Museum attendance rate as a factor in social and cultural needs of people in Russian regions

The concept of people’s social and cultural needs is investigated on the basis of museum attendance statistics. The methodological approaches taken in this study are the analysis of the Federal State Statistics Service data for 2007-2016 and a survey of secondary sociological data of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center in 2012, 2016. The author identifies that social and cultural needs of society are also the cultural wealth of the individual as they transform the properties of society into cultural capital. Museum attendance rate is to demonstrate the value-based behavior of people, their interest in the spiritual sphere of society, a desire to increase the cultural level of the person. This rate has been analyzed in both all-Russian and regional contexts. It has been examined in isolation in the Volga Federal District, in particular in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The study reveals a positive trend in museum attendance in Russia (attendance rate has increased to 52.5% by 2016) and the Republic of Bashkortostan (74.8% by 2016). Such trends are confirmed by sociological data. In the respondents’ opinion, museum attendance has increased by a factor of 1.4 from 2012 to 2016. It reflects the relevant growing social and cultural needs and new opportunities to meet them.