ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions. ***************************************************************************** Ok, so the thread is still going. I have another opinion (natch) about the studies initiated on this list. I question the methodology. If you ask for experiences or data from voluntary respondents from the list, you aren't randomly sampling museum professionals or even members of the list-serv. You are sampling responses of people who feel inclined to take the time to respond to your request. Maybe your conclusions will be skewed by that. If you offer monetary incentives to respond, you are getting responses from people who want to get the money, which is not a random sampling of museum professionals either. (God knows, we can't be in this because we love money that much). I don't know how you would do true random selection and double blind studies of museum professionals but that is how the best data is collected in many scientific trials. So I question what good is all the time and effort anyway? I think at heart, the best museum exhibits have a large component of intuition in their formation. How you gonna put THAT into a study or evaluation? Phil Edgerton, Asheville, NC *********************************************************************** More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org. To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to [log in to unmask]