Research in Music Education

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Research in Music Education
In A Guide to Research in Music Education, Phelps, Ferrara and Goolsby define research as the identification and
isolation of a problem into a workable plan; the implementation of that plan to collect the data needed; and the
synthesis, interpretation and presentation of the collected
information into some format which readily can be made
available to others. Research typically falls into one of
four categories: experimental, descriptive, historical, or
philosophical.

1.2.1 Survey Studies

A survey is a systematic method of collecting information on one or more variables. An example of a survey
study is a 1998 study by Gillespie and Hamann. The purpose of the study was to gather descriptive information
about orchestra programs that can be used as baseline
data when considering the needs of school string programs. The findings indicated a continued enrollment
increase in school orchestras in the 1990s although the
number of orchestra teachers remained stable, and that
larger schools are more likely to offer orchestra instruc1 Types of Research
tion. The impact of the study was the recommendation
that school systems should provide larger, more adequate
1.1 Experimental
teaching facilities and that universities and string teachers should emphasize strategies for teaching larger string
Experimental research is used to determine what will be classes in their teacher preparation programs.
or to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between
variables. An example of experimental research is a
2000 study by Prickett and Bridges. The purpose of the 1.2.2 Development Studies
study was to determine if the basic song repertoire of vocal/choral music education majors is significantly better Development studies collect information on existing situthan instrumental music education majors. The study re- ations, determine relationships, and examine changes in
vealed no significant difference between the two groups, these variables over a period of time. Development studand that neither group had developed a strong repertoire ies include:
of standard songs outside of the college music classroom.
The impact of the study was the recommendation that
1. longitudinal studies, which are conducted over a peprofessors preparing music education students for their
riod of time with data collected from the same samfuture careers consider adding activities to music educaple at specific intervals during the study
tion courses that build a strong song repertoire.
2. trend studies, in which a population is sampled and
subjects at the same level of development are tested

1.2

Descriptive

3. cohort studies, which measure an entire population
at periodic intervals over a period of time

Descriptive research is used to determine what is and is
usually conducted for one of three purposes:

1. to obtain data on the current status of existing phe- 1.3 Historical
nomena, such as conditions, practices, and situations
2. to establish relationships among several variables, Historical research refers to the collection of data to
using the data about the current status to investigate record and interpret past events. Source materials used
relationships that may provide greater insight into by the historical researcher are normally of two kinds,
primary and secondary. A primary source is first-hand
the current status
information, observed directly by the researcher. A sec3. to determine developments, trends, or changes by ondary source is second-hand information, not original
describing variables as they develop over a period to the researcher. Through the process of external critiof time
cism, the researcher learns whether or not the object of
scrutiny is authentic. Through the process of internal critThere are three broad categories of descriptive research: icism, the researcher determines if the information consurvey studies, relationship studies, and development tained in the object is credible. An example of historical
studies.
research is a 1993 study by Gruhn. The purpose of the
1

2

5

study was to determine if Lowell Mason's Manual of the
Boston Academy of Music for the Instruction in the Elements of Vocal Music on the System of Pestalozzi is truly
based on Pestalozzian principles. A detailed comparison
of the Manual, a work by Pfeiffer and Nageli, and a work
by Kubler revealed that the Pfeiffer and Nageli work is
much closer to the ideas advocated by Pestalozzi than the
Kubler work, and that Mason’s Manual is little more than
a translation of Kubler.

1.4

Philosophical

REFERENCES

was established in 1960, and in 1963 the Journal of Research in Music Education became its official publication.
The MENC Historical Center was established in 1965. In
1978, MENC founded several Special Research Interest
Groups.

3 Research Publications
Price and Chang (2000) provide an overview of the many
diverse music education research journals including annotation and publication details for each source. While
the Journal of Research in Music Education continues to
be the dominant journal in the field, other journals include the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music
Education, The Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education, The Bulletin of Research, Contributions to Music
Education, The Bulletin of Historical Research in Music
Education, and Update: The Applications of Research in
Music Education.

Philosophical research is used to examine the underlying
principles in any field. An example of philosophical research is a 1999 article by Bennett Reimer published in
The Music Educators Journal: “Facing the Risks of the
Mozart Effect.” This article is a response to the practice
of music educators who advocated music education because of its relationship to spatial task performance. A
1993 research report from the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irving by Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky is an example of
the research literature that supported what became to be 4 Handbook of Research on Music
known as “the Mozart Effect.” Reimer rejects spatial task
Teaching and Learning
performance as justification for music education because,
according to Reimer’s aesthetic philosophy, music education should be justified by its merit as an art, not for One of the dominant events in the field of music educaextra-musical reasons.
tion research was the 1992 publication of the Handbook
of Research on Music Teaching and Learning. Edited by
Richard Colwell, the Handbook contains fifty-five chap2 History of Research in American ters written by more than seventy scholars. Colwell edited
a second volume in 2002, The New Handbook of ReMusic Education
search on Music Teaching and Learning.

To see the shift of emphasis that has taken place in music
education research in recent years, one need only compare the contents of the 1992 volume and the 2002 volume. The inclusion of sections on “Conceptual Framework” and “Evaluation” in the 1992 volume is evidence
of emphasis on standards and a set body of knowledge.
The absence of similar sections in the 2002 volume is evidence of a shift toward a pragmatic philosophical and a
In 1918 the Educational Council was established by the constructivist teaching theory. The inclusion of a section
Music Supervisors National Conference (later the Music on “related arts” in the 2002 volume recalls the research
Educators National Conference or MENC). The Educa- of the late 1960s and 1970s.
tional Council published bulletins, mostly based on survey
data and including recommendations for the profession.
One such bulletin was The Present Status of Music Instruc- 5 References
tion in Colleges and High Schools 1919-1920. In 1923 the
name of the organization was changed form Educational
Council to the National Research Council of Music Ed- Broomhead, P. (2001). Individual expressive perforucation. The name changed again in 1932 to the Music mance: Its relationship to ensemble achievement, techEducation Research Council. The Journal of Research nical achievement, and musical background. Jourin Music Education began publication in 1953 under the nal of Research in Music Education, 49, 71–84.
editorship of Allen Britton. At first many of the articles doi:10.2307/3345811
were based on historical and descriptive research, but in Colwell, R. (Ed.). (1992). Handbook of research on
the early 1960s the journal began to shift to experimental music teaching and learning. New York, NY: Schirmer
research. The Society for Research in Music Education Books.
In 1837 the Connecticut General Assembly voted to collect educational data. Questionnaires were sent to all
Connecticut schools in 1838. Eight questions were about
music instruction. This was probably the first attempt in
the U.S. to collect data on music instruction on a widescale basis and perhaps the earliest example of research
in music education.

3
Colwell, R., & Richardson, C. (Eds.). (2002). The new
handbook of research on music teaching and learning.
New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Gillespie, R., & Hamann, D. L. (1998). The status of orchestra programs in the public schools. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, 75–86.
doi:10.2307/3345761
Gruhn, W. (1993). Is Lowell Mason’s Manual based on
Pestalozzian principles? An inquiry into the controversy
of methods in the nineteenth century. Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education, 14, 92–101.
Mark, M. L., & Gary, C. L. (1999). A history of American music education (2nd ed.). Reston, VA: National Association for Music Education.
Phelps, R. P., Ferrara, L., & Goolsby, T. W. (1993).
A guide to research in music education. Metuchen, NJ:
Scarecrow Press.
Price, H. E., & Chang, E. C. (2000). An annotated bibliography of music education research journals. Update:
Applications of Research in Music Education, 18(2), 19–
26. doi:10.1177/875512330001800205
Prickett, C .A., & Bridges, M. S. (2000). A comparison
of the basic song repertoire of vocal/choral and instrumental music education majors. Journal of Research in
Music Education, 48, 5–9. doi:10.2307/3345452
Reimer, B. (1999). Facing the risks of the “Mozart
Effect.” Music Educators Journal, 86(1), 37–43.
doi:10.2307/3399576

4

6 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

6

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

• Research in Music Education Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research%20in%20Music%20Education?oldid=634347932 Contributors: Rjwilmsi, Malcolma, Gilliam, Fabrictramp, JaGa, Lugubrious DBB, Carriearchdale, Shsimon.rm, Itsalwayssunnyinstow,
Karwaco, ClueBot NG, Kettleer and Anonymous: 5

6.2

Images

• File:Edit-clear.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg License: Public domain Contributors: The
Tango! Desktop Project. Original artist:
The people from the Tango! project. And according to the meta-data in the file, specifically: “Andreas Nilsson, and Jakub Steiner (although
minimally).”

6.3

Content license

• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

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