Unobtrusive Observational Measures as a Qualitative Extension of Visitor Surveys at Festivals and Events: Mass Observation Revisited

This article explores methodological issues in monitoring one-time, short-run, festival performances and events with fast exit rates (e.g., concerts and theatrical performances). Through critical case analysis the article suggests the limitations of questionnaire surveys and the value of augmenting them with unobtrusive, direct observational measures derived from those first used in U.K. leisure/tourism research by Mass Observation in the 1930s and 1940s and since commended to, but rarely adopted by, tourism researchers.