Psychometric properties of an instrument to investigate the motivation of visitors to a science museum: The combination of methods

TL;DR

This study adapted and applied a questionnaire to Brazilian science museum visitors, revealing that learning desire is the primary motivation, with entertainment and interaction being less significant, providing insights for enhancing museum activities.

Contribution

It combines Exploratory Factor Analysis and the Information Bottleneck method to validate a motivation instrument in a Brazilian context, identifying key motivational dimensions.

Findings

Learning desire is the main motivation for visitors.

Entertainment and interaction are less influential.

The instrument's validity was supported by factor analysis.

Abstract

The visit to a science museum may be manifested through complex and dynamic motivations which, according to the literature, are under-investigated in a Brazilian context. In the present study, an instrument originally developed by Delgado in 2008 (http://hdl.handle.net/10773/1623) has been modified and applied to 202 visitors up to 15 years to the Science Museum "Professor Mario Tolentino" in Sao Carlos, Brazil, in order to investigate motivation for visiting the institute. Combined application of Exploratory Factor Analysis and the Information Bottleneck method revealed that 17 out of the 20 initial items in the questionnaire aligned with three dimensions of motivation. The main motivation was learning desire, while entertainment and interaction motivations were significantly less important. The study provided relevant evidence regarding the motivations of visitors, and this information will be valuable in improving the activities of the museum. The implications of our findings for future research are discussed.