Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA), United States, 2022

The Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) 2022 collection is comprised of responses from two sets of surveys, the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the SPPA supplement to the CPS administered in July 2022. This supplement asked questions about public participation in the arts within the United States, and was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. The CPS, administered monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau, collects labor force data about the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 15 years or older living in the United States. The CPS provides current estimates of the economic status and activities of this population which includes estimates of total employment (both farm and nonfarm), nonfarm self-employed persons, domestics, unpaid helpers in nonfarm family enterprises, wage and salaried employees, and estimates of total unemployment. The basic CPS items in this data provide labor force activity for the week prior to the survey. In addition, the CPS provides respondents' demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, marital status, educational attainment, family relationships, occupation, and industry. In addition to the basic CPS questions, interviewers asked supplementary questions on public participation in the arts of two randomly selected household members aged 18 or older from about one-half of the sampled CPS households. The supplement contained questions about the respondent's participation in various artistic activities over the last year. If the selected respondent had a spouse or partner, then the respondent answered questions on behalf of their spouse/partner and the spouse/partner responses are proxies. The 2022 SPPA included two core components: Core 1 (C1Q1A-C1Q17A) and Core 2 (C2Q1A-C2Q1R) asked respondents if they attended any artistic events or live performances, and if so, how often and where. Questions were also asked about any books the respondent may have read. In addition, the SPPA supplement included four modules designed to capture other types of arts participation. The four modules were separated by topic: Module A (MAQ1A-MAQ5D) asked respondents if they used electronic devices or electronic media to watch or listen to artistic performances and if so, how often. Questions were also asked about sharing information related to artistic performances. Module B (MBQ1A-MBQ4A) and Module C (MCQ1A-MCQ7) asked if the respondent performed any artistic activities (e.g., singing, dancing, playing instrument, painting, photography, etc), and if so, how often and where. Questions were also asked about participation in certain hobbies such as exercising, sports activities, hunting, gardening, etc., and if so, how often. Module D (MDQ1A-MDQ4H) asked if you've ever taken lessons in music, photography, filmmaking, visual arts, acting, theater, dance, creative writing, art history, art or music appreciation, creative coding, computer animation, or digital art. A follow-up question (MDQ2) is asked about if the classes were taken in school. Another follow-up question (MDQ3) is then 3-2 asked if they have done that activity within the last 12 months. A final follow-up question (MDQ4) is then asked if they learned that activity through other means not involving lessons or classes.