| dc.description.abstract | The primary goal of the study was to standardise and validate a scale to measure the arts’
contribution of arts festivals. To achieve this goal, four objectives were formulated. First, to
study arts’ contribution of arts festivals by defining, analysing and exploring related concepts
through the provision of a detailed background and discussion on the topic by means of a
literature review. Second, to study and select applicable explanatory theory that can be used to
develop a standardised scale that measures the arts’ contribution of arts festivals by means of a
second literature review. Third to determine the validity and reliability of the scale measuring the
arts festival’s contribution to the performing arts and to the visual arts through an exploratory
factor analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis. Lastly, to draw conclusions based on the
research and make recommendations with regard to the standardisation and validation of the
scale to measure the arts’ contribution of arts festivals.
The first objective was achieved by conducting a literature study. The literature study on arts
festivals and their contribution to the arts was explored by defining the term festival tourism;
discussing aspects related to a festival (by defining a festival, explaining the festival’s
relationship with culture and events, identifying the characteristics, types, benefits and potential
problems associated with a festival, and identifying visitor motives for attending a festival);
discussing aspects related to the term arts festival (by providing an overview of arts tourism,
defining an arts festival, listing reasons for the establishment of an arts festival and discussing
the arts present at arts festivals – through defining and classifying the arts); and identifying the
contributions of an arts festival to the arts (by listing the types of contribution – educational,
emotional, economic, quality, marketing, and growth and development – , discussing the
purpose of contributing to the arts, listing perceptual differences of festival visitors regarding the
contributions of an arts festival to the arts and discussing limitations of an arts festival to
contribute to the arts).
Achieving the second objective, the second literature study discussed the term survey (by
defining a survey, identifying the types, characteristics, advantages, disadvantages and merits
of a survey and discussing the survey process); discussed the term standardisation (by defining
standardisation and stating the purpose for the standardisation of a measurement scale);
discussed the standardisation process (by outlining the different stages in the standardisation
process – the planning phase, where the aim of the measure is specified, the content is defined
and the test plan is developed; the item writing phase, includes the writing and review of items;
assembling and pre-testing the experimental version of the measure, which includes the
arrangements of the items, finalisation of the length, protocols for answering, development of
administration instructions and pre-test of the experimental version of the measure; the item and
data analysis phase consists of the determination of discriminating power, preliminary
investigation into item bias and the establishment of validity and reliability; and revising the final
version of the measure, which encompasses the revision of the items and test, the selection of
items for the final version of the test, the refinement of administration instructions and score
procedures and the administration of the final version of the test); and identified and discussed
ethical considerations, foreseen problems, limitations and recommendations associated with
conducting a survey and the standardisation of a measurement scale.
The third objective was to determine the validity and reliability of the measurement scale. This
objective was achieved by discussing the implementation phase of the measurement scale
where attention was given to the survey design and sampling. A stratified random sampling
method was used at three selected arts festivals in South Africa, the KKNK, Innibos and
Vryfees, where a descriptive survey design was administered in the form of a measurement
scale, such as a questionnaire. Research assistants were trained and the scale was
administered in a consistent fashion which supports internal reliability. The same survey
procedures were undertaken at all three arts festivals, supporting face validity and internal
validity. Representative samples were collected at the three arts festivals, also supporting
external validity. Attention was also given to the measurement scale design (where respondents
could give their perceptions concerning the contributions made by the arts festival to the arts
through the completion of the questionnaire – which was based on literature and contained the
relevant information to collect problem specific information, supporting content validity and
construct validity. The scale had also undergone the delphi-technique for expert advice,
supporting face validity. Providing a summary of the data analysis procedure contributed to the
achievement of this objective.
The data collected from the measurement scale have been captured in Microsoft™ Excel™ and
analysed using the statistical software program, SPSS. The data of the arts festivals
contributing to the performing arts were analysed separately from the data of the festivals where
they contribute to the visual arts. This was done to get a detailed data analysis for the
standardisation of the measurement scale. The split of the data also contributed to the
measurement scale being divided in two separate standardised scales in determining the arts
festival’s contribution to a specific form of the arts; both the data of the performing arts and the
data of the visual arts had undergone the same statistical procedure for data analysis in
determining the validity and reliability thereof.
The results indicated that the measurement scale is a valid and reliable measure in determining
the arts festival’s contribution to both the arts forms. To determine the validity of the
measurement scale pertaining to the performing arts and to the visual arts, an exploratory
principal axis factor analysis with Oblimin rotation was conducted on the combined data of
Innibos and Vryfees (n = 982). Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was p < 0.001 and the Kaiser-Meyer-
Olkin test of sample adequacy rendered a value between 0 and 1, indicating that the sample
sizes were adequate to conduct an exploratory factor analysis on the data of the performing arts
(KMO = 0.958) and on the data of the visual arts (KMO = 0.972); all items of the performing arts
(22 items) and of the visual arts (22 items) loaded on a factor with loadings greater than 0.2.
The factor analysis on the performing arts data extracted five factors. Factor 1 (Quality and
Education Contribution) was defined by 5 items with a Cronbach’s α-value of 0.867 and an interitem
correlation mean of 0.568. Factor 2 (Growth and Development Contribution) was defined
by 6 items (Cronbach’s α = 0.896; inter-item correlation = 0.594). Factor 3 (Emotional
Contribution) was defined by 3 items (Cronbach’s α = 0.706; inter-item correlation = 0.440).
Factor 4 (Economic Contribution) was defined by 4 items (Cronbach’s α = 0.824; inter-item
correlation = 0.540). Factor 5 (Marketing Contribution) was defined by 4 items (Cronbach’s α =
0.866; inter-item correlation = 0.617). The factor analysis on the visual arts data extracted four
factors. Factor 1 (Education and Growth and Development Contribution) was defined by 8 items
(Cronbach’s α = 0.947; inter-item correlation = 0.690). Factor 2 (Economic and Quality
Contribution) was defined by 7 items (Cronbach’s α = 0.920; inter-item correlation = 0.622).
Factor 3 (Emotional Contribution) was defined by 3 items (Cronbach’s α = 0.828; inter-item
correlation = 0.616). Factor 4 (Marketing Contribution) was defined by 4 items (Cronbach’s α =
0.905; inter-item correlation of 0.704). There were correlations between factors of the
performing arts and between the factors of the visual arts, where all correlations were 0.3 and
larger, supporting construct validity. Further validity of the measurement scale was determined
by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the performing arts data and on the visual arts data
of KKNK (n = 602), where the path diagram confirmed the factor structures of both the
performing arts and visual arts exploratory factor analyses, supporting criterion validity. CFA
goodness-of-fit indexes were also used to determine whether the models fit with the data. The
performing arts model and the visual arts model were found to have an adequate to good fit with
the data of KKNK. The chi-square test of Independence (X2) for the performing arts rendered a
value of p < 0.001 and for the visual arts was p < 0.001. The chi-square divided by the degrees
of freedom (X2 / df) for the performing arts was 4.284 and for the visual arts was 4.9, the
Comparative Fit Index (CFI) for the performing arts was 0.914 and for the visual arts was 0.931,
and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) for the performing arts was 0.074
and for the visual arts was 0.079. To determine the reliability of the measurement scale, the
Cronbach’s Alpha values and inter-item correlations between the factors were determined. All
the factors of the performing arts rendered a high Cronbach’s Alpha value (greater than 0.7)
and for the visual arts a value of 0.8. All the factors of the performing arts rendered a high interitem
correlation value (greater than 0.4) and for the visual arts a value greater than 0.6.
The final objective, to draw conclusions and make recommendations based on the results of the
study, indicated that this study made a significant contribution to the literature and methodology
of standardising a measurement scale and to the planning of arts festivals as it would lead to
the development of arts festivals contributing to the arts more effectively and more efficiently.
Future research on this topic should be conducted at other arts festivals, including Englishlanguage
arts festivals, to enable comparative studies to be made and supporting the test-retest
reliability theory on the standardised measurement scale. It is also recommended that the study
should measure contribution to the arts by other arts-related organisations, for example, at
museums, theatres, and galleries, by administering the standardised scale to measure the
contribution they make to their specific arts form. It is important to standardise a measurement
scale for arts contribution to better understand the contributing factors of the arts festival to the
arts which will assist festival managers in implementing strategies that ensure the livelihood and
ongoing contribution of arts festivals to the arts. | en_US |
