There has been a tendency for visitor studies to use quantitative methods, such as questionnaires and visitor counts, for short-term surveys to look at the visiting patterns, visitor expectations and satisfaction, and the impact of messaging (e.g. Buckham 2013a; Figure 107). More recently, a small number of studies have employed more qualitative methods of assessment, such as in-depth interviews, participant observation and observational tracking, over an extended period of time. This research has produced a far deeper understanding of why people respond to heritage in the ways they do and some of the factors underlying different communities’ responses (e.g. Jones 2004; McClanahan 2004).
Figure 107: Visitor surveys were carried out at Canongate Kirkyard, Edinburgh as part of Edinburgh World Heritage’s graveyards project. © Susan Buckham