Expedited Form

National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Social Science Program

Expedited Approval for NPS-Sponsored Public Surveys
1.

Project Title ⎢
Submission Date:

2.

Abstract:

National Mall & Memorial Parks Visitor Study

June 16 , 2008

Little systematic attempt has been made to document the influence of the National Mall &
Memorial Parks (National Mall) as a motivating factor for visitation separate from other area
attractions and facilities in the Washington, DC area. The purpose of this study is to enhance
the park’s understanding of visitor characteristics by assessing trip behavior and
socioeconomic impacts of the National Mall on the greater Washington, DC metropolitan
area and by investigating the role of the National Mall within the scope of the many visitor
destinations in the nation’s capital. A mail-back questionnaire will be used to collect
information regarding trip characteristics, perceptions of park experiences, activities, uses of
park resources and expenditures. Visitors at eight park locations will be randomly selected to
participate in the study during 12 days that span a four-week period from July 7, 2008 to
August 10, 2008.
(not to exceed 150 words)

3.

Principal Investigator Contact Information
First Name:
Title:
Affiliation:
Street Address:
City:
Phone:

4.

Last Name:

Margaret

Daniels

Assistant Professor
George Mason University
10900 University Blvd.
Manassas
703-993-4279

State:
Fax:

VA

Zip code:

20110

703-993-2025

Email: [email protected]
Park or Program Liaison Contact Information

First Name:

Last Name:

Lance

Title:

Acting Chief – Visitor Services

Park:

National Mall & Memorial Parks

Park
Office/Division:

NAMA Visitor Services Division

Street Address:

900 Ohio Drive, S. W.

City:

Washington

Phone:

202-245-4682

Email:

[email protected]

State:

Fax:

Hatten

DC

202-426-9309

Zip code:

200242000

Project Information
5.

Park(s) For Which Research is to be
Conducted:

National Mall & Memorial Parks

6.

Survey Dates:

07/07/2008

7.

Type of Information Collection Instrument (Check ALL that Apply)
⌧Mail-Back Questionnaire

On-Site
Questionnaire

(mm/dd/yyyy)

to

Face-to-Face
Interview

08/10/2008

(mm/dd/yyyy)

Telephone Survey

Focus
Groups

Other (explain)
8.

Survey Justification:
(Use as much space as needed; if
necessary include additional
explanation on a
separate page.)

Legal Justification:
Social science research in support of park planning and management is mandated
in the NPS Management Policies 2006 (Section 8.11.1, “Social Science Studies”).
The NPS pursues a policy that facilitates social science studies in support of the
NPS mission to protect resources and enhance the enjoyment of present and future
generations (National Park Service Act of 1916, 38 Stat 535, 16 USC 1, et seq.).
NPS policy mandates that social science research will be used to provide an
understanding of park visitors, the non-visiting public, gateway communities and
regions, and human interactions with park resources.
Management Justification:
The National Mall is an enduring symbol of our country that provides an inspiring
setting for national memorials and a backdrop for the legislative and executive
branches of our government. Enjoyed by millions of visitors each year, the
National Mall is a primary location for public gatherings such as demonstrations,
rallies, and festivals.
Although Washington, DC is consistently rated a top destination for domestic and
international travelers, and the National Mall & Memorial Parks (National Mall) is
one of the most visited national parks in the country, little systematic attempt has
been made to document the influence of the National Mall as a motivating factor
for visitation to Washington, DC separate from the many other attractions and
facilities in the metropolitan area.
Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to assess visitor behaviors and the
socioeconomic impacts of visitor spending on the greater Washington, DC
metropolitan area. The study will address the National Mall as a separate entity
from the museums and attractions in the area that are not managed by the National
Park Service. The findings of this study will be used for park operations,
management, education, and interpretive activities.
A mailback questionnaire will be used to systematically collect information
regarding trip/visit characteristics, perceptions of park experiences, activities, uses
of park resources and expenditures. Park visitors will be randomly selected to
participate in the study as they visit the park at selected locations during 12 days
that span a four-week period from July 7, 2008 to August 10, 2008.

Literature Review:
Audience development is described by Kotler and Kotler (1998) as a primary
objective of cultural attractions, especially given a recent pattern in countries such
as the United States of stagnant or declining visitation to culturally-based sites and
a parallel pattern of increasing reliance on visitor-based revenues (Mylonakis &
Kendristakis, 2006). This stagnation is affecting cultural attractions across the
board, and even those of national prestige and international recognition are apt to
struggle.

Heritage cities are particularly sensitive to being negatively impacted by visitation
below carrying capacity and/or economic downturns. Of particular concern is
when visitors seek lodging and other consumer services in hinterland areas to
reduce travel expenditures, yet day-trip into the heritage site, causing natural
resource wear and tear without associated economic benefits to the area (Derudder
& Witlox, 2004; Fujita, Krugman, & Venables, 1999; Russo, 2002; Van der Borg,
2001).
The National Mall, while more resilient than most heritage sites due to the
international appeal of the attractions and robust business performance in the face
of a recession (Downtown DC Business Improvement District, 2008), has seen
little growth in visitation in the recent past. Visitation numbers have remained
steady, according to yearly visitor counts taken at primary memorials and
monuments.
The most recent comprehensive study conducted on the National Mall was a 2003
transportation study (National Park Service, 2003). While this survey resulted in
valuable information for transportation planning, it did not assess motivations or
expenditures patterns and it did not attempt to separate the influence of the
National Mall from that of other area attractions and facilities.

References
Derudder, B., & Witlox, F. (2004). Assessing central places in a global age: On
the networked localization strategies of advanced producer services.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 11, 171-180.
Downtown DC Business Improvement District (2008). 2007 State of Downtown
Report. Available at
http://www.downtowndc.org/_files/docs/sod2007.pdf
Fujita, M., P. Krugman, P., & Venables, A. (1999). The spatial economy: Cities,
regions and international trade. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Kotler, N., & Kotler, P. (1998). Museum strategy and marketing: Designing
missions, building audiences, generating revenue and resources. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Mylonakis, J., & Kendristakis, E. (2006). Evaluation of museums service quality:
A research study of museums and galleries visitors’ satisfaction. Tourism
and Hospitality Management, 12(2), 37-54.
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior (2003) National Capital
Parks - Central, Washington, DC, Visitor Transportation Survey.
November. Prepared for the National Park Service. Boston, MA.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers / ETC Institute.
Russo, A. (2002). The “vicious circle” of tourism development in heritage cities.
Annals of Tourism Research, 29, 165-182
Van der Borg, J. (2001). Tourism management and carrying capacity in heritage
cities and sites. In: Coccossis, H. & Mexa, A. (eds.), The Challenge of
Tourism Carrying Capacity Assessment: Theory and Practice, Ashgate,
Burlington, VT/USA. pp. 163-179.

9.

Survey Methodology: (Use as
much space as needed; if
necessary include additional
explanation on a
separate page.)

(a) Respondent universe:
The respondent universe will be all adult visitors 18 years of age and older visiting
the National Mall during the study period. A systematic sample of visitors will be
contacted by trained interviewers between the dates of July 7, 2008 and August
10, 2008.
(b) Sampling plan/procedures:
The survey design and sampling plan for the study are based on Dillman’s
Tailored Design Method, which has been shown to increase response rates,
decrease error, reduce cost, and minimize burden hours. A systematic sampling
procedure, based on visitation statistics specific to various sites in the park, will
result in asking every 12th group to participate in the study. Because of the
expected volume of visitation, two trained researchers will be positioned at each
site so that tallying and intercepts can be completed in an uninterrupted fashion.
Intercepts will be conducted for four weeks, for a total of 12 data collection days.
Visitors will be intercepted at eight sites within the National Mall. In order to
account for the expected fluctuation in visitor demographics on weekends and
weekdays, the following data collection schedule will be used, where researchers
will be situated at each site three times over the four week data collection period:
Week/Date

#1: July 7 - 13

Data
Collection
Days
Monday
Thursday
Saturday

#2: July 14 - 20

Tuesday
Friday
Sunday

#3: July 21 - 27

Wednesday
Thursday
Saturday

#4: July 28 –
August 3

Tuesday
Friday
Sunday

Data Collection Location

Monday: Capitol Reflecting Pool &
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Thursday: Washington Monument &
Lincoln Memorial
Saturday: Vietnam Veterans Memorial &
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Tuesday: World War II Memorial &
The Mall at 6th and Jefferson
Friday: Capitol Reflecting Pool &
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Sunday: Washington Monument &
Lincoln Memorial
Wednesday: Vietnam Veterans Memorial
& Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Thursday: World War II Memorial &
The Mall at 6th and Jefferson
Saturday: Capitol Reflecting Pool &
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Tuesday: Washington Monument &
Lincoln Memorial
Friday: Vietnam Veterans Memorial &
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Sunday: World War II Memorial &
The Mall at 6th and Jefferson

Using the above sampling frame, approximately 1,641 visitor groups will be
contacted during the planned sampling period.
(c) Instrument administration:
Researchers will be positioned at eight locations in the National Mall. During
data collection weeks 1 and 3, researchers will be located at the Capitol
Reflecting Pool, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the
Thomas Jefferson Memorial. During weeks 2 and 4, researchers will be located at

the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, World
War II Memorial and The Mall at 6th and Jefferson.
In order to address the physical comfort of participants, increase response rate,
and to facilitate identification as an NPS-sponsored study, a small table and 8x8
shade tent with accompanying signage stating “National Mall Visitor Study” will
be placed at each research location in an NPS-approved space, and researchers
will wear National Park Service Volunteer caps during data collection.
The initial contact with visitors to explain the study and determine if they are
interested participating (see attached script) will take approximately 1 minute.
The visitor groups that refuse will be recorded (see attached front-end log) and
used in calculating response rates. Participants must be English-speaking, and
language barriers will be noted as a reason for refusal in the front-end log.
Visitors who voluntarily agree to participate in the study will take part in a frontend interview (1 additional minute) to collect information used for follow-up
contact and for a non-response bias check. If a group agrees to participate, the
researcher will give the postage paid/addressed self-administered questionnaire to
the age-eligible individual in the group who has the next birthday. This individual
will be asked to complete the front-end interview and record her/his name,
mailing address and e-mail address (see attached participant log). The e-mail
address will be requested from those who prefer follow-up communication to
occur electronically.
Participants will be mailed a thank you/reminder postcard within 10 days of
accepting the questionnaire. For those who have not returned the questionnaire
within 21 days, a reminder letter with a postage paid, addressed replacement
questionnaire will be mailed, followed by a second postcard reminder for those
who have not responded within 35 days.
Research shows that there is a systematic tendency for the last categories in
questions with long lists to have higher item non-response because they are near
the end of the list. A standard way to deal with this is to have two versions of the
survey that reverses the order of items in the list. This approach will be used here.
Two versions of the survey will be used. These versions will be the same in every
respect other than the order of items listed in Question 8a. The order of items
appearing in this question will be reversed. The version of the survey distributed
will be alternated so that equal number of respondents will receive each version.
(d) Expected response rate/confidence levels:
Based on the National Mall visitation data and the 12 days of instrument
administration, approximately 1,641 groups will be contacted during the sampling
period. Based on prior, similar, studies, it is expected that 1,230 will agree to
participate and approximately 800 will return the questionnaire. A predicted
response rate for those who agree to complete the questionnaire is 65%
(Yellowstone National Park 2006 – 69.4%, Mount Rushmore National Memorial
2007 – 66.1%).
Estimates from the survey will be accurate to within +/- 3.5 percentage points at
the 95% confidence level for questions with dichotomous response scales. The
confidence intervals will be somewhat larger for questions with more than two
response categories.
(e) Strategies for dealing with potential non-response bias:
A front-end survey log will be completed by the researcher after each initial
contact in which the respondents indicates a “no” response. The researchers will
track date, time, sex of respondent, group characteristics and reason for “no”
response. (See attached front-end form). Further, for those who accept a

questionnaire, the front-end interview information will be used in calculating this
portion of the non-response bias analysis. This analysis will be included in the
final report and the implications for management and interpretation of results will
be discussed.
(f) Description of any pre-testing and peer review of the methods and/or
instrument (recommended):
The questionnaire format and many of the items have been used in NPS visitor
studies around the country. The questionnaire and survey methodology were
peer-reviewed by a team of academic professionals from George Mason
University representing areas of expertise in research methods, economic
assessment and analysis, tourism assessment and analysis, and public park
assessment and analysis. Additionally, a team of representatives from the NPS
has been actively engaged in the on-going development of the questionnaire and
survey methods.

10.

Total Number of
Initial Contacts |
Expected Respondents:

13.

1641

1230

800

11.

Estimated
Time
to Complete
(mins):

1

1

20

12.

Total
Burden
Hours:

315

Reporting Plan:

Descriptive statistics will be tabulated using SPSS, economic impacts will be
estimated using IMPLAN, and qualitative responses will be analyzed using
frequencies and constant comparative analysis. The reporting plan will include: 1) a
final technical report delivered to the National Park Service; 2) a briefing to National
Park Service managers; 3) a minimum of two presentations at national conferences;
4) a minimum of one peer-reviewed journal article; and 5) a survey report that will be
archived with the National Park Service Social Science Program for inclusion in the
Social Sciences Studies Collection. Results of front-end logs and interviews will be
used to examine non-response bias.