Nulmjitting Kultuermonitor Fryslân
For the Provinsje Frylân we assessed the need for facts and insight about cultural, social and economic aspects of the Frysian cultural sector. We provided a first impression of avaliable comparative data and interviewed representatives of different parts of the Frysian cultural sector and a diverse set of policymakers. This resulted in the pilot culture monitor Fryslân or in Frysian, the Nulmjitting Kultuermonitor Fryslân. In this project we cooperated with Het Pon & Telos and the Boekmanstichting. See for news about the pilot and a download link, the site of the Provinsje Fryslân.
Culture Monitor Gelderland
The first edition of the Culture Monitor Gelderland was launched December 2, 2022. Commissioned by the province of Gelderland and supervised by Cultuur Oost in Arnhem we – Boekmanstichting, Het PON & Telos and Pyrrhula Research Consutlants – studied the state of the arts in this large Dutch province. Gelderland tops the list as the number of museums goes. The cultural omnivcore city in Gelderland is Nijmegen. Young people are key cultural particpants and art professionals. Their vulnerable labor market position was seriously affected by the corona pandemic; the same goes for the once strong organizational power of amateur arts organizations. See for more results the short or the full version of the research report.
Fair pay in photography
For Platform ACCT and in collaboration with the union for professional photographers DuPho, Dutch Photographers, a study was conducted into fair pay and labor conditions for professional photographers (excluding photo journalists). Two sector experts supported the study by co-creating interview topic lists, joining the interviews, and commenting on the research report. Not only professional photographers but also representatives of employing organizations were interviewed early and mid 2022. The report will serve as a stepping stone for a social dialogue between all relevant parties in professional photography aimed at improving pay and labor conditions. Results are avalable on the Platform ACCT website soon.
Waarde van Cultuur 2022
The third wave of the large scale project Waarde van Cultuur (Value of Culture) bringing together existing and newly gathered data on the ‘state of the arts’ in the Dutch provincie of Noord-Brabant. A multimethod and info rich project covering all relevant fields of the art world in Noord-Brabant. The project will again reveal the balance between subsidized and non-subsidized cultural locations (using Big Data). The special focus this time is on the impact of Coronacrisis in the art world (with a new wave following the project mentioned below). Full results are published June 21, 2022. See for downloads this link at Kunstloc Brabant. See also this link at the site Culturele Atlas.
Volunteers in the heritage sector in the province of South-Holland
For EHZH, Erfgoedhuis Zuid-Holland, the heritage organization of the province of South-Holland, PON & Telos and Pyrrhula Research Consultants performed a pioneer study into volunteers in the heritage sector in South-Holland (the most populous province of the Netherlands). EHZH was interested in gaining insight in the numbers, characteristics and motivations of volunteers in this broad sector and its many constituent subsectors (or ‘blood groups’, ranging from maritime heritage clubs, windmill foundations, historic circles, history museums, etc.). Using administrative data of numerous organizations within these subsectors (and those connecting them) and questionnaire data we estimated the numbers, the (demographic) characteristics and motivations of volunteers active in South-Holland. Link to the report and a one-page infographic can be found here.
Fair Practice and literature organizations
Between late 2021 and early 2022 we studied the way VLAM21, an informal network of 14 organizations for literary activites and manifestations (festivals), handles fair pay of people working in their organizations (staff) and for their activities (artists). We used administrative data of 16 organizations (14 members of VLAM21 and 2 extra; large and small), conducted indepth interviews and distributed a questionnaire among staff (working freelance or in contracts) and artists who were active for the organizations in 2021. In spring 2022 we have delivered the results to VLAM21. This too is a project of HTH Research. The full report can be found here.
Financing the Dutch cabaret academy
The privately financed Dutch cabaret academy Koningstheateracademie in ‘s-Hertogenbosch asked HTH Research to prepare research evidence on key indicators of the labor market prospects of alumni of this academy. We used national alumni data, labor market data and conducted indepth interviews – with well-known alumni of the academy and with theaters, agencies, etc. The evidence was succesfully used to apply for state subsidies. The report on our efforts is confidential.
Mediafreelancers Corona Monitor 2020
The Dutch union for journalists NVJ and the authors union Auteursbond, with the support of collective rights organisations Lira and Pictoright have initiated a study into the effects of the Coronavirus on freelancers working for the media. HTH Research has build the ‘Mediafreelancers Corona Monitor 2020’, a special edition of the Monitor Freelancers and Media (see below). 380 Freelance (photo)journalists, writers and photographers participated. Out June 2021. See the press release (in Dutch) on the site of the NVJ, including a link to the report and a factsheet with key results.
Four cultural professions and Fair Practice
For Platform ACCT we contribute to a series of roundtables with representatives of four professions in the cultural sector: designers, professionals in cultural education and participation, film crew, and workers in the media. In the roundtables we address the issues related to working conditions in these sector, including those related to Fair Practice. The result will be a report with a set of suggested steps towards more appropriate working conditions. The results of the studies into archeology and the music sector (see below) are integrated in this report. Out March 2021: download. A project by HTH Research and Lisa Wolters.
Effects of the Coronavirus on the cultural sector in Noord-Brabant
With Het PON and for Kunstloc Brabant we study the effects of the Coronavirus on the cultural sector in the province of Noord-Brabant. We evaluate exisiting estimate data about these effects, collect survey data from wide range of cultural institutes, artists and publics, and organize a research community and indepth case studies to further detail the severe effects of the virus on the cultural sector. We also emphasize the opportunities the virus might have, e.g. by looking at those who are reaching out to new publics in new ways with new artistic products. Results published March 2021: download
The ACT Corona Monitor
For ACT, acteursbelangen, we study the effects of the Coronavirus on the professionals practice of actors (i.e. members of ACT, an interest organisations for professional actors) in the Netherlands. The survey on the topic was held in December 2020. Results published February 2021: download
Employment conditions in Dutch archeology
The archeology sector in the Netherlands is in need of recent facts and figures about its employment conditions. For Platform ACCT we are involved in a study into these conditions and ways to improve them, thus provinding input for the evaluation of the heritage sector of which archeology is a major part. The study is subsidized by the Dutch ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Results published late december 2020: download. A project by HTH Research and Lisa Wolters.
Volunteer policies in the heritage sector
OPEN, the network for provincial heritage organisations, has commissioned a study into the existing and desired policies and initiatives to support volunteer involvement in the Dutch heritage sector. The study is based on studying research literature, documents that the several provincial organisations regard important, and on group interviews in each province during the Summer of 2020. Find the report here.
Tariff agreements in the music sector
For Platform ACCT, the national organisation to address future issues in de cultural and creatieve sector, and with financial support of FPK, Performing Arts Fund NL, a two-fold study is organized to assess opportunities and pittfalls to stablish tariff agreements for freelance performers in the classical music and in the pop music sector. The study is part of efforts of HTH Research to study arts, work and policy. The study is special as the researchers are assisted in all phases by sector experts in both musical subsectors. In June 2020 a number of separate group interviews in the two sectors take place (online). A project by HTH Research. Find the report on the website of Platform ACCT.
Programming of performing arts podia
The national FPK, Performing Arts Fund NL, is interested in the programming practice of Dutch performing arts podia and in the various ways they can support this practice in the future. With the HTH Research colleagues we have interviewed several podia (varying in size, region, and artistic/commercial focus) in depth and build a questionnaire with which to tap programming as a result of the mix of artistic ambition, financial constraints, and knowledge of the local context (inclusing knowledge of the public). Resulting data are used for the new arts policy period starting 2021. See for the report (in Dutch) here.
Waarde van Cultuur 2020
The second wave of the large scale project Waarde van Cultuur (Value of Culture) bringing together existing and newly gathered data on the ‘state of the arts’ in the Dutch provincie of Noord-Brabant. Harmonisation of data at different government levels concerning (subsidized) cultural institutions is key in this project. The project will again reveal the balance between subsidized and non-subsidized cultural locations, now in the largest 12 cities in the province (using Big Data) and will seperately focus on the developments in cultural hot spots at city levels (‘broedplaatsen’ and artists-in-residencies). Full results are published June 16, 2020. Download here. Watch this teaser.
Assessing collective tariff negotiations in the cultural sector
The Dutch national arts union Kunstenbond aims to assess the possibilities to collectively negotiate on tariffs by independent entrepreneurs (zzp’ers in Dutch) working in the cultural and creative sector and their commissioning clients. On behalf of HTH Research, Pyrrhula Research Consultants supports the Kunstenbond by organizing focus groups on this issue. The project is part of the nationwide Arbeidsmarktagenda Culturele en Creatieve Sector (Labor Market Agenda Cultural and Creative Sector) aimed at improving the labor market position of all workers in these sectors. Download the report here.
MFM 2018. Monitor Freelancers and Media 2018
The 2018 Spring edition of MFM: see below. Data on work and income of freelace journalists, writers, and photographers, again including rates that some of the largest media companies , such as De Persgroep and the Telegraaf Media Groep, pay their freelancers. Involved are NVJ (journalists), NVF (photo journalists), Author Union (journalists/writers), DuPho (photographers), and the national authorship organizations Lira (for written materials) and Pictoright (for visual materials). Download the full report here.
Collective Selfie 4
Another update of data on work and income of visual artists in the Netherlands, now including results of reanalyses of microdata of Statistics Netherlands (CBS) concerning the characteristics of the first and second occupational roles (including side jobs) of visual artists. Again for BKNL where one can download the full report: Een Collectieve Selfie 4.
Inventory Honorarium Guidelines in the arts
The national FPK, Performing Arts Fund NL, is leading actor in assessing the nationwide use of so-called ‘honorarium guidelines’ in the cultural and creative sector. These guidelines are in most cases supported by employees and employers in the cultural and creatieve sector, yet vary strongly per sector, as several interviews with key stakeholders in these sectors show. This assessment should contribute to the improvement of monitoring the use of these guidelines, monitoring which to date is weakly developed. The project is part of the nationwide Arbeidsmarktagenda Culturele en Creatieve Sector (Labor Market Agenda Cultural and Creative Sector) aimed at improving the labor market position of all workers in these sectors. See the resulting report (in Dutch) at the website of Arbeidsmarktagenda and read the blog at the website of HTH Research.
Trend research supply and demand in the performing arts
The national FPK, Performing Arts Fund NL, aims to address the share it supports in the total supply and demand in the full range of performing arts stages in the Netherlands, relative to shares supported by the Ministery of Culture (the so-called BIS-institutes) and to shares depending on the market (the non-subsidized sector). With HTH Research partners Pyrrhula Research Consultants collects and analyzes the available data. It also shows which data are yet to be collected before having the complete picture of supply and demand in the performing arts. See the resulting report at the site of FPK.
Front of House dancefestivals, innovation and impact
Several dancefestivals producers are united in a network named Front of House. In collaboration with the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and Netherlands’ Economic Observatory the uniqueness of these festivals is surveyed. Elements such as the innovativeness of the programming, the background of festival go’ers (age, gender, country, province, etc.), and the economic spin-off in the city and region in which the festivals take place are addressed. The study will be the basis for a plan to invest in dancefestivals e.g. by building ties to the (technical) professional education sector.
Arts in the province of Flevoland
In a collaborative study with Berenschot on the arts sector in the province of Flevoland, Pyrrhula Research Consultants, in close cooperation with Boekman Foundation, has updated the benchmark on arts previously made for the prvince of Noord-Brabant. Additional data were gathered on e.g. museums in the cities of Flevoland. The results will be presented to Provinciale Staten of Flevoland.
Work and income of audiovisual artists. PAM and ACT
For PAM, the network of audiovisual artists (screen writers, directors and actors), Pyrrhula Reseacrh Consultants particpated in the HTH Research project assessing the direct and indirect (copy rigths) income position of these artists. HTH Research is a network of artists’ labor market researchers. Pyrrhula Research Consultants is a founding partner of HTH Research. In a first wave data were gathered for PAM – using multiple methods – on the framework of income acquisition, key issues of copyrights, and the entire income composition. A second wave is planned for 2019. The study is part of the evaluation of new legal copyrights agreemments. The report was finalized in spring 2018. Partly overlapping was a rerun of the ACT Monitor, a monitor of the income of actors in general, last conducted in 2015 (see below). The report for ACT was also finalzed in spring 2018.
MFM 2017. Monitor Freelancers and Media 2017
Rerun of the 2015- and 2016-monitor: see below. As in 2016 we include questions on rates that some of the largest media companies , such as De Persgroep and the Telegraaf Media Groep, pay their freelancers. Involved are NVJ (journalists), FLA (writers), DuPho (photographers), BNO (illustrators and designers), and the national authorship organizations Lira (for written materials) and Pictoright (for visual materials). Kunstenbond DAMD, Dutch Animation & Montion Design, has joined MFM 2017. See the full report and the presentation February 1, 2018 at Nieuwspoort, the Hague.
New cultural indicators: a B5-pilot
For the Province of Noord-Brabant and with Boekman Foundation and Dialogic we will run a pilot in the B5, the five largest municipalties in Noord-Brabant (Breda, Eindhoven, Helmond, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Tilburg) searching for new cultural indicators with which to measure contemporary cultural trends among publics (online survey using city panels), among artists and art companies (focus groups) and at subsidized and non-subsidized art stages (big data). Start late summer 2017. This project is part of the Research Agenda Province Noord-Brabant. Results presented June 18th, 2018. See the ‘Waarde van Cultuur’-website for more details.
‘Culturele Atlas Brabant 2018’
Rerun of the 2016-monitor into professional arts organizations in the province of Noord-Brabant (see below) now covering 2015 and 2016 data on financial, organizational, media, activities and audience range trends. For bkkc. Start late summer 2017. This project is part of the Research Agenda Province Noord-Brabant. Results presented June 18th, 2018. See the ‘Waarde van Cultuur’-website for more details.
Artist’ Income Research: Guidelines for core questions
Starting early summer 2017 Pyrrhula Research Consultants conducted a three-stage HTH Research project aimed at providing basic guidelines for art researchers and art research commissioning organizations to do income research among artists in thorough, accountable, and comparable way. In the first stage a document was drafted with the most frequently-used concept and indicators, questions and answers in recent Dutch artist’ income research. Second, about 40 art research stakeholders met at the Boekman Foundation in Amsterdam, worked on the document and debated the possible focus of future artist income research. Thirdly, a shortlist of highly recommended and optional concepts and questions for conducting income research was drafted. The document of the first stage can be found at the HTH Research site. The shortlist is published on the website of the Boekman Foundation. For the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science.
Update BK Data and update ‘Een collectieve selfie’ 2017
From November 2016 onwards Pyrrhula Research Consultants and IVAdata cooperate to update BK Data (see below) for the Mondriaan Fund. We will add new data on subsidies, acquisitions and commissions on the level of individual visual artists working in the Netherlands and we will match these data to BK Data, a dataset that is updated until 2007. New in this project is the search for data on presentations by visual artists. We will acquire these data through the platform for presentation organisation De Zaak Nu and the Netherlands Gallery Association, NGA. The update will result in a report on visual artists and their subsidies, acquisitions, commissions, and presentations in the 2007-2015-period. The data will be used by Pyrrhula Research Consultants to update ‘Een collectieve selfie’ (see also below) early Fall 2017 for which various new data on visual artists will be presented. Report published in February 2018: Een Collectieve Selfie 3. For BKNL; with Berenschot.
Proud of the South
Running an analysis on the data of the ‘Culturele Atlas Brabant 2016’ (see below) for six popmusic podiums in the provincie of Noord-Brabant. The podiums collaborate on the theme of talent development in a network called Proud of the South. For two pop podiums new data is collected. The six are compared to other music podiums and to general performing arts podiums in the Atlas on the topics of subsidies, revenues, employment, HRM, marketing and communication, activities, and visits.
Friend circles in the cultural sector
Doing a pilot in the City of Tilburg with bkkc, brabants kenniscentrum kunst en cultuur, about the role and importance of friend circles in the cultural sector. Friend circles exist in various forms, from formalized associations supporting the local theater or museum, to loosely arranged groups of friends and/or volunteers active for the local pop podium. The pilot explores the key questions that are needed to assess the role and importance of these various friend circles, using indepth interviewing of association board members as well as the leadership of the cultural institutions that already have friend circles, c.q. partnership programs, or are busy developing (new forms) of support groups. See this report on the conference PUBLIEK! at which the main results of the pilot were presented (all in Dutch).
Conversations on regional cultural indices
With and for the Boekman foundation, study centre for arts, culture, and related policy, we are visiting numerous stakeholders mainly in the field of cultural policy-making (and some in cultural production, such as the festival Cultural Capital Frieslân 2018) to talk about the content and practical use of a regionalized cultural index. What indicators would ideally be in such an index and how could they make use of it in their practice? These desirables are confronted with the regional data (on provincial, city or group-of-city levels) Boekman is gathering in collaboration with Atlas voor Gemeenten, a research center focusing on comparing (groups of) municipalities on a large number of indicators. Check the results online at the Boekman Foundation.
MFM 2016. Monitor Freelancers and Media 2016
Rerun of the 2015-monitor: see below. An extra topic in this wave concerns rates some of the largest media companies , such as De Persgroep and the Telegraaf Media Groep, pay their freelancers. Involved are NVJ (journalists), FLA (writers), DuPho (photographers), BNO (illustrators and designers), and the national authorship organizations Lira (for written materials) and Pictoright (for visual materials).
Monitor Vitality Organized Amateur Arts
Supporting the development of the first monitor on the vitality of organized Amateur arts with Kunstbalie, the amateur arts support organisation in the provincie of Noord-Brabant and setting up a pilot to test the monitor in different cities and towns in the province of Noord-Brabant late 2016. Collaboration with Keunstwurk, the amateur arts support organisation in the province of Frieslân (also developing a monitor system), and LKCA, the nation-wide support organistion for cultural particiaption, is established.
Visual artists in the Netherlands. Data on work and income: ‘Een collectieve selfie’ 2016
Gathering and analyzing existing research data on work and income of visual artists in the Netherlands for BKNL, a platform of national visual arts organisations, and with the (financial) support of the Mondrian Fund and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sciences. The project aims to depict which questions about work and income of visual artists in the Netherlans can be and cannot be answered with existing data and which questions, therefore, need new research or updated and more professional research. BKNL is joined by Platform BK, Museumvereniging, FNV Kiem, Kunsten’92, BBK, NGA, and De Zaak Nu. The Mondrian Fund coordinates and supports BKNL meetings. See the resulting publication by BKNL here.
Vitality amateur arts sector
Consulting in the research and development process aimed at identifying indicators with which to monitor the vitality of organized forms of amateur arts. Kunstbalie, the amateur arts support organisation in the provincie of Noord-Brabant, commissioned this project. Resulting from this project Kunstbalie aims to set up a monitoring system focusing at the vitality of organized amateur arts and to thus help (traditional and newly emerging) amateur arts organizations to respond to key societal and cultural changes identified in this project. The monitor may also feed provincial and communal amateur arts policies. See for the results of the search for indicators the pamflet of Kunstbalie here.
MFM 2015. Monitor Freelancers and Media 2015
For six national media professionals organizations a monitor is set up which outlines trends in work and income of (photo)journalists, writers, photographers, illustrators, and graphic designers, all working as freelancers for media organisations in the Netherlands. The monitor was fielded late 2015 and follows the 2013-pilot (see below). It will run for the next three years (at least). Involved are NVJ (journalists), FLA (writers), DuPho (photographers), BNO (illustrators and designers), and the national authorship organizations Lira (for written materials) and Pictoright (for visual materials).
‘Culturele Atlas Brabant 2016’
Monitoring the professional arts in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant on behalf of and with bkkc, brabants kenniscentrum kunst en cultuur (brabant knowledge centre arts and culture). The monitor will result in the second, 2016-edition of the ‘Culturele Atlas Brabant’ which presents the state of affairs and basic changes on financial, organizational and performance indicators of the major cultural institutions (companies, theaters, museums, etc.) in the province of Noord-Brabant. Field work commenced in Fall 2015. A full trend report will appear mid 2016. See for progress and more details of this and the previous 2013-edition the website of the ‘Culturele Atlas Brabant’.
Work and income of professional actors
ACT, belangenvereniging voor acteurs (ACT, interests organisation for actors in the Netherlands) commisioned a re-run of the 2009-study ‘Spelen voor de kost’, a survey of the professional practice, work, and income of Dutch professional actors, either on (subsidized) stage, television or cinema, with or without other jobs in or outside the world of acting. The re-run will result in trend data on work and income of actors in the Netherlands. This provides ACT with the tools to advocate balanced attention to the position of actors working across different professional fields in the Netherlands. September 3, 2015, the results of the ACT Monitor 2015 on work and income of actors are presented at Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam. See an overview of the key findings according to ACT here.
Benchmark arts in Noord-Brabant
bkkc, brabants kenniscentrum kunst en cultuur (brabant knowledge centre arts and culture), aims to develop a benchmark on the art world in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant. Covering several domains and indicators the benchmark must provide insights in the relative position of art and culture in this province as compared to other parts of the Netherlands. Pyrrhula Research Consultants will work on the benchmark which hopefully will be public early 2015, well ahead of the provincial elections. The benchmark will strongly build on existing quantitative art data projects such as the Cultuurindex Nederland (see below).
BK Data: Archiving the national dataset on visual artists’ visibility
The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science has commissioned Pyrrhula Research Consultants to collect and archive BK Data, the national data set about visual artists. Data for this set was gathered during the 1990s and 2000s by IVA Tilburg, a social research institute based at Tilburg University. IVA Tilburg is closed since 2013. BK Data consists of several subsets and measures the visibility of visual artists in the Dutch art world of assignments, acquisitions, and (individual) subsidies by government agencies, museums, and galleries. BK Data covers the 1949-2007-period. With the help of IVA Onderwijs, the successor of IVA Tilburg, Pyrrhula Research Consultants prepares BK Data for public access by other researchers.
Monitoring amateur artists, art teachers, and art coaches
LKCA, National Centre of Expertise for Cultural Education and Amateur Arts, set up a variety of surveys to monitor trends among amateur artists and among professional art teachers and art coaches (conductors, choir leaders, choreographers, etc.). During most of 2014 LKCA needed professional research consultancy for designing the complex questionnaires for these surveys, for managing the data gathering process, for analyzing the resulting data sets with more advanced methods, and for writing down the results in an academically solid way. Two major surveys stand out in 2014: the MAK, Monitor Amateur Kunst, and MDAB, Monitor Docenten en Artistiek Begeleiders. MAK studies the extent to which amateur arts is organized: informally with friends, formally in clubs, or individually, just by oneself. MDAB focuses on changes in the work of art teachers and art coaches who increasingly have to function as entrepreneurs. For MDAB collaboration was set up with Kunstconnectie, the art education employer organisation, with FNV-Kiem, the employee organization for the creative sector, and with Adecco Kunsteducatie, the temporary work agency in arts education.
‘Cultuurindex Nederland’, the Netherlands’ Culture Index
In 2009 the National Arts Index appeared in the USA measuring the health and vitality of arts and culture. In 2011 a similar index was founded in the UK. More countries and cities have followed suit. Boekman foundation, study centre for arts, culture, and related policy, has taken the initiative to start a ‘Cultuurindex’ in the Netherlands. An index provides insights in how arts and culture change over time. The core elements of the index are: 1 capacity (‘supply’; e.g. number of theatre shows), 2 participation (‘demand’; including the amount of volunteering in the arts sector), 3 financial flows (to and within the arts sector), and 4 competiveness (‘market share’; e.g., donation to arts as a share of total donations). Pyrrhula Research Consultants was commissioned to coordinate the data collection for the Dutch ‘Cultuurindex’. Launch of the Cultuurindex at the Kleine Zaal, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, December 9th, 2013. See the full program here. For the report of the launch check this. See also the CiN-page on website of Boekman here.
Rates among journalists, writers, and photographers
The NVJ, the Netherlands’ Association of Journalists, commissioned a nationwide study into the trends in the rates that freelance journalists, writers, and photographers charge for their work. Insight in these trends can be helpful in the negotiations on desired rate levels. The study also addresses copy right issues, negotiations iwth media, aspirations of journalists, writers, and photographers as regards future developments of freelancers’ rates and the impact on professional status. Besides NVJ, the FLA, Freelance Association, and FF, Photography Federation are involved. End result presentation at press center Nieuwspoort, The Hague, November 28th 2013. See the full program here.
The social reach of cultural participation programs
The Fund for Cultural Participation (Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie, FCP) commissioned Pyrrhula to analyze several now scattered datasets with which FCP politices and activities can be monitored and evaluated. In a first project three datasets will be merged and analyzed. The data refer to the FCP’s cultural participation instrument for provinces and municipalities in 2009-2012 period (Regeling cultuurparticipatie provincies en gemeenten 2009-2012). In a second project a range of datasets of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, SCP) is analyzed. The project aims to offer empirical insights in the social segmentation of out-of-school music education for children and young people. It relates to the FCP grant program Music in every child (Muziek in ieder kind) which prioritizes higher social reach of cultural participation programs, in this case music education. Results of both projects are due mid-2012. In the projects, Pyrrhula closely works together with Cultuurnetwerk Nederland and SCP.
Cloud computing. Reanalyzing two-wave data
Kennisnet – a national public organization in Zoetermeer, Netherlands, supporting education institution in effective use of ICT in education – commissioned a study in which two waves of data are reanalyzed. The data are from a commissioned research project (by OiG) on the conditions, use, and effects of cloud computing in primary and secondary education schools part of a large school board in the West of the Netherlands. The reanalysis by Pyrrhula Research Consultants is aimed at finding a model with a small number of variables and a large amount of explanatory power. The study is in collaboration with Query Informatisering, Voorhout, Netherlands The results are used for a third wave of data collection late 2012 by OiG. Pyrrhula Reseacrh Consultants and Query Informatisering aim to reanalyze the three waves of data early 2013 and advice Kennisnet on how to measure ICT use in education as meaningful and cost efficient as possible in future studies.
Research-based instruction in special education
The council of employers in primary education (PO-Raad) and its quality agency (PK, Projectbureau Kwaliteit) have sponsored pilots of school in special education that focus on language and calculus programs yielding measurable improvements of learning results. The plans for these pilots at about 120 schools have already been evaluated by experts. The same experts have now evaluated the actions that followed these plans in 2010 and 2011. Pyrrhula supports ‘Penna Onderwijs Adviseurs’ in monitoring these pilots on behalf of PO-Raad/PK and compiles a final evaluation of the pilot project. The pilots relate to the broader context of ‘research-based instruction in special education’ (in Dutch known as ‘opbrengstgericht werken in het speciaal onderwijs’).
Bridging practice and science: Skola and KNOW
In the course of 2010 and 2011 several initiatives emerged that aim to link educational practice and educational science. Skola, a broadly supported initiative in the Netherlands, has set the standard of having teachers seek advanced information and having them evaluate the relevance of the retrieved scientific research results. Pyrrhula Reseacrh Consultants, with its partner Query Informatisering from Voorhout, the Netherlands, studied this process (in the case of Skola the focus was on primary school teachers) and developed a standard set of questions. This standard set is also used in the follow-up project KNOW or ‘KennisNetwerk Onderwijspraktijk en Wetenschap'(‘Knowledge Network Educational Practice and Science’) which now involves primary school and secondary school teachers. Several online knowledge files (‘dossiers’) are specifically developed by experts (first of all on Dutch language and on calculus) and evaluated by both teachers and academic experts. It is hoped that the results contribute to online knowledge creation, sharing, and dissemination in education. Results are published early 2012.
Social Activation in the Netherlands
Exploring social activation strategies and activities in the Netherlands 2011 on behalf of IAB, Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency, Nuremberg, Germany. Social activation focuses on building competencies of people disengaged from basic social, civic, and work involvement. The IAB is interested in learning from the Dutch examples. Several interviews with expert case managers across the Netherlands are held. Simultaneously IAB does interviews on the same subject in Germany. Some joint interviews are held in border regions in Netherlands and Germany. We presented our joint results in a workshop in Berlin.
Leraar24
Research consulting in 2010-2011 on behalf of the Open University’s Ruud de Moor Center, Heerlen, Netherlands, the lead research partner in Leraar24, an online platform for and by teachers intended to support them in their professional development. The consulting and coaching is aimed at collecting evidence from the four partners in the project on the use, relevance, and effects of Leraar24. This follows a 2009-assignment of managing the work process on behalf of SBL, Utrecht, Netherlands, one of the other partner organizations in Leraar24, aimed at providing 75 hours of video and text content. The two other partners in Leraar24 are Kennisnet, Zoetermeer, Netherlands, and NTR (former Teleac), Hilversum, Netherlands.
Youth Data
Managing a 2009 project focused at social science research data on youth for DANS, Data Archiving and Networked Services. DANS is an institute of KNAW, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and NWO, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, The Hague, Netherlands. Youth is ‘en vogue’ among social scientists, policy makers and Dutch society at large. Yet, to date there is little systematic insight in the nature and quality of youth research and its underlying research data, nor is there a central repository of these data. This project explores the desirability to attain such insights and work towards central archiving and networked services in the field of youth research.
My Generation II
A 2006-Rerun of the reputed 1996-study My Generation on generational consciousness, life chances, and mutual stereotypes, now also including future perspectives and future choices. Generational consciousness in the Netherlands is strong, in 1996 and also ten years later in 2006. Majorities among each generation feel they belong to a generation. Between 1996 and 2006 it gains strength especially among older generations (born before 1955). The authors of this study also organized the first study ‘Mijn Generatie’ (My Generation) for which the data were gatehred late 1996. The resulting book ‘Mijn Generatie’ is the first and only full sociological and empirical assessment of generational consciousness and the much talked about generational cleavages in the Netherlands. It was published in Spring 1998 (second edition 1999). Parts of the My Generation I and II project are sponsored by GPD, Geassocieerde Persdiensten (GPD, Associated Press), CentERdata, Intermediair magazine, SIG, Stichting Instituut GAK (in collaboration with USE, Utrecht School of Economics, Utrecht University, Netherlands).
CEGIPE
Investigating emerging forms of engagement in Japan and Asia and comparing the involvement of middle-aged generations with younger generations in the project CEGIPE, Civic Engagement and Globalism In the Post-modern Era: Japan and Asia. Early in 2006-2008 the project attracted academic and non-academic participants (including activists) who in seminar series across Japan focus on creating a better understanding of emerging forms of civic engagement in Japan in particular and Asia in general. Several of these participants contribute to the 2010 international book publication ‘Civic Engagement in Contemporary Japan’.
VSM08
Developing in close collaboraton with Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hostede and Misho Minkov: The VSM08, The Values Survey Module 2008. Based on thorough re-analyses of several recent replication studies and the WVS, World Values Survey we developed an update of the famed VSM94, an concise instrument consisting of 20 survey questions, with which to replicate Hofstede’s classic Five Culture Dimensions in multi-nation survey studies. Again, these dimensions and additional ones proposed by Minkov can be reproduced. For more info and downloads check the website of Geert Hofstede.
East Asian Values Surveys
Drawing comparative survey research lessons from East Asian values surveys especially on what values concepts, indicators, and research methodologies (not) to use in comparative values surveys that (also) cover East Asian nations.The project and the paper aim to contribute to social scientific work towards enhancing the cultural fit of comparative values surveys projects on a conceptual level. most contemporary cross-culturally comparative values surveys, also those surveying East Asian publics, still build on Western, universalist, individualist values conceptions only. This project was funded during most of the 2006-2007 period by ZUMA, Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und Analyse (part of GESIS) and ECCS, European Centre for Comparative Surveys, both in Mannheim. Several ZUMA Working Papers and lecture papers emerged from the project. See the publications page on this website.
Cultural Diversity in Europe
Addressing dimensions of cultural diversity in Europe from several social science traditions and surveying its impact on opinions on the European Union, and. The analyses are part of an Annex to the State of the Union, a yearly statement of the Dutch national cabinet on their views and policies regarding the European Union. The Annex is titled Diverse Europe. European Outlook, volume 4 (see Publication page). The European Outlook was coordinated in 2006 by the Dutch Ministry of Foriegn Affairs, and commissioned to the SCP, Netherlands Institute for Social Research, and the CPB, Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, all in The Hague, Netherlands. Part B on values is authored by Paul Dekker (SCP) and Henk Vinken (on behalf of Pyrrhula Research Consultants).
WORKS, Changes in Work
Making a case for proliferating Dutch and German work organisation surveys to other nations of Europe in order to understand changes in work. On behalf of OSA, Institute for Labour Studies, Utrecht University, Netherlands, and the IAB, Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) in Nuremberg, Germany, a report was written in 2006 on the key literature based on two longstanding organisation panel surveys, one in the Netherlands (the so-called OSA Labour Demand Panel) and the other in Germany (the IAB Betriebspanel. The project was sponsored by WORKS, a project organisation build with a grant from the European Commission Sixth Framework Programme. The core of the WORKS project, financed by the European Commission, is to improve our understanding of changes in work in the knowledge-based society, their driving forces and their implications for the use of knowledge and skills, for flexibility and for the quality of life. In particular, new forms of work organisations will be analysed taking account of global value chain restructurings and regional institutional contexts. A major instrument to monitor such changes in the domain of work is the systematic use of company panel surveys.