The 1985 Survey of Participation in the Arts (SPA '85) is a replication of perhaps the largest single survey ever conducted on the cultural activities and attitudes of the American public. In this national survey, interviews were completed with a probability sample of 13,675 respondents across the country. The SPA '85 included a separate national sample of about 2200 respondents over age 18 in each of the first six months of 1985.

The SPA '85 data were collected by the Bureau of the Census to ensure that they met rigorous scientific standards of sample design, respondent cooperation and interview standardization. This also ensured that these participation data could be projected to the national population with unprecedented confidence.

Attendance at live arts performances:

Extensive data were collected on the public's reported attendance at seven core types of live arts performances and events. The following levels of annual participation rates were found across the seven art forms: Opera 3%, Ballet 4%, Jazz 10%, Plays 12%, Classical music 13%, Musicals 17%, Art museums 22%. Almost 40% of all SPA '85 respondents reported having attended at least one of these seven types of live arts performances in the previous 12 months.

In addition, more than 3% of the sample, representing almost 5 million adults, reported that they themselves had appeared in a public performance of one of these types of arts events in the previous year.

Audience characteristics:

The segmentation of the public attending these seven types of arts events followed a fairly regular pattern. Thus, attendance at live arts events was:

• Mostly related to a person's socio-economic background, particularly in terms of education, but also in terms of occupation and income.
• Higher among women than among men (being particularly high among unmarried women with no children).
• Higher among middle-aged and younger adults than among older people.
• Lower among rural residents than among people living in urban or suburban areas.
• Lower also among residents of the South than other regions.
• Slightly higher among unmarried adults than among married people - and slightly higher among adults with no children living in their households (than among adults with children in their households).
• Lower among respondents who were not in the labor force (full-time homemakers, retired, unemployed, etc) vs those who were employed in a paid job.
• Higher among White respondents than among Black or other racial groups.

Many of these population background differences, however, did not hold up after other factors were controlled statistically. In particular, the differences by income, occupation, age, region, employment status and race were considerably reduced or eliminated after statistical control for other factors - especially after control for the respondent's gender and educational background.

Other arts activities:

The SPA '85 data also provided baseline information on several other arts-related activities. For example: 86% of the respondents said they had read a book or magazine in the past 12 months; over half (56%) reported they had read a novel, short story, poem or play over that period. About a fifth of the respondents (19%) reported reading poetry or listening to a poetry reading. Some 40% of the respondents said they had attended an arts or crafts fair in the previous year. Some 36% of the respondents reported visiting a historic site for its historic or design value. It might be thought that participation in these other arts-related activities might take time away from, or otherwise interfere with, attendance at the seven types of arts events noted above; however the SPA survey found exactly the opposite. The more particular individuals participated in these other arts-related activities (e.g., painting, taking lessons, visiting historic sites, making photographs), the more they attended arts performances and events.

This principle, referred to as the more, the more, is found throughout the topic areas examined in the SPA '85 study, as in SPA '82.

Arts participation index:

The more-more principle is particularly in evidence for the core arts questions. In general, people who attend one of these types of arts performances are considerably more likely to attend each of the others.

CONTENTS
Executive Summary.

Chapter 1. Introduction.
Chapter 2. Field procedures and methodology for SPA '85.
Chapter 3. Arts participation.
Chapter 4. Other contextual and background factors in survey responses on arts
                participation.
Chapter 5. Other cultural and leisure activities.
Chapter 6. Arts participation via the mass media.
Chapter 7. Socialization into the arts.
Chapter 8. Public interest in increased arts participation.
Chapter 9. Music preferences and arts attendance.

List of references.
Appendix:
     A. Further survey documentation and background on survey methodology.
     B. Detailed occupation codes and recodes.

The 1985 Survey of Participation in the Arts (SPA '85) is a replication of perhaps the largest single survey ever conducted on the cultural activities and attitudes of the American public. In this national survey, interviews were completed with a probability sample of 13,675 respondents across the country. The SPA '85 included a separate national sample of about 2200 respondents over age 18 in each of the first six months of 1985.