Work

How Much Do We Care About Cultural Heritage? A Rasch Scale Validation Study Among Young Adults

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Research in museum studies, heritage science, and cultural tourism highlights the “care theory” as a key framework for understanding the relationship between citizens and cultural heritage. Assessing the “sense of care” toward cultural objects and sites can provide valuable insights for museums, education, and public policy. However, visitor studies lack suitable assessment tools. This study fills the gap by introducing the Scale for the Assessment of Caring for Cultural Heritage (CHARE), developed using the Rasch model. A preliminary 16-item questionnaire on visitors’ “caring behaviors” was designed through literature review and expert focus groups, then tested on young adults: statistical analysis confirms the model’s reliability. While further validation is needed, CHARE already offers a practical tool for museum practitioners to assess young visitors’ engagement and caring attitudes toward cultural heritage

Source: Heritage

DOI: 10.3390/heritage8080317

Authors: Manuele Veggi, Alessandro von Gal, Laura Piccardi, Sofia Pescarin, Raffaella Nori

Institutions: National Research Council, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Bologna

Language: English

Topic: Museums and Cultural Heritage

Subfield: Museology

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,930

Funder: European Commission