Impact Update 12, November 2007
This newsletter reviews the content that has been added to the Impact Database since the end of August 2007. As always, many of the studies are recently published but we also include earlier research that is relevant to the themes of the database. Full bibliographical details of the references highlighted below can, of course, be obtained from the database.
Users are advised that in the beginning of December 2007, the Impact Database will be transferred to our new server. We would like to thank our hosts at "Design is Central" for their services in designing and hosting the Database. The Impact Database will continue to be updated at
http://www.impact.arts.gla.ac.uk
Please note that at the moment, this address is still under construction, and our most recent content cannot yet be found there. As soon as the final transfer has taken place, all subscribers will be notified.
We continue to encourage users and their networks to use the online facilities of the Database to submit their own research, which will then be considered for inclusion. Alternatively, please contact us at impact@ccpr.arts.gla.ac.uk. Research should relate to the main themes of the database (listed in the Advanced Search section) and should have stated aims/objectives, methodological approach and findings/conclusions.
Arts, Culture and the Economy
Plaza (2006), in "The return on investment of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao" (International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 30(2): 452-467) offers a quantitative analysis of the museum's impact on tourism and employment.
Impact of cultural tourism upon urban economies: an econometric exercise, by Bellini, Gasparino, Del Corpo and Malizia (2007), assesses the economic impacts of cultural tourism upon European municipalities and estimates the effects of tourism specialisation on local income and prices.
Other studies dealing with economic analysis are found in the "Major Sporting Events" category.
Arts, Culture and Education
This much we know... Research digest 2002-2006, a report published by Creative Partnerships (2007), summarises the main findings of a number of evaluations of the Creative Partnerships programme in the period 2002-2006, some of which have already been included in the Impact Database.
Two studies on specific Arts and Education programmes have been included. "Learning Through the Arts". National assessment 1999-2002. Final report to the Royal Conservatory of Music, by Upitis and Smithrim (2003), assesses the effects of the "Learning Through the Arts" programme in terms of benefits for students and changes in parents' beliefs and teacher practices and beliefs. A recent study by Randi Korn & Associates (2007), carried out for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, contains the outcome of a longitudinal study into the impact of the "Teaching Literacy Through Art" programme on students in the New York City public school system (Teaching literacy through art. Final report: synthesis of 2004-05 and 2005-06 studies).
Arts, Culture and Health
"Mental health and arts participation: the state of the art in England", a study by Hacking, Secker, Kent, Shenton and Spandler (2006), reports on the first phase of a study intended to support the development of a strong evidence base on the mental health and social benefits of participation in arts activities by people with mental health needs (The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health 126(3): 121-127).
Dow, Leong, Anderson and Wenzel (2007) discuss a pilot study carried out to assess whether medicine residents can learn clinical empathy techniques from theatre professors ("Using theater to teach clinical empathy: a pilot study". In: Journal of general internal medicine 22(8): 1114-1118).
An article by Clow and Fredhoi (2006) reports on the outcomes of a short study examining the impact of a brief lunchtime visit to an art gallery on levels of the stress hormone cortisol found in workers in the City of London ("Normalisation of salivary cortisol levels and self-report stress by a brief lunchtime visit to an art gallery by London City workers". In: Journal of holistic healthcare 3(2): 29-32).
Finally, Mitchell, Macdonald, Knussen and Serpell (2007), in "A survey investigation of the effects of music listening on chronic pain" (Psychology of Music 35(1): 37-57) present the findings of a survey among 318 chronic pain sufferers, which aimed to investigate the perceived benefits of music listening among chronic pain sufferers.
Arts, Culture and Regeneration
Issues of regeneration through cultural quarters in relation to local identity are addressed in two different studies by McCarthy. "Promoting image and identity in 'Cultural Quarters': the case of Dundee" (Local Economy 20(3): 280-293) (2004) examines the policy processes leading to the development of Dundee's Cultural Quarter, in order to discover how far policy application in relation to cultural quarters is leading to cultural homogenisation. "Regeneration of cultural quarters: public art for place image or place identity?" (Journal of Urban Design 11(2): 243-262) (2005) uses case studies of public art initiatives in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter and Manchester's Northern Quarter to asses how public art is linked to local identity and/or image enhancement, with implications for the potential contribution of public art to wider aims for culture-led regeneration.
Arts, Culture and Society
In Social capital and the cultural sector. Literature review prepared for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Daly (2005) reviews academic literature on the relationship between social capital and the cultural sector, focusing on the key areas of sport, arts, heritage and television. A second literature review, carried out by Morris Hargreaves McIntyre (2006) and commissioned by the Scottish Executive, looks at national and international research published between 1995-2005 on the economic, social, health and environmental impact of architecture and design (A Literature Review of the Social, Economic and Environmental Impact of Architecture and Design).
Arts and wellbeing, a publication by Mills and Brown (2004) for the Australia Council for the Arts, is based predominantly on case study material which demonstrates connections between community cultural development and government wellbeing initiatives, including health, ecologically sustainable development, public housing and place, rural revitalisation, community strengthening, active citizenship, social inclusion and cultural diversity..
Public value and the arts in England: discussions and conclusions of the arts debate, a report by Bunting (2007), present the overall results of a large-scale research and consultation programme about the value of the arts in England and public funding, carried out by Arts Council England.
Major Sporting Events
Three new articles featured in this category take a critical look at economic impact studies. In "The quest for the cup: assessing the economic impact of the World Cup" (Regional Studies 38(4): 343-354), Baade and Matheson (2004) review economic impact studies of mega-events and compare ex-ante and ex-post models for assessing the impact of the 1994 FIFA World Cup on its host country, the US. Market impact of international sporting and cultural events, a recent study by Martins and Serra (2007) investigates the impact of international sporting and cultural events on the stock markets of host countries. Finally, Horne (2007), in "The four "knowns" of sports mega-events" (Leisure studies 26(1): 81-96), argues for continuous academic reflection on the claimed social and economic impacts of hosting major international sporting events.
New Research
Current research can be found by using the advanced search function in the database.
Impacts 08 - The Liverpool Model. Baseline Report 2006/07, by Garcia, Melville and Campbell (2007), discusses the aims of this project, provides the baseline against which to measure the social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts of Liverpool's European Capital of Culture programme, and reports on the main outcomes of the projects first year of research.