Playing a musical instrument increases educational attainment

the sorts of other non-music related hobbies the child partakes in also make a difference to educational outcomes.
The causal mechanisms remain a mystery
The author is confident about the causal relationship between music playing and educational attainment, however they suggest more research is needed to unpick exactly how this operates and which mechanisms can be supported to best exploit it.
By | 2 March 2016 |

How do you select research for inclusion in CultureCase? (Question and answer)

In absolute terms, we only include research that is published in peer reviewed academic journals. This is for two reasons: it is a primary source of high-quality research that is frequently theoretically grounded and methodologically sophisticated – and hence has enormous potential value to decision-makers and advocates in the cultural sector; secondly, it tends not to feature in the advocacy material of the cultural sector and even less in the decision-making process of practitioners.
We use
By | 3 December 2013 |

Social interaction in a gallery shapes our reception to art

This research was conducted by Dirk vom Lehn at King's College London, UKSummaryThis paper is primarily about the potential of audio-visual recording as a tool to understand the reactions that people have when encountering art in a museum. But there are useful findings that can help inform our understanding of the impact of art and how that impact occurs. The research found that the moment of interaction with an artwork in a gallery is a social one. In addition to collecting video
By | 10 April 2014 |

Singing and dancing in groups is associated with increased wellbeing

details including satisfaction with standard of living, health, life achievements, community, safety and relationships. The survey did not ask about how frequently people engaged with music or their level of musical talent.
Wellbeing was higher amongst people who danced and sang
People who sang with others had higher scores in all areas of wellbeing compared to those that did not sing. Similarly those who danced with others had higher scores on satisfaction with health, achieving in life, and
By | 22 June 2017 |

To indirectly support innovation, museums should concentrate on their core mission

This research was conducted by Chiara Dalle Nogare and Monika Murzyn-Kupisz at the University of Brescia, Italy and Jagiellonian University, PolandSummaryFostering innovation is not usually a stated goal of museums. However, it is increasingly common for museums and galleries to be categorised within the broader ‘cultural and creative industries’. This puts pressure on museum leaders to do more to cultivate innovation in their organisations and more widely across the sector. This paper used a

Understanding how movement synchrony shapes infants’ choices

moving toys in either the social (bear) or non-social (box) setting.
Associations between movement synchrony and social behaviour warrant further investigation
Lack of preference in the younger infants could be explained by difficulties perceiving synchronicity, a preference not strong enough to be detected, or a misinterpretation of the social stimulus. Authors suggest that self-propelled movement and stimuli presented live – rather than through video – might in future have a more obvious effect on children’s choices.
This summary is by Anna Kolliakou, King’s Knowledge Exchange Associate
By | 16 February 2017 |

Understanding arts engagement in Chinese cities

This research was conducted by Pascal Courty and Fenghua Zhang at the University of Victoria, Canada and Wuhan University, ChinaSummaryThis paper analysed survey data to paint a picture of arts engagement in 13 different cities across China. The data was broken down by the demographic characteristics of the individuals in the survey, as well as the sorts of activities that people did, and from this the research was able to characterise each of the different cities.The ‘elitism hypothesis

Music training helps develop fluid intelligence

non-musicians on the overall measure of fluid intelligence, some other differences were discovered. Music experts scored much higher in tests for ‘attention’ (which might be used to read a line of music embedded in a score, or focus on one’s own part amid an orchestra or group). They also scored higher for ‘working memory’ (short-term and long-term memory is deployed when learning a piece of music). Musicians also scored more highly for ‘executive function’, which is necessary to multi-task (for example, when moving different parts of one’s body independently). They also achieved higher scores for ‘processing speed’ (which allows for the quick movement and spontaneous decision-making that is demanded of a skilled performer).

Explaining leadership reluctance in the cultural sector

(which both feeds leadership reluctance and is prompted by the acquisition of leadership roles). Gender is another major factor, not only in the way that individuals are socialised to behave but also the way that leadership more broadly is imagined in our wider culture. Another complication is the way that leadership is perceived to relate to a specific functional or bureaucratic role, whereas leaders experience it as a set of behaviours or attitudes. Finally, a tendency towards egalitarianism and

Crowdfunding a regular income for cultural projects

viable alternative to putting out sponsored or advertiser-funded contentAlthough the vast majority of campaigns during the first 18 months of Patreon received zero pledges, it was a mechanism for some creators to establish a sustainable income stream. The study found that of those who did attract pledges ‘the top 1 per cent of creators (about 250) crowdfund a monthly income of at least $2,500. The top 5 per cent, or about 1,200 creators, receive more than $750 monthly. Thus, a substantial number