Leisure Visitor’s Responses to Natural History Dioramas

This chapter focuses on the responses of leisure visitors who had chosen to visit a museum with natural history dioramas. Different ‘voices’ are heard from different visitors and during a visit constituent members influence what each other says because constructing meaning about the world is a social activity but their a reflection on the experience is individual as they leave. The visitor’s prior knowledge and the visitor’s interest in the exhibit, all have the potential to influence the visitor’s attitudes and responses to the exhibits. Some adults were asked questions at the diorama whilst other responses were from written responses on the questionnaire provided at the exit. The opinions of visitors to the dioramas were elicited through a questionnaire. They were asked to describe the ‘story’ of the diorama. There was a variation in responses depending on the age of the visitors. Young people’s responses were very factual and short whereas pensioners talked of memories such as working in one of the countries portrayed. Many visitors also related to what they had seen in the media.