General Information
The Annual Statistics Survey is a comparative study that aims to provide an understanding of the structure, functions, and impacts of science engagement organizations around the world.
The survey is typically distributed in February or March and remains open for around 8 weeks. This year, the 2025 Annual Statistics Survey will launch on Wednesday, March 25, 2026.
The deadline to submit survey responses is Friday, May 15, 2026.
The data collected primarily relates to the following categories:
- Workforce
- Facilities
- Membership
- Admissions
- Products and Services
- Attendance
- Programs and Engagement
- Finances
To accommodate a wide range of organizations, the Annual Statistics Survey has two (2) versions based on an organization’s overall operations:
- Engagement Organizations (i.e., science centers, museums, and other organizations that directly engage the public)
- Affiliate Organizations (i.e., organizations and companies that either work in an industry related to science, or that provide products, services, and/or support to science centers, museums, and public-engagement organizations).
You can learn more about the specific data collected in each version of the survey in the “Completing the Survey” section of this page.
All members of ASTC, Ecsite, CASC, and ASPAC are eligible to participate in the survey.
Yes! In addition to having free access to the entire analysis report package, your organization will also gain access to the full raw data set.
Yes, you can elect to exclude your organization’s information from the final reports and still participate in the survey.
If you wish to exclude your organization’s name, location, and raw data from the final reports, you will have the ability to indicate this at the start of the online survey form.
ASTC Members: ASTC sends the invitation to participate in the Annual Statistics Survey to the chief executives and data contacts (if available) of eligible member organizations.
If you are staff at an ASTC-member organization and would like to be added as a data contact, or you have questions about ASTC’s contact list for the 2025 Annual Statistics Survey please reach out to membership@astc.org.
Ecsite Members: You can reach out to members@ecsite.eu to learn more about who at Ecsite-member organizations received the invitation to participate in the 2025 Annual Statistics Survey.
CASC Members: You can email Amanda Fruci at amanda.f@casc-accs.com to learn more about who at CASC-member organizations received the invitation to participate in the 2025 Annual Statistics Survey.
ASPAC Members: Please reach out to the association directly to learn more about who at ASPAC-member organizations received the invitation to participate in the 2025 Annual Statistics Survey.
ASTC Members: We encourage you to first check with the chief executive of your organization to see if they received an email with the invitation to participate in the survey. If they did not get an email, or if you are unable to contact the chief executive, you can email membership@astc.org for assistance.
Ecsite Members: You can email members@ecsite.eu to find out who your organization received the invitation to participate in the survey.
CASC Members: You can email Amanda Fruci at amanda.f@casc-accs.com to find out who at your organization received the invitation to participate in the survey.
ASPAC Members: Please reach out to the association directly to learn more about their survey contact list.
Completing the Survey
If your organization is a science center, museum, or another type of organization that directly engages the public, please use this fillable PDF resource for engagement organizations to review and collect the information requested in this year’s survey.
If your organization works in an industry related to science or if your organization provides products, services, and/or support to the science engagement field, please use this fillable PDF resource for affiliate organizations to review and collect the information requested in this year’s survey.
Yes, you may submit partial responses based on the data you have available (noting that the more data each respondent provides, the more powerful the dataset is).
For general questions about the survey, or if you are an ASTC member with a question specifically for ASTC regarding the survey, you can email surveys@astc.org.
If you are a member of Ecsite, CASC, or ASPAC, and have a question specifically for your association about the survey, you can reach out to them directly at one of the following email addresses.
Ecsite Members: members@ecsite.eu
CASC Members: amanda.f@casc-accs.com
ASPAC Members: Please reach out to the association directly.
Each participating organization receives a unique survey link that will allow you to submit your organization’s through an online survey form.
No, you do not have to complete the online survey in order.
Embedded in the online survey is a table of contents, typically located on the left side of your computer screen, which allows you to move between different sections of the survey regardless of the original order. The table of contents feature will automatically display for you once you have completed the first section of the survey, Baseline Information.
It is important to note that the only section of the survey you will not be able to return to after completing is the Baseline Information section. Please double check your responses in this section before proceeding to the remainder of the survey.
There is also a back button available throughout the majority of the survey. Please note that due to survey branching and logic, the back button may not work on all pages. Please also avoid using the back and forward buttons on your web browser.
Yes! Because each participating organization has a unique survey link, your progress in filling out the survey is automatically saved. You can close the online survey and return back to where you left off at any time using your organization’s link.
If we had to estimate, it can take an average of 1-4 hours to complete the entire survey process, from the start of collecting the requested data, to inputting that data into the online survey.
We highly encourage that you utilize the applicable fillable PDF resource below to collect all requested data from your colleagues before you begin filling out the online survey.
- PDF Resource for Engagement Organizations (i.e., science centers, museums, and other organizations that directly engage the public)
- PDF Resource for Affiliate Organizations (i.e., organizations and companies that either work in an industry related to science, or that provide products, services, and/or support to science centers, museums, and public-engagement organizations).
If you are experiencing any issues with the online survey, please reach out to surveys@astc.org and provide as much detail as possible regarding the issue.
If you need to update answers to five (5) or more questions, please input your updated data in the applicable PDF resource shared below and email a copy to surveys@astc.org.
- PDF Resource for Engagement Organizations (i.e., science centers, museums, and other organizations that directly engage the public)
- PDF Resource for Affiliate Organizations (i.e., organizations and companies that either work in an industry related to science, or that provide products, services, and/or support to science centers, museums, and public-engagement organizations).
Before you submit your organization’s online survey, you will be asked to provide a contact person that ASTC can reach out to regarding your organization’s survey response.
Within 1-2 weeks after your organization’s survey has been submitted, ASTC will do a preliminary review of the data submitted, specifically checking for validation errors, comments requiring response, questions that were left blank or answered with a zero (0), as well as any data needing clarification.
Once your organization’s data has been reviewed, a member of the ASTC team will send the designated contact person an email with 1) a PDF copy of your organization’s full survey response, 2) an ask to review the data provided in the survey, 3) information and instructions regarding any data that was flagged during preliminary review, and 4) a request to confirm and/or provide edits to your organization’s data.