Abstract
All music is ambiguous. Even the most direct melody, attempting to be a clarion call to joy, with all the structural signifiers of happiness, can evoke sadness in a listener. This situation occurs because we filter all music through our own experiences and associations. Furthermore, ambiguity is one of the reasons why music is a powerful, universal, timeless and unique channel of communication. Ambiguity is celebrated within aesthetic epistemologies and beauty and meaning are constructed along an infinite number of dimensions. Contrastingly, research is concerned with the reduction of ambiguity. Whether through the desire to establish cause and effect relationships or offering detailed and sophisticated case studies, engaging in research is concerned with transparently developing new ideas, conclusions or, dare I say, facts. Within clinical research epistemologies, ambiguity, therefore, has a more controversial place. Not least because goals are to enhance wellbeing, alleviate suffering and ameliorate pain and distress by accurately describing and predicting the effects of specific interventions. With time and resources in demand like never before, researchers working in this area seek to reduce uncertainty to further knowledge about how interventions can be developed and delivered. In contributing to the growing body of knowledge that seeks not only to understand the health benefits of music but also shed light upon the mechanisms that underpin these developments, the third edition of Music Therapy Research, edited by Barbara Wheeler and Kathleen Murphy, is both a celebration of, and desire to reduce, ambiguity.
Music is a unique and separate channel of communication capable of facilitating and enhancing relationships when language and other modes of communication are problematic. Given these features, there are numerous potential links between music and health. Music is also ambiguous, complex and wondrous, and understanding how musical communication functions is one of the primarily objectives of music psychologists. Music therapists make significant contributions to this question since their practice is predicated on a sophisticated understanding of how musical communication functions. In the 22 years since the first edition of this book, music therapy research has flourished, and this third edition highlights these advances. It is undoubtedly a landmark text. It is a tour de force, exploring key issues, methods and theoretical ideas, offering a superb and essential introduction to anyone interested in music therapy research. Sixty-eight chapters across nine units present a comprehensive and detailed account of how the relationship between musical engagement and health and wellbeing can be rigorously and transparently investigated. Individual units, which include: Preparations, Foundations and Principles, Objectivist Designs, Interpretative Designs, usefully sectionalise the book to help navigation across the research landscape. The distinction between objectivist research (e.g. realism, truth and post-positivist thinking) and interpretative research (e.g. relativism, subjective experience and the construction of meaning) is a key overarching concept for the book and helps the reader to engage with the key stages of research and the choices to be made along the way.
The individual chapters are written by 71 leading music therapy researchers from 12 different countries making the book truly global in its reach and relevance. The style of the book is short, concise, well-focused and fully-referenced chapters on clearly-defined topics: the history of music therapy research, epistemological and philosophical foundations, how to conduct a literature review, the development of research questions and how they relate to specific methodologies. Not only are qualitative and quantitative methodologies covered in considerable detail, but the various sub-branches of this mega-dichotomy are delineated in considerable detail. Chapters on narrative enquiry, discourse analysis, thematic analysis and grounded theory sit alongside chapters on experimental design, statistical analysis and survey research under the broad distinction of objective versus interpretative designs. There are also three chapters dedicated to mixed methods and a couple on microanalysis. Every chapter also uses excellent music therapy examples drawn from the literature to develop lines of argument. The whole gamut is explored and there is no doubt that the third edition of this book is not just a tweak of the previous two but a substantial reworking of an area that has been fundamental to the huge strides music therapy has made (and continues to do so) as profession over the past 50 years. Chapter 11 by James Hiller is an excellent overview of epistemological foundations of different research traditions. I particularly liked the clear and concise manner in which constructivism is contrasted will social constructionist approaches; my own attempts, usually involving a half-baked metaphor and a silly example, often leave students looking bewildered and bamboozled.
The book will be an invaluable resource for those teaching research methods not just in music therapy, but it could fit easily into psychology of music courses as well. The clear and concise style will help answer perennial questions such as What theoretical approach to use when analysing interviews? Is my research ethical? When is a semi-structured interview more appropriate than a questionnaire? Experienced researchers will also find this book an excellent resource for helping straighten knotty problems of epistemology, methodology and interpretation, and also pointing the way to other key sources of information. The glossary and indexes are excellent and the whole text is both authoritative and accessible. Therefore, this is not just a book for the novice researcher but a valuable resource for researchers of all levels of experience. Not only is this book essential reading for music therapy students and researchers, but it offers much to anyone interested in the principles and practicalities of researching the importance of music in our lives.
“Talking about music is like dancing about architecture”, a quote of disputed providence, often used to suggest the futility of translating musical communication into linguistic terms. Music therapy research is primarily concerned with this conundrum. Undoubtedly much will be lost in translation when we describe and analyse musical communication using words. However, the attempt to reduce ambiguity, to offer clear and precise guidelines regarding how an enquiring mind can systematically pursue a research agenda, is a crucially important activity. This is important not just for academics, but this endeavour furthers knowledge about the nature of music and its significance within our lives. Bringing these state-of-the-art chapters together, written by a stellar array of academics, is a major achievement and this book will undoubtedly be a go-to text for years to come.