As the foundation of National Science Museum is weaker than that of other advanced countries, the government has established a fundamental plan for fostering national science museums and commenced strategic approach to expand the facilities. As a part...
As the foundation of National Science Museum is weaker than that of other advanced countries, the government has established a fundamental plan for fostering national science museums and commenced strategic approach to expand the facilities. As a part of the efforts, two National Science Museums were established in Daegu and Gwangju, respectively. According to the preliminary feasibility reports for the museum installation, the range of the weights for AHP assessment were monotonously restricted to the three aspects, 40~50% (for economic feasibility), 25~35% (policy) and 15~25% (basic research), even though the time changed and each area has their own specialties, which resulted in focusing on the economic feasibility. The preliminary feasibility reports single-mindedly concerning on economy resulted in the B/C ratio of Daegu National Science Museum to be 0.6 while it was 0.57 for Gwangju National Science Museum, both of which were below 1, the required level of economic feasibility. Literatures on the existing national science museums also demonstrated that the financial independency of the museums are relatively low. For Gwacheon and Central Science Museum, for example, the financial independency estimates range from 5~20%, while the range turned out to be from 23~50% for science museums have been operated for a very long time in advanced countries as well. As this figures imply, these facilities may have to suffer from the low financial independency. However, they have tried to form intangible assets and values by regularly changing the exhibitions and continuously providing new and diverse programs. These efforts stem from the awareness of the educational worth of the museum and the value of culture and arts. It is acceptable that the museums have created added values far more than the overall expenditures. However, comtemporary feasibility analysis practices for the science museum construction have significantly relied on the economic numbers and political interests. It is highly recommended that the assessment should focus on the local characteristics and estimate the intangible social assets or values of the museums (such as its impacts on employment, local education, industry and businesses). Feasibility assessment focusing merely on economic aspects rather hampers the overall process of science museum projects.
From this perspective, the present study analyzes the existing assessment factors (economic feasibility, political values and fundamental survey (balanced regional growth)), and suggests two additional factors (educational value and cultural/artistic value). The present study establishes a new assessment model combining the both new factors with the established factors and assesses the educational and cultural/artistic values of a science museum project. All the assessment factors were scientifically evaluated by a field survey which contained 46 questions. The questionnaire samples were distributed to surveyees through surveyors and E-mail. For the face-to-face survey, 503 samples were distributed and 432 responds were collected while 38 out of 100 E-mail samples were collected. The total number of respondents was 470. According to the survey result, economic feasibility, political values and fundamental survey (balanced regional growth) are rated 24.633%, 24.421% and 26.557%, respectively, and the new factor 'intangible value' was rated 24.389%. This result implies that all the factors have been qualified as the assessment criteria. Also the validity and interaction between the factors were also established as well as a weighting matrix to properly apply weights for each category. The decision model is also suggested by the present study. This model help decision makers decide whether to confirm the target project by evaluating the specific items using the 6 scales (① exceptional, ② very good, ③ good, ④ mediocre ⑤ bad, and ⑥ very bad). Each evaluation result on each item aggregates to a sum of points which can be up to 400. This model is designed to be compatible with generic AHP models, so that both models can be combined together for evaluations of a single project. First, as it was found that the traditional fundamental survey (balanced regional growth) tends to neglect the actual demands of the target area so the survey in a transparent manner to encourage the science museum project to be proper in their size and be based on the practical demands of the regions was requested. In addition, the present study takes balanced regional growth, locational environments, local education settings and cultural environment into account and suggests ways to evaluate based on the sensitivity and risk in lights of each of these elements.
Second, as for economic feasibility, the present study suggests the CVM-based B/C evaluation method. Despite some limits due to the eased applicability and interpretability, the suggested method is regarded as an effective tool that is not only conducive to the balanced construction project, but also effective in preventing preassuming the demands and effects, which often lead to bias in the B/C evaluation processes and methods.
Third, as for the political aspect, the present study demands that financial support corresponding to the central government supports be made by the local government for the consistency of local policies. In addition, the operation plan for the museums operation for example on visitor attraction and value creation should also be evaluated from the early stage, so that the risk factors can be mitigated and the direction can be stabilized. Other factors to evaluate that are suggested in the present study include the consistency of the policy in the local authority.
Fourth, the present study suggests that the educational value, the ultimate goal of the science museum facilities satisfy the significant index to ensure and designs the evaluations through various aspects. Particularly it is requested that the e