OVERVIEW:
THE NATURE OF RESEARCH AND COMMON RESEARCH MODALITIES
IN MUSIC EDUCATION/MUSIC THERAPY
The scope or range of research in music education and music therapy is typically broader than
that of musicology. Music education research, for example, focuses not only upon music, but
also on education and the convergence of music and education. Likewise, research in music
therapy is concerned not only with music, but particularly its use for non-musical purposes in
various therapeutic contexts.
A musicologist, for instance, may investigate a Mozart symphony in a way that sheds light on its
formal structure or the performance practices of its period. A music education researcher may
investigate the same Mozart symphony with an eye toward determining, for instance, if listening
to it today may impact children’s spatial reasoning abilities, or if certain ways of rehearsing and
conducting the music result in more effective performance and musicianship. A music therapist,
furthermore, might be interested in ascertaining under what conditions and with what clients
Mozart's music may have a therapeutic calming or relaxing effect on patients undergoing
chemotherapy.
In order to be “good research,” all three kinds of investigation must meet certain standards of
rigor, objectivity and integrity. One is not better than the other; the three are simply different in
terms of purpose and, often, methodology and reporting format.
Most current research in music education and music therapy reported in major U.S. journals and
Dissertation Abstracts tends to be quantitative, both descriptive and experimental. Historical and
philosophical research are growing. By comparison, qualitative research is still fairly new.
FIVE MAJOR RESEARCH MODALITIES IN MUSIC EDUCATION/MUSIC THERAPY
Historical Research
Historical research in music education/music therapy is a systematic inquiry that investigates,
records, analyzes, and interprets events of the past for the purpose of discovering generalizations
that are helpful in understanding the present and predicting the future. The focus of historical
research is on change, growth, or development of individuals, groups, practices, movements,
institutions, or ideas. Historical research in music education/music therapy attempts to go back
to primary, original, or first-hand sources of information.
Rainbow & Froehlich (1987) point out that all historical research should follow four
methodological steps. “These steps are (a) to ask a multitude of precise questions related to
particular events or person(s) of the past; (b) to gather and verify facts (data) related to those
questions; (c) to develop criteria for selecting the data most useful in answering the questions
and for rejecting information that may be considered irrelevant within the context of the study;
and (d) to interpret the data by answering all questions posed” (p. 108).
Historical research describes what has happened in the past. Therefore, variables cannot be
manipulated. True cause and effect cannot be determined, but historical research may sometimes
be inferential.
According to Rainbow & Froehlich, there are five main categories of historical research as it
relates to music education:
1.
Chronology - Examine events and individuals on a time line; that is, to
observe phenomena as they occur and evolve over time.
Hypothetical Example: “Hand signs in the teaching of music from Guido
to Curwen.”
2.
Comparative - Comparison of events and individuals within specified time spans
but in differing spatial locations.
Hypothetical Example: “The Pestalozzian movement in Europe and in the
United States, 1835-1845.”
3.
Oral - Collecting data of an historical nature by means of interview. Procedures
include formal interviewing of a person, recording the interviews, interpreting
and preserving the transcribed interviews.
Hypothetical Example: “Wiley Housewright, Karl Glenn, and Will
Schmidt: Interviews with three past presidents of the Music
Educators National Conference.”
4.
Psychohistory - Includes procedures borrowed from the behavioral sciences;
uses both historical analyses and clinical insights.
Hypothetical Example: “John Philip Sousa, Manic-Depressive.”
5.
Quantitative -Use of standard statistical data in support of historical research
questions.
Hypothetical Example: “Support of music organizations in Milwaukee,
1920-1950, as measured by donations, ticket sales, and concert
attendance.”
Philosophical Research
Socrates’ practice of questioning “what everyone knows” (i.e., the status quo) remains a valid
starting point for defining the role of philosophical research in music education. Philosophic
research deals with questions involving what should be or what ought to be. In some sense,
philosophic research encompasses quantitative, qualitative, and historical research. It is free to
speculate (in a logical, systematic, and objective context, of course), thereby setting up
hypothetical situations with their attendant hypothetical cause/effects, independent/dependent
variables, inferences, interpretations, etc.
Schwadron (1973) neatly states the general purpose of philosophic research in music education:
“Whether realistically or idealistically viewed, its operational sphere is in the realm of ideas; its
motivation derives from an uneasiness with the status quo; and its functional end is that of
preserving the integrity of music in education” (p 41).
Cady (1967) describes three basic procedures in philosophic research:
1.
Analysis. To examine the meanings and relationships of phenomena. The
analytic function searches out the implications of assertions, their consistency,
and the assumptions involved in a body of theory.
2.
Criticism. To examine basic alternative modes of life and thought. The
formulation of these alternatives thus presents the basic choices that confront us
and thereby the task of evaluating is created.
3.
Speculation. To examine the imaginative and visionary aspect of philosophic
studies in order to find constructions of ideal futures, projections or desirable
societies, experiences, and ends for (hu)mankind (p 170).
Some examples of philosophic research in music education:
Daugherty, J.F. (1996). Why music matters: The cognitive personalism of Reimer and
Elliott, Australian Journal of Music Education, 1(1), 29-37.
Reimer, B. (1995). Gender, feminism, and aesthetic education: Discourses of inclusion
and empowerment. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 3(2), 107-124.
Quantitative Descriptive Research
Descriptive research is a research plan based on systematic observation of an existing situation.
Variables are not manipulated by the researcher. Data are recorded, organized, and subjected to
treatment in order to develop statistics and parameters that represent and describe the sample or
population. For example, to determine that the average score of two hundred students taking an
exam is 50 points (out of a possible 100 points) is a statistic that tells us something about the
exam: It is too difficult for the students (unreliable or invalid).
Descriptive research cannot be inferential; and since variables cannot be manipulated, it is
impossible to determine cause and effect. Sometimes, however, tests of significance are utilized
to determine if real differences exist between two statistics or parameters. There are three basic
categories of descriptive research designs, and each of these can be subdivided into more specific
categories (Cady, 1967). Be advised, however, that usually a descriptive research project
incorporates more than one category, or design.
1. Surveys: To collect detailed descriptions of existing phenomena with the intent of
employing the data to justify current conditions and practices, or to make more
intelligent plans for improving social, economic, or educational conditions and
processes. The objective may not merely be to ascertain status, but also to
determine the adequacy of status by comparing it with selected or established
standards, norms, or criteria.
a. Existing status: To collect detailed descriptions of existing phenomena
with the intent of ascertaining current conditions and practices or making
judgments about social, economic, or educational conditions and
processes.
Hypothetical Example: “A survey of university music departments in the
southeastern United States with respect to using the Kodaly method for
teaching sightsinging.”
b. Comparison of status: To determine the adequacy of status by comparing
it with selected or established standards, norms, or criteria.
Hypothetical Example: “A survey of use of the National Standards for
Music Education in Virginia high school music courses.”
c. Methods of improving status: To collect information from others as to
how they have solved similar problems in order to obtain information that
will assist in the improvement of an existing situation.
Hypothetical Example: “A survey of choral music education teachers
whose programs have grown under block scheduling.”
2. Interrelational. To collect not only information about existing status, but also to
endeavor to trace interrelationships between the facts obtained to gain a deeper
insight into the phenomenon or phenomena.
a. Case study: To make an intensive investigation of the complex factors that
contribute to the individuality of a social unit --a person, family group,
social institution, or community.
Hypothetical Example: “The Moravians of North Carolina: A case study
of music instruction in a religious community.”
b. Causal-Comparative: To discover not only what a phenomenon is like,
but if possible, how and why it occurs. Then compare the likenesses
and differences among phenomena to find out what factors or circumstances seem to accompany certain events, processes, or practices.
Hypothetical Example: “Comparison of SAT scores among students
enrolled in high school music performance classes and students not
enrolled in high school music performance classes.”
c. Correlation: To ascertain the extent to which two variables are related,
that is, the extent to which variations in one factor correspond with
variations in another. Typically involves multiple regression analysis.
Hypothetical Example: “Size of larynx and voice classification among
adolescent males.”
3. Developmental: To be not only concerned with the existing status and
interrelationships of phenomena, but also with changes that take place as a
function of time. Variables are described in the course of their development over
a period of months or years.
a. Growth: To determine the nature and rate of changes that take place in human
organisms.
Hypothetical Example: “Larynx size and voice classification among
females in childhood, puberty, adolescence and adulthood”
b. Trend: To obtain social, economic, or political data and analyze it to
identify trends and to predict what is likely to take place in the future.
Hypothetical Example: “Economic and political support for the National
Endowment for the Humanities, 1975-1995.”
Descriptive research utilizes non-parametric statistics (nominal and ordinal data), e.g., mode,
median, mean, percentile, range, standard deviation, variance, z score, T score, Contingency
Coefficient, Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, Spearman correlation coefficient, Chi square,
Fisher test, regression equation, standard error of estimate, etc.
Descriptive research data are typically presented/reported in such formats as frequency
distribution, contingency table, scattergram, histogram, frequency polygon, frequency curves,
crosstabs, etc.
QuantitativeExperimental Research
Experimental research is a research plan undertaken to test cause and effect between independent
and dependent variables. The independent variable is manipulated by the researcher to
determine its effect upon the dependent variable. For example, once could test the effect of the
independent variables of music and no music and the dependent variable of calculating math
problems. Sixty music majors could be randomly assigned to the music and no music groups.
The music could be a representative sample of contemporary orchestral music. A test of
significance would be used to determine if the observed difference between groups with regard
to solving the math problems correctly is real, or whether it occurred by chance. Then one
would be able to state something to the effect that the probability that the difference in scores
was caused by the independent variable (music or no music) is 95 to 5 (or: the difference is
significant at the .05 level).
Experimental research usually is inferential, and usually examines only samples of the variable
(since examination of entire populations usually is too massive a task).
Experimental research utilizes parametric statistics, (interval and ratio data), e.g., t-test,
ANOVA, ANCOVA, multivariate analyses (MANCOVA, etc.), Pearson’s Product-Moment
Correlation, etc.
Some Examples of Experimental Research:
Gregory, D. (1989). Using computers to measure continuous music responses.
Psychomusicology, 8(2), 127-134.
Madsen, C.K., Standley, J.M., & Cassidy, J.W. (1988). Demonstration and recognition
of high and low contrasts in teacher intensity. Journal of Research in Music
Education, 37, 85-92.
Standley, J.M., & Madsen, C.K. (1990). Comparison of infant preferences and
responses of auditory stimuli: Music, mother, and other female voice. Journal of
Music Therapy, 26(4).
Miyasaki, K. (1989). Absolute pitch identification: Effects of timbre and pitch region.
Music Perception, 7, 1-14.
Montgomery, A. P. (1996). Effects of tempo on music preferences in children in
elementary and middle school. Journal of Research in Music Education, 44 (2),
134-146.
Pembroke, R. G. (1987). The effect of vocalization on melodic memory conservation.
Journal of Research in Music Education, 35, 155-169.
Descriptive versus Experimental Research
Although descriptive research and experimental research are distinct and definable approaches to
solving research problems, sometimes they are confused. The basic difference is one of cause
and effect. A descriptive study looks for descriptions of existing phenomena, while an
experimental study looks for the reasons why those phenomena exist in their present form (what
causes the effect).
For example, a strictly descriptive study might be your evaluation of students in a sight singing
class. You are interested in each student’s sight singing ability (the phenomenon), so you ask
them, one by one, to sing one or more unfamiliar songs from notation. You score each person
according to the number of pitches and rhythms he/she missed, and the result is a descriptive
assessment (a score) of each student’s sight singing ability. You may want to go one step further
and compare all class members statistically to see if their scores differ significantly from each
other.
Notice that in the above example you were not looking for the cause of each student’s score. If
this were your intention, however, you would want to “manipulate” the music. For example, you
might believe that chromatic melodies are more difficult to sing than diatonic melodies--thus
causing changes in the students’ scores. So you develop two sets of melodies that are equivalent
in every way except that one set is diatonic and the other set is chromatic. You ask your students
to sight sing both sets, and you score (missed pitches/rhythms) the two performances separately.
Then you compare the two sets of scores for significant differences. In this case, then, you have
manipulated the independent variable (diatonic/chromatic melodies) in order to pin down a cause
for the effect of higher or lower scores in sight singing (the dependent variable). Probably you
will find that chromatic melodies caused the students to earn lower scores than the diatonic
melodies. Clearly, you have just completed an experimental study, because you investigated
cause and effect).
Evaluation of Descriptive and Experimental Research
“Garbage in, garbage out.” The success of descriptive and experimental research studies
depends on many factors, among them:
Research Questions: formulating logical, succinct, testable hypotheses or questions
The Research Design: arranging research materials and situations to minimize effects
of non-research variables. Poorly conceived research design
and lack of sufficient controls will yield meaningless data.
The purpose of a good research design is to allow for the
greatest control of the research situation by the researcher so
that he/she is confident that results are functions of the research
variables, not functions of other environmental conditions.
Statistical Design:
statistical procedures applied to data collected from a particular
research design. The crucial and most difficult aspect of
statistical design is finding the one most appropriate to the
specific data and the purpose of the particular study.
Sample:
A random sample is the most objective type of sample. In order
for all population elements to have an equal and fair (unbiased)
opportunity, they are randomly chosen (by specific and special
techniques) as elements to be included in the sample. If sample
elements have not been chosen in an unbiased manner, it is
dangerous to infer results to the entire population. A more
precise random sampling technique is to use a stratified sample
when the population is defined as consisting of two or more strata
(e.g., musicians, non musicians).
Good research is also well-reported research. Research articles in reputable journals contain the
following elements that will help the reader: Introduction: (a) statement of the research problem;
(b) review of related and background literature; (c) purposes of the present study; (d) specific
research questions or null hypotheses formulated for the present study; (e) delimitations of the
study, if any; (f) definition of terms, if any; (g) assumptions, if any. Method: (a) subjects; (b)
apparatus/materials used; (c) procedures, including controls and research/statistical design.
Results: clearly and appropriately stated for each research question or null hypthosis.
Discussion/Summary : should relate to the results and practical value of the study, as well as
suggestions for further research.
Qualititative Research
Various appellations are associated with qualitative research: case study, field study,
ethnographic research, naturalistic research, phenomenological research, interpretive research,
symbolic interactionist research, etc. According to Bresler and Stake (1992), qualitative research
strategies “share certain characteristics: (1) noninterventionist observation in natural settings; (2)
emphasis on interpretation of both emic issues (those of the participants) and etic issues (those of
the writer); (3) highly contextual description of people and events; and (4) validation of
information through triangulation” (the checking of data against multiple sources and methods)
(p 76).
An early example of what today would be termed qualitative research in music education was a
ten year research project funded by the Pillsbury Foundation (1941-1951) that sought to discover
children’s musical development by observing and analyzing children’s free, unhampered musical
play. Since that time, researchers have refined methodologies of qualitative research, using it
particularly in complex situations where isolation of several variables is problematic. Bresler
and Stake (1992) list the following weaknesses of qualitative research: (1) excessive subjectivity
in observations; (2) imprecise language in descriptions; (3) vague descriptions of the research
design; (4) unwieldy and voluminous reports; (5) implication of generalizability when little is
warranted; (6) cost and time overrun; and (7) unethical intrusion into personal lives. Among the
strengths of qualitative research are: (1) a holistic, systemic purview, emphasizing inner
workings and contexts; (2) a strong, empirical commitment to triangulated description of
teaching; (3) an obligation and opportunity to get the most from filed-work interpretations; and
(4) a sense of empathy enhancing the utility of use for applied practice in education (p 87).
Some Examples of Qualitative Research Studies:
Bresler, L. (1987). The role of the computer in a music theory class: Integration,
barriers and learning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University,
Stanford, CA.
Kalekin-Fishman, D. (1986). Music and not-music in kindergartens. Journal of
Research in Music Education, 34 (1), 54-68.
Lewers, J. M. (1980). Rehearsal as the search for expressiveness: Implications for
music reading in the high school mixed chorus. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.
Reporting of Research in Music Education and Music Therapy
Reporting of quantitative (i.e., descriptive, experimental, and sometimes qualitative) research
conforms to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (4th edition,
1994). Reporting of nonquantitative research (i.e., historical and philosophical research) may
conform to APA style, The Chicago Manual of Style (14th edition, 1993), or A Manual for
Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (K. L. Turabian, 6th edition, 1996).
A Code of Ethics for researchers has been approved by the Executive Committee of the Music
Education Research Council, the Music Educators National Conference, and the National
Research Committee of the National Association of Music Therapy. This code applies both to
publication and presentation of research. It includes strictures against multiple submissions of
the same manuscript, duplicate publication, and piecemeal publication, and provides for proper
acknowledgment of authorship, the author’s transfer of copyright to the publishing journal, and
rules for conference presentations of research data.
SOME PRIMARY JOURNALS OF RESEARCH IN MUSIC EDUCATION
Journal of Research in Music Education (JRME)
Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education (CRME)
Update: Applications of Research in Music Education (Update)
The Journal of Historical Research in Music Education
Philosophy of Music Education Review
Journal of Music Teacher Education (JTME)
References
Bresler, L., & Stake, R. E. (1992). Qualitative research methodology in music education. In
Richard Colwell, Ed., Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning. New
York: Schirmer Books, 75-90.
Cady, H.L. (1967, p 32). A conference on research in music education: USOE Project No 61388, Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University.
Colwell, R., Ed. (1992). Handbook on Music Teaching and Learning. New York: Schirmer
Books.
Madsen, C.K., & Madsen, C. M. (1978). Experimental Research in Music. Raleigh, NC:
Contemporary Publishing Company.
Schwadron, A. A. (1973). Philosophy in music education: State of the research. Bulletin of the
Council for Research in Music Education, 34 (Fall), 41-53.
Rainbow, E. L., & Froehlich, H.C. (1987). Research in music education: An introduction to
systematic inquiry. New York: Schirmer Books.