DOI: 10.3886/icpsr37853
title: Self-Perceptions of Creativity & Arts Participation, United States, 2018
title: Archival Version

description: This study investigates connections between
arts-based creativity and other forms of creativity such as
problem-solving, entrepreneurship, and social networking. Specifically, it explores individuals' creative inclinations and behaviors through two means.
The first, a national survey of adults, provides insights on how adults of varied socioeconomic and demographic
backgrounds across the United States perceive their own creativity. The second, a mixed-methods study
with professional artists, provides a closer look at how artists perceive of themselves across multiple domains of creativity, and at how creativity fuels entrepreneurial approaches to shaping
their careers. This collection is concerned with the former - the national survey. The primary objective of the national survey is to measure the ways that American adults experience
and exercise creativity in their daily lives. The result of a rigorous survey design phase that included an
extensive review of creativity literature and existing survey instruments across several academic
disciplines, the survey features a wide range of questions on creative attitudes and behaviors. To be as
inclusive as possible of the many different forms and expressions of creativity, the survey was
specifically designed to probe respondents' self-perceptions of creativity across six creative
"domains": artistic creativity, creativity in math/science, creativity in business/entrepreneurship,
creativity in social settings, creativity in civic settings, and creativity in "everyday" activities. The survey
also captures information on respondents' arts participation, in order to enable an examination of the
relationships between arts participation and other types of creativity, as well as information on
respondents' occupations and occupational values. While the survey primarily focuses on inward
characteristics and behaviors, it also includes some questions designed to explore external
environmental conditions that may impact one's ability to express creativity. Demographic information includes gender, race, education, marital status, income, location, and household size.
description: Individuals' ability to develop and exercise creativity is becoming an increasingly valued attribute across many social realms, from education and workforce development to urban and community development.
As notions of the value and applications of creativity expand, it is becoming clear that creativity is not
reserved for the archetypical "creative genius," but is rather a trait that all individuals experience and
express in some way. To better understand the many ways that creativity can be defined, and how it can
be measured, this NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) Research Lab takes up three central goals:
To examine the relationship between artistic creativity and other domains of creativity,
including creativity in entrepreneurship, problem finding and solving, and social networking
To further examine the relationship between domains of creativity across a variety of
demographic factors
To investigate the extent to which individuals' self-perceptions of creativity align with
creative engagement and behaviors
description: This survey was administered to respondents via web (computer, tablet, or smartphone) or telephone
modes. Under certain conditions, AmeriSpeak gives respondents a choice regarding their preferred
mode for participation in AmeriSpeak surveys. Telephone mode respondents represent a population
currently under-represented in web panels that exclude non-internet households or "net averse"
individuals. In these cases, AmeriSpeak's telephone interviewers administered the survey using a data
collection system which supports both the web and telephone modes, providing an integrated sample
management and data collection platform. For those respondents who used smartphones for the webmode
survey, the survey system rendered a smartphone-optimized presentation of the survey
questions.
The main survey was offered in English and Spanish and administered by phone and on the web. The
field period was June 25-July 19, 2018. NORC sent four email reminders to sampled
web-mode panelists on June 30, July 5, July 10, and July 15. To administer the phone survey, NORC
dialed the sampled phone-mode panelists and throughout the field period.
description: Statistical weights for the study eligible respondents were calculated using panel base sampling weights
to start. Panel base sampling weights for all sampled housing units were computed as the inverse
probability of selection from the NORC National Frame (the sampling frame that is used to sample
housing units for AmeriSpeak) or address-based sample. The sample design and recruitment protocol for
the AmeriSpeak panel involves subsampling of initial non-respondent housing units. These subsampled
non-respondent housing units are selected for an in-person follow-up. The subsample of housing units
that were selected for the nonresponse follow-up (NRFU) had their panel base sampling weights inflated
by the inverse of the subsampling rate. The base sampling weights were further adjusted to account for
unknown eligibility and nonresponse among eligible housing units. The household-level nonresponse
adjusted weights were then post-stratified to external counts for number of households obtained from
the Current Population Survey. Then, these household-level post-stratified weights were assigned to
each eligible adult in every recruited household. Furthermore, a person-level nonresponse adjustment
accounted for non-responding adults within a recruited household.
Finally, panel weights were raked to external population totals associated with age, sex, education,
race/Hispanic ethnicity, housing tenure, telephone status, and Census Division. The external population
totals were obtained from the Current Population Survey. The weights adjusted to the external
population totals are the final panel weights.
For further information, see Appendix B of the Report (pp. 27-28)
description: Response Rates: 51.3 percent
description: The sample of survey respondents was drawn from NORC's AmeriSpeak panel, a probability-based
panel designed to be representative of the U.S. household population. The survey was fielded with 3,447
adult respondents, meeting the study's objective of representing the adult population of the United
States while ensuring a sufficient sample size to enable analyses of interest.
For further information, see Appendix B of the Report (pp. 25-27)
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Self-Perceptions Data
description: Smallest Geographic Unit: State
description: telephone interview; web-based survey