Working at the Intersection: A Demonstration of Descriptive Intersectional Analyses

Abstract

This methodology review was designed to demonstrate the additional nuance and guidance that demographic data can provide when using intersectional descriptive analyses to understand visitors and non-visitors. Using data from planetarium email lists (one per regional organization in the United States), as well as through a market research survey of residents in each area, both traditional and intersectional descriptive analyses are used to describe and compare those who did and did not visit four types of informal science institutions (ISIs) in recent years (natural history museums, planetariums, science or technology museums, and zoos or aquariums). The results confirmed several patterns found in other studies focused on ISIs and demonstrate the additional nuance that can be gleaned from intersectional descriptive approaches.