Section 2 – Research Methodology
From 2021 to 2024, the PA Humanities Discovery Project was advised by a cohort of 26 national and local stakeholders, forming the state and national advisory boards. It was guided by principles of emergent strategy and a participatory research design, and brought wide-ranging experiences and perspectives on the humanities from a variety of different sectors as we developed the project, interpreted findings, and reflected on themes and trends.
We sought survey responses from individual practitioners across Pennsylvania – both those who engage in humanities activities professionally and those who do so without financial compensation. Following the completion of the survey period, the research team held eight focus groups. Social network analysis was utilized in both the surveys and focus groups. In 2024, we conducted listening sessions with advisors and research participants to process our findings.