26 percent in 1992 and 2002,
the art museum attendance rate slipped to 23
percent in 2008 — comparable to the 1982 level.1

• The proportion of U.S. adults touring parks
or historical buildings (24.9 percent) has
diminished by one-third since 1982.

Percentage of U.S. Adult Population Attending Art
Museums, Parks, and Festivals: 1982-2008+

Change

Rate of change

4^iil

2002- 1982-
2008 2008

Art

museums/

galleries

22.1%

26.7%

26.5%

22.7%

-3.8 pp

+0.6* pp

-14%

+3%*

Parks/

historical

buildings

37.0%

34.5%

31.6%

24.9%

-6.7 pp

-12.1 pp

-21%

-33%

Craft/visual
arts festivals

39.0%

40.7%

33.4%

24.5%

-8.9 pp

-14.5 pp

-27%

-37%

pp=percentage points

f Excludes American adults attending "performing arts festivals"— 20.8 percent in 2008— tracked for the
first time that year.

'statistically insignificant

4) The declines occurred in a
worsening economic climate,
and as travel costs were rising.

• At the time of the 2008 survey, the U.S. economy
had been in recession for six months. Consumer
spending throughout the survey period was
weak.4

• Consumer spending on performing arts
admissions tracks closely with trends in the U.S.
economy (see adjacent chart). NEA research
suggests that annual consumer spending on the
performing arts will drop by 0.8 percent for every
1 percent decline in Gross Domestic Product.5

• For the 2008 survey period, gas prices averaged
$3.10 per gallon. In contrast, the average per-
gallon price of gasoline was only $1.40 during the
2002 survey period."

• Literary reading — often the most affordable
form of arts participation — increased from
2002 to 2008.7

Relationship between Performing Arts Ticket Sales and
United States GDP: 1990-2007

o

•D
-O 8

Annual total ticket sales
as predicted by GDP trends

j i i i i i i i i i_

j i i i

1990

1994

1998

2002

2007

Data source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

National Endowment for the Arts

5) Long-term trends suggest
fundamental shifts in the
relationship between age and
arts attendance.

• Performing arts attendees are increasingly older
than the average U.S. adult.

• Jazz concert-goers are no longer the youngest
group of arts participants.

• Since 1982, young adult (18-24-year-old)
attendance rates have declined significantly
for jazz, classical music, ballet, and non-musical
plays.

• From 2002 to 2008, however, 45-54-year-
olds — historically a large component of arts
audiences — showed the steepest declines in
attendance for most arts events.

Median Age of Arts Attendees: 1982-2008

Change in years

2008

2002- 1982-
2008 2008

U.S. adults,
average

39

41

43

45

+2

+6

Jazz

29

37

42

46

+4

+17

Classical music

40

44

47

49

+2

+9

Opera

43

44

47

48

+1

+ 5

Musicals

39

42

44

45

+1

+ 6

Non-musical
plays

39

42

44

47

+3

+8

Ballet

37

40

44

46

+2

+9

Art museums

36

39

44

43

-1

+7

Percentage of Adults Ages 18-24 Attending Arts Events in
1982 and 2008

Change

Rate of
change

Jazz

17.5%

7.3%

-10.2 pp

-58%

Classical music

11.0%

6.9%

-4.1 pp

-37%

Opera

2.0%

1.2%

-0.8* pp

-40%*

Musicals

16.6%

14.5%

-2.1* pp

-13%*

Non-musical plays

10.7%

8.2%

-2.5 pp

-23 ■

Ballet

3.9%

2.5%

-1.4 pp

-36".

Art museums

22.7%

22.9%

+0.2* pp

+1%*

pp=percentage points
'statistically insignificant

Percentage of Adults Ages 45-54 Attending Arts Events
in 2002 and 2008

2002

2008

Change

Rate of
change

Jazz

13.9%

9.8%

-4.1 pp

-30%

Classical music

15.2%

10.2%

-5.0 pp

-33%

Opera

4.0%

2.4%

-1.6 pp

-40%

Musicals

19.3%

17.4%

-1.9* PP

-10%*

Non-musical plays

15.2%

8.7%

-6.5 pp

-43%

Ballet

5.1%

3.2%

-1.9 pp

-37%

Art museums

32.9%

23.3%

-9.6 pp

-29%

pp=percentage points
'statistically insignificant

Vrts Participation

Key Findings

6) Arts activity still rises with
education level. Yet even the
most educated Americans are
participating less than before.

• College-educated adults (including those with
graduate or professional degrees) have curbed
their attendance of events in nearly all art forms.

• For these Americans, ballet has declined at the
sharpest rate — down 43 percent since 1982.

• Less educated adults have significantly reduced
their already low levels of attendance.8

• Previous research has shown that education,
which closely correlates with income levels, is a
key predictor of arts attendance.9

Percentage of U.S. Adult Population Attending Arts
Performances, by Highest Level of Education: 2008

60%

50% -

40% -

30%

20%

10%

Grade
school

Some high High school Some Bachelor's Graduate

school graduate college degree degree

Percentage of College-Educated Adults
Attending Ballet: 1982-2008

(Bachelor's degree or higher)

Percentage of College-Educated Adults Attending Arts Events: 1982-2008

(Bachelor's degree or higher)

Change

Jazz

19.4%

22.1%

20.9%

14.9%

-6.0 pp

-4.5 pp

-29%

-23%

Classical music

33.1%

28.0%

25.9%

20.1%

-5.8 pp

-13.0 pp

-22%

-39%

Opera

8.0%

8.0%

7.9%

5.2%

-2.7 pp

-2.8 pp

-34%

-35%

Musicals

40.5%

32.8%

32.6%

32.7%

+0.1* pp

-7.8 pp

<1%*

-19%

Non-musical
plays

30.2%

28.1%

25.5%

19.8%

-5.7 pp

-10.4 pp

-22%

-34%

Ballet

11.0%

10.1%

9.0%

6.3%

-2.7 pp

-4.7 pp

-30%

-43%

Art museums

49.2%

51.6%

50.5%

44.5%

-6.0 pp

-4.7 pp

-12%

-10%

pp=percentage points
'statistically insignificant

National Endowment for the Arts

OTHER MODES OF PARTICIPATION:
CREATING, PERFORMING,
LISTENING, AND LEARNING

7) Adults generally are creating
or performing at lower rates—
despite opportunities for
displaying their work online.

• Only photography increased from 1992 to
2008 — reflecting, perhaps, greater access
through digital media.

• The proportion of U.S. adults doing creative
writing has hovered around 7.0 percent.

• The rate of classical music performance
slipped from 1992 to 2002, then grew over
the next six years.

• The adult participation rate for weaving or
sewing was almost twice as great in 1992 as
in 2008. Yet this activity remains one of the
most popular forms of arts creation.

Percentage of U.S. Adult Population Performing or
Creating Art: 1992-2008

Change

2002

2008

2002-2008

1992-2008

Performing:

Jazz

1.7%

1.3%

1.3%

Opp

-0.4* pp

Classical music

4.2%

1.8%

3.0%

+1.2 pp

-1.2 pp

Opera

1.1%

0.7%

0.4%

-0.3 pp

-0.7 pp

Choir/chorus

6.3%

4.8%

5.2%

+0.4* pp

-1.1 PP

Musical plays

3.8%

2.4%

0.9%

-1.5 pp

-2.9 pp

Non-musical plays

1.6%

1.4%

0.8%

-0.6 pp

-0.8 pp

Dance

8.1%

4.3%

2.1%

-2.2 pp

-6.0 pp

Making:

Painting/drawing

9.6%

8.6%

9.0%

+0.4* pp

-0.6* pp

Pottery/ceramics

8.4%

6.9%

6.0%

-0.9 pp

-2.4 pp

Weaving/sewing

24.8%

16.0%

13.1%

-2.9 pp

-11.7 pp

Photography

11.6%

11.5%

14.7%

+3.2 pp

+3.1 pp

Creative writing

7.4%

7.0%

6.9%

-0.1* pp

-0.5* pp

pp=percentage points

' First year the data became available.

' statistically insignificant

8) Most Americans who enjoy
artworks and performances on
the Internet do so frequently.

• About 70 percent of U.S. adults went online
for any purpose, typically once a day. Of those
adults, 39.4 percent used the Internet to view,
listen to, download, or post artworks

or performances.

• Of all adults who downloaded, watched,
or listened to music, theater, or dance
performances online (30.1 percent), most
did those activities at least once a week.

• Also typically once a week, 20.2 percent of
Internet-using adults viewed paintings,
sculpture, or photography online.

Percentage of Internet-Users Engaging with Art Online, 2008

Online arts activity

Percentage

Millions of

Frequency of activity

adults (on average)*

Views, listens to, or
downloads music, theater,
or dance performances

30.1%

47.3

At least once a week

Views paintings, sculpture,
or photography

20.2%

31.7

At least once a week

Posts own artworks
or performances**

7.2%

11.3

Less than once a month

Learns about performance
or exhibits; purchases
tickets

3 34.9%

54.8

Less than once a month

' 39.4 percent of Internet-using adults did one of the three shaded activities.

' Most popular response when asked about frequency of Internet use. For questions about

online arts participation, the response options included: "at least once a week"; "at least

once a month but not every week"; or "less than once a month "

"Includes design, music, photography, films, video, or creative writing.

Aits Participation

Key Findings

9) AS in prior years, more Americans Percentage of U.S. Adult Population Viewing or Listening

, to Art Broadcasts or Recordings, 2008

view or listen to broadcasts and 0nline media induded
recordings of arts events than
attend them live.

• The sole exception is live theater, which still
attracts more adults than broadcasts or recordings
of plays or musicals (online media included).

• Classical music broadcasts or recordings attract
the greatest number of adult listeners, followed
by Latin or salsa music.

• 33.7 million Americans listened to or watched
programs or recordings about books.

Percentage

Millions of adults

Jazz

14.2%

31.9

Classical music

17.8%

40.0

Latin or salsa music

14.9%

33.5

Opera

4.9%

11.0

Musical plays

7.9%

17.8

Non-musical plays

6.8%

15.3

Dance

8.0%

18.0

Programs about the visual arts

15.0%

33.7

Programs about books/writers

15.0%

33.7

10) Schools and religious institutions
engage many adults in live arts
events.

• One in four adults (23.7 percent) attended an
elementary, middle, or high school music, theater,
or dance performance in the previous 12 months.

• 19.1 percent of all adults attended a live arts
performance at a church, synagogue, or other
religious institution.

11) School-aged children often attend
performances outside school,
according to their parents.

• One in three adults (32.8 percent) who have
children 5-17 years of age said their child had
attended a music, theater, or dance performance
outside school.

• Only 13.2 percent of parents with school-aged
children said their child had ever taken private arts
lessons. Of those parents, however, 63.6 percent said
the lessons had occurred in the past year.

National Endowment for the Arts

Notes:

Those events were: plays or musicals; classical music or jazz concerts;
ballet or "other dance" performances; opera; and Latin/Spanish/salsa
music concerts. (Elementary or high school performances were excluded.)
Attendance at "other dance" events has been tracked only since 1992.
In 2008, moreover, adults were asked about Latin/Spanish/salsa music
attendance for the first time in the survey's history. If "other dance" and
Latin music concerts are excluded from the analysis, then the proportion
of U.S. adults that attended an art museum or gallery or a performing arts
event becomes 34.6 percent, or about 78 million adults, compared with
roughly 40 percent in each of the three prior survey years (1982, 1992,
and 2002).

The survey does not capture attendance rates for every potential type of
music performance. Yet it does ask adults about their listening preferences.
For example, 27.0 percent reported liking R&B or blues; 15.4 percent and
15.2 percent of adults liked folk music and bluegrass, respectively. See
www.arts.gov/research/SPPA/ for more data.

Trend analysis in this brochure excludes data from the 1997 Survey of
Public Participation in the Arts. Because of fundamental differences in
data collection, that survey's results are not comparable with any of the
other NEA surveys. The 1997 survey involved a random-digit-dial telephone
survey independent of the U.S. Census Bureau. (For details, see National
Endowment for the Arts, 1997 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts:
Summary Report, 1999.)

For the first time in the survey's history, smaller percentages of women
visited art museums than in previous years. From 1982 to 2002, women
increased their art museum attendance rate from 23.1 percent to 28.2
percent. In 2008, their attendance rate retreated to 24.0 percent. See "Data
and Methodology" (p. 11) for information about proxy reporting for this
question.

During the fourth quarter of 2007, real consumer spending grew by only
1.0 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce (Bureau of
Economic Analysis). For the next two consecutive quarters (January
through June 2008), it grew by 0.9 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
By comparison, real consumer spending grew by an annual average of 3.0
percent in 2006.

5 This finding is based on a regression model that represented annual
consumer spending on admissions to performing arts events as a
mathematical function of annual GDP (adjusted for inflation). Symbolically,
the model is:

In Admissions =/[lag(ln&>a/ GDP)}
"In" is the natural log, and "lag" refers to GDP in the previous year.
The model was also adjusted for auto-correlated residuals. For more
information on this regression model, please contact the NEA's Office of
Research & Analysis.

6 See U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Stat ist ics. "Average Price
Data." Figures are reported for U.S. city averages and for all types of
gasoline per gallon.

7 From 2002 to 2008, the percentage of adults reading literature rose from
46.7 percent to 50.2 percent. For more information, see NEA, Reading on
the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy, 2009.

s In 1982, for example, 7.6 percent of all adults who did not pursue formal
education beyond high school went to a classical music concert. By 2008,
that rate dropped to 3.1 percent.

!) See NEA, Effects of Arts Education on Participation in the Arts, 1996, and
Age and Arts Participation: 1982-1997, 2000.

Arts Participation 2 «)

Conclusion

Between 2002 and 2008, the number and percentage of U.S.
adults attending arts events declined for every art form except
musical plays. In 2008, for the first time, non-musical plays,
opera, and jazz concerts saw significantly lower rates of adult
participation than in 1982, the first year of the survey. Alone
among arts activities, literary reading increased in 2008. The
adult attendance rate for art museums and galleries, while
lower than in 1992 and 2002, was comparable to the 1982 rate.

The 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts included
a new question about attendance at Latin, Spanish, or salsa
music concerts. When participation rates for this activity are
added to the rates for other performing arts activities and for
art museum-going, the total percentage of U.S. adults who
attended an arts event in 2008 is 36 percent, representing
more than 81 million Americans.

The survey's administration in May 2008 — nearly six months
after a nationwide recession began — raises the possibility
that changes in consumer spending habits affected arts
participation rates in aggregate. Additionally, visits to parks
and historic buildings declined in 2008, which could reflect
public response to mounting travel costs. Although NEA

research has identified a close relationship between changes
in the U.S. Gross Domestic Product and performing arts ticket
sales, one cannot attribute the lower attendance rates solely to
economic conditions with any degree of certainty.

Long-term trend analyses show an aging audience for all art
forms. Young adults (18-24) are far less likely than before to
attend jazz or classical music concerts, ballet, or non-musical
plays. Other groups that formerly were dependable audiences
for arts events have reduced their participation levels. College-
educated Americans are attending at lower rates than in
1982, and, in the most recent period, 45-54-year-olds curbed
their attendance.

More research is under way to examine these trends and also
the respective roles of age, race or ethnicity, arts learning, and
media/technology in arts participation. Greater knowledge of
the interactions between arts attendance and arts creation or
performance also may be required. Those topics will explored
by future studies, which, along with a full summary report of
the survey data, are envisioned for 2009 and 2010. Together,
the findings should give arts organizations, arts educators, and
policymakers a deeper understanding of the public they serve.

10 National Endowment for the Arts

Data and Methodology

No single survey can fully capture the diverse range of arts
activities and experiences now available to Americans. For
a variety of art forms, however, the NEA's Survey of Public
Participation in the Arts (SPPA) gives a reliable measure of
self-reported levels of adult participation.

This brochure presents key results from the 2008 SPPA.
A more detailed examination of the survey's findings will
be reported later in 2009. Researchers at the National
Endowment for the Aits developed the SPPA with a team of
statisticians, sociologists, economists, and representatives
from various arts disciplines, and it has been conducted five
times in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau: 1982,
1985, 1992, 2002, and 2008. Results from the 1985 survey were
largely similar to those in 1982, and have been excluded from
this brochure. The 2002 and 2008 surveys were administered
as supplements to the Census Bureau's Current Population
Survey (CPS).

The 2008 survey instrument, as well as tables reporting arts
participation rates by event type and by demographic group,
are available online at www.arts.gov/research/SPPA/.

Although the general contents of the SPPA questionnaires
have remained similar, the 2008 survey instrument differed
from the 2002 version in some ways. Both surveys retain core
questions about attendance (e.g., "Did you attend a . . . during
the last 12 months?"), as well as sections on watching or
listening via electronic media, and personal performance or
creation of art. The 2008 SPPA, however, was conducted as
a supplement to the May CPS, whereas the 2002 survey was
conducted with the August CPS.

Second, some sections of the 2008 questionnaire were
separated into modules, with each respondent answering
two of the four modules (in addition to the survey's "core"
questions). Third, rather than attempt to interview all adults
in the household (as in 2002), for some questions the 2008
SPPA obtained proxy responses for spouses or partners from
the initial adult interviewed in each household.

In tests of this method, proxy reporting for spouse/partners
yielded virtually identical results as self-reporting for the
same arts activities. Yet slight differences were found for a
few activities, suggesting a small degree of under-reporting of
spouse/partner participation in three areas: museum-going,
book-reading, and literary reading. Were adjustments made
for this potential under-reporting, then the overall attendance
rate for museums would increase by six tenths of a percentage
point, and literary reading and book-reading rates (as
reported in the NEA's Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter
in American Literacy) would grow by 1.3 and 1.6 percentage
points, respectively.

Both the sample size and the response rate for the 2008 SPPA
increased from that of the 2002 survey — from a 70 percent
response rate in 2002, and just over 17,000 adults, to 82 percent
in 2008, and more than 18,000 adults. Unless otherwise noted,
all estimates in this report are statistically significant at 95
percent or higher levels of confidence.

Vrts Participation 2 11

Produced by

National Endowment for the Arts
Office of Research & Analysis
Sunil Iyengar, Director

June 2009

Technical analyses by Bonnie Nichols

Staff contributors: Tom Bradshaw, Sarah Sullivan, Ellen Grantham, and Kelli Rogowski

Editorial and publication assistance by Don Ball

Special thanks to Tim Triplett, The Urban Institute; David Keen and Kevin Williams,
BBC Research & Consulting; and Tom Smith, Emory University

Designed by Fletcher Design/Washington, DC

Cover photo: NEA Jazz Masters Frank Wess and Slide Hampton perform with the Bill Charlap
Trio at the 2006 Savannah Music Festival. Photo by Ayano Hisa.

This publication is available free of charge at www.arts.gov.

National Endowment for the Arts

1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20506
202-682-5400

202-682-5496 Voice/TTY

(a device for individuals who are deaf or hearing-impaired)

Individuals who do not use conventional print materials may contact the Arts Endowment's
Office for AccessAbility at 202-682-5532 to obtain this publication in an alternate format.