Research, consultation, planning, communications

This project developed a set of cultural indicators for Aotearoa-New Zealand. The first stage was a literature review. This highlighted the paramountcy of purpose in designing indicators and interpreting their information content. In this case, the primary purpose for indicator development is to ”reflect the government’s strategic policy areas” which in this case were stated as:

“The government invests in the arts, culture and heritage sectors for a number reasons. It recognises that building nationhood and a sense of identity depends to a significant extent on actively supporting arts, culture and heritage activities, events, businesses and other organisations.

New Zealand’s culture and heritage can contribute positively to economic growth, social cohesion, the acceptance and encouragement of diversity, and creative thinking in a range of fields. Access to and participation in cultural activities can also be a measure of fairness and social equity. Government’s involvement enables a wider range of experiences to be available to a more diverse group than would otherwise be the case.

In order to determine appropriate policy direction and allocation of resources, government is interested in monitoring the contribution of the cultural sector in New Zealand’s social, economic and environmental development.”

The first stage in the project was a literature review. This recognised that indicators are much more than statistics and highlighted the paramount importance of purpose in designing indicators and interpreting their information content.  In this case, the primary purpose for indicator development was to reflect the government’s strategic policy areas. These were specified as a series of themes and their desired outcomes by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. These were inferred from a number of sources.  The “desired outcomes” were specified with the intention that they were compatible with outcomes identified by other departments, which are relevant to the cultural sector in particular and New Zealand’s sustainable development in general.

Development of the indicators has led to the refinement of this framework into ten outcomes. The outcomes cover:

1. Environment;
   

2. Access;
   

3. Engagement;
   

4. Valuation;
   

5. Identity;
   

6. Strength;
   

7. Diversity;
   

8. Enhancement;
   

9. Cohesion; and
   

10. Development.
    

The draft outcomes paper noted that Maori culture is unique to New Zealand.  The paper asserted it as a primary element in our distinctive national and cultural makeup. It indicated that all of the outcomes expressed as being desirable for and by New Zealand were intended to recognise the role and importance of Maori arts, culture and heritage, for Maori people in particular, and for all New Zealanders generally.  It is possible to generalise the widely differing types and styles of indicators into four broad levels:

Applying the same process of defining hierarchies to the outcomes, the highest order of the themes set out for the cultural indicators is that related to the role of arts, culture, and heritage in defining the national identity of Aotearoa-New Zealand at a time of:

1. increasing globalisation with its attendant threats of homogenisation, commodification destruction of cultural difference; and
   

2. on-going immigration into Aotearoa-New Zealand from a wider range of countries than in the past.
   

Central to this collective definition of identity and our differentiation from other countries is the diversity of New Zealand’s cultures, amongst which a particular contribution is made by Maori culture. This diversity in turn is based on:

1. the rich history of immigration and adaptation;
   

2. widespread engagement in arts, culture and heritage activities by people of all cultures;
   

3. the legacy of tangible and intangible expressions of culture; and
   

4. the value ascribed to the contributions of the various communities and cultures that shape the nation’s cultural identity.
   

Benefits flowing from this cultural diversity (beyond the intrinsic value of the arts) include a mechanism, through cross-cultural experiences, for promoting social cohesion, and economic development through the sales of cultural products and services (including cultural tourism), both locally and overseas.

Indicator development

At the generic level the usage of indicators as tools for evaluation (rather than simple description) requires that they are relevant (actually represent what they purport to), reliable (based on statistics that can be assembled consistently and accurately), accessible (constructed on a regular and consistent basis), and clear (easy to understand). 

Beyond the generic level, the development of indicators to reflect the outcomes identified by the Ministry was guided by two key conclusions derived from assessing the overseas literature and reviewing the suite of current New Zealand cultural statistics. These cover the need:

1. 1.to place particular emphasis on the “local content” of arts, cultural and heritage activities and resources; and
   

2. 2.to extend beyond the current suite of cultural statistics particularly in terms of characterising the extent to which the environment supports creativity and innovation for all cultures.
   

The development of indicators was guided by the New Zealand Framework of Cultural Statistics but needed to look wider given the focus of these statistics largely on activities while the indicators must also monitor the environment in which the creative sector operates. Indicator development started by preparing a range of possible interpretations of each outcome and ways these could be numerically expressed. These were then discussed with stakeholders. This led in some cases to revisions of the outcomes and their descriptions. A range of sources were then checked to assess whether there were existing data which could be used to populate the putative indicators.  In some cases no relevant data source could be found. In such cases indicators have been devised that could be populated from new or enlarged surveys, and the nature of the required survey has been described.

Data sources

Many of the indicators draw data from the 2001 Census of Population.  Others are based on:

1. the Annual Enterprise Survey;
   

2. the 2002 Cultural Experiences Survey;
   

3. records of the grants made by the Lottery Grants Board, and
   

4. surveys by “New Zealand on Air”.
   

Reliability

The main data sources are surveys conducted by Statistics New Zealand, and are considered highly reliable, as are the surveys by New Zealand on Air. The assessment of the grants by the Lottery Grants Board is subject to possible error in interpreting the cultural affiliation of the recipient groups, as this was based on the groups’ names and the titles of their projects, which might not always fully reflect their actual composition.

A range of definition issues arise even using official statistics as illustrated in a recently completed study on the export of published books.

External trade statistics show book exports rising from $32 million in 1990 to $60 million in 2001 before falling back to $57 million in 2002 and provisionally to $54 million in 2003. These (year ending in June) figures are derived on a different basis from that adopted in the Dialogue study and include other types of printed matter ranging from globes and Christmas cards to bus tickets.

The Dialogue study, which was based on 406 survey returns from publishers around the country, supplemented by market intelligence to include a key non-respondent, estimated that the turnover of the book publishing industry in 2002 was $204 million, with $117 million of this (57%) generated by exports.  

Similar types of definitional and data problems in other industries could result in other variations between estimates of exports. At this stage there is no basis for determining the nature (over or under) or extent of possible variation. The implication, however, is that care is required in interpreting the contribution of arts, culture and heritage activities to economic development as in the instance of book exports there is a serious underestimation.

Frequency

Much of the data used in indicator construction is updated on a relatively infrequent basis. The Census of Population is conducted five yearly, the Annual Enterprise Survey is, of course, annual. The Cultural Experiences Survey has only been conducted once so far. The New Zealand on Air surveys are conducted each year, while the Lottery Grants Board records could be analysed annually.

Recommendations for data improvements

A significant limitation is the lack of compatibility between the classifications in New Zealand Framework for Cultural Statistics and the classification of industries in the Australia New Zealand Standard Industry Classification, and of occupations in the New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations. Aligning the NZCFS with these other classifications would enable useful comparisons to be made.

Expansion of the coverage of some surveys, especially the Cultural Experiences Survey, would enable improvements to the specification of some indicators. This issue is discussed in the body of the report and associated tables in relation to specific indicators.

Definitions

The terminology used in the cultural indicators field is complex, starting with the polysemy of the word ìcultureî having both “anthropological” and “artistic” meanings. A number of definitions used in this study are worth emphasising to ensure clarity of interpretation notably:

Creative Occupations: Actor, Architect, Art Gallery and/or Museum Curator, Artistic Director, Author and Critic, Broadcasting and Theatrical Production Manager, Broadcasting Transmitting and Studio Equipment Operator, Camera Operator, Clown, Magician, Acrobat and Related Worker, Composer, Arranger and/or Conductor. Copywriter, Dancer, Display and Window Dresser, Editor, Fashion Designer, Graphic Designer, Industrial Designer, Instrumentalist, Interior Designer, Landscape Architect, Musical Instrument Maker, Repairer and Tuner, Paste Up Artist, Photographer, Reporter, Sculptor, Painter and Related Artist, Singer, Sound Recording Equipment Controller, and Sub-Editor.

Cultural industries (with ANZSIC codes in brackets): Advertising services (L785100), Architectural services (L782100), Arts (P924), Book & magazine wholesaling (F479400), Commercial art & display services (L785200), Interest groups nec (Q962900), Motion picture (radio & TV services (P91), Museums (P922000), Newspaper (book & stationery retailing (G524300), Photographic studios (Q952300), Pre-school education (N841000), Printing (Publishing & Recorded Media (C24), Recorded music retailing (G523500), Services to the arts (P925), and Video hire outlets (Q951100).

Cultural workforce: comprises people in cultural and non-cultural occupations in the cultural industries and those in cultural occupations in the non-cultural industries.

Value Added: The amount added to goods and services by the contributions of capital and labour (i.e. the costs of bought-in materials and services has been deducted from the total value of output). Statistics New Zealand advise that the value-added calculation used in the Annual Enterprise Survey is only indicative, and is not an official measure of Value Added. It has not been through the system of National Accounts and should only be treated as an approximation.