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I've enjoyed the exchange on "studies" and would like to offer my 2 cents
worth.  One disclaimer:  This year I'm the (unpaid) President of the Visitor
Studies Association, so I have clearly thrown my lot in with those who ask a
lot of questions.

There are studies and then there are studies.  Some surveys I receive are
actually marketing materials in thin disguise.  Some are student projects in
which the teacher wants her students to have the experience of
corresponding, so they ask questions they could easily look up on the
Internet or in the library.  Some studies are seeking private information
(like salary schedules) which will later be sold at a high price to clients.
I agree, these examples of "studies" are not a good use of the time of
informal science professionals.

But most of the surveys I receive are genuine attempts to learn something
important and currently unknown about practices in our field, as Carey has
described.  I always try to respond to these, unless they are cumbersome to
complete or require extensive data-gathering.  I do think it is perfectly
fair, as Richard and Susan have mentioned, to expect that the results will
be made available at no cost, at least to all who participate in the study.
I've sometimes responded to requests to participate in a study by saying I
will fill out the survey if the person who asked will assure me that he/she
will send me a copy of the results.  In almost every case they do.

If just one of these studies provides me with critical guidance in making a
major decision, then I can consider all the time I've spent filling out
surveys in the past to have been justified.  Here at the New York Hall of
Science we've already benefited many times from the results of other
people's studies.  We've made calculations of our projected attendance after
an expansion based on other folk's study results; judged likely reactions to
exhibitions on controversial topics and prepared our staff based on survey
results from other centers; and written successful grant proposals which
incorporated the results of studies and surveys by others.

So keep those studies coming, on this listserv and beyond.  But do publish
your results, here or in some other universally accessible medium.   

Alan
*************************************
Alan J. Friedman
Director & CEO
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Queens, NY 11368 USA
+1 (718) 699-0005 ext. 316
fax +1 (718) 760-5932
cell +1 (917) 882-6671
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