Researchers studied several academic works to determine the benefits of arts participation. First, they reviewed evidence for instrumental benefits. Second, they explored theories explaining how different artistic disciplines create these benefits. Third, they consulted philosophical and critical works on intrinsic effects of the arts. Finally, they reviewed literature on how participation in the arts affects the benefits derived from them.

When RAND compiled this report, instrumental benefits dominated debates about investments in the arts. The researchers wished to avoid such a singular focus on these benefits. They therefore mapped the benefits of the arts on two spectrums. One is whether a benefit is instrumental–which is to say that the arts are a means to achieve that benefit–or if it is intrinsic, meaning the benefit is inherent in the experience of the arts. The other is whether a benefit is private or if it is public, affecting people who may not experience the arts themselves. This framework allowed researchers to account for the full range of benefits of the arts.