Class 1

MUSIC 2MU3:
Introduction to
Music Therapy Research
Instructor: Annilee Baron, MTA, OCT
(She/her)
Date: January 10th, 2024
 Learning Overview

In this class you will learn:

• the current definition of music therapy, the types of persons music therapists work with, and
a brief overview of interventions used
• where music therapy research is conducted and published

• about approaches in music therapy research, namely:

Qualitative versus quantitative
Basic versus applied research
4 stages in researching treatment strategies
• what is meant by evidence based-practice, and why it’s important for the field of
music therapy
• challenges/limitations in music therapy research
Based on the reading:
Wheeler, B. L. & Bruscia, K. E. (2016). Overview of Music Therapy Research. In B. Wheeler & K. Murphy
(Eds.). Introduction to Music Therapy Research (pp. 3-11). Barcelona Publishers.
 What is Music Therapy?

A discipline in which credentialed professionals

(MTA*) use music purposefully within therapeutic
relationships to support development, health, and
well-being.

(CAMT, 2016)
 How to Become a Certified Music
Therapist (MTA)

o University Training in Music Therapy or Related

Field (Psychology, Music)
o Musicianship with guitar, piano, and voice.
o 1000-hour supervised clinical internship
o Certification Board of Music Therapists exam
o Statement of Adherence to the CAMT Code of Ethics
& Standards of Practice
o Continuing Education Credits
 Autism
Spectrum Hospice &
Palliative Care Mental
Developmental Health
& Physical
Disabilities
Areas Music Speech and
Therapists Language
Impairments
Work In
Neonatal
Intensive Care
Acquired
Brain Injury
Substance
Abuse
Parkinson’s Oncology
 Interventions

• Pre-composed music

• Listening

• Singing

• Improvisation

• Lyric Analysis

• Song writing
“Passive” or “active”
The client or patient does not need to have a
musical background.

Music therapy is not entertainment and does not refer to

playing live or recorded music or engaging in musical
activities for leisure/as a hobby.

Music therapy does not refer to musical lessons to

hone one’s skill on an instrument or voice.

Music therapy is not special music education in which

specific techniques and activities are used to teach special
learners about music.
 Where the research is happening: PhD
Programs in MT

 Lesley U, Cambridge Massachusetts

 Drexel U, Philadelphia
 Temple U *
 New York U
 U of Kansas
 Aalborg U, Denmark
 Anglia Ruskin U, United Kingdom
 Melbourne U
Wilfrid Laurier U
 Where the research is happening: MA
Programs in MT

Canada:
Wilfrid Laurier University (Ontario, Canada)
Concordia University (Quebec, Canada)

Globally:
United States (ie. Berklee)
United Kingdom (ie. Anglia Ruskin, Nordoff-Robbins)
Australia, Ireland, Germany
 MT Research Journals

 International Latin-American Journal of MT

 CDN Journal of MT
 Journal of MT (AMTA)
 Nordic Journal of MT
 Australian Journal of MT
 British Journal of MT
 International Journal of Arts and Medicine**
 Journal of Music and Meaning**
 Voices (Open Access)
MT research also found in other health
care journals

 Nursing
 Neurorehabilitation
 OT, PT, SLP
 Aging
 Pediatrics
 Etc….
 Neurologic Music Therapy Academy

 Dr. Corene Hurt-Thaut (Certified Music Therapist) &

Dr. Michael Thaut (Tier 1 Researcher)

• over $4 million research funding

• American Music Therapy Association's National Research
Award 1993
• Oxford Handbook was second overall in the British Medical
Association (BMA) 2015 Book Awards for 'Best New Book in
Neurology' (60 entries)
• authored/co-authored about 250 scientific publications in multiple
fields
Master’s in Music and Health; Music and Health Research
Collaboratory (MaHRC)
Music Cognition Research at McMaster
Why Music Therapy Research?

 Evidence  funding  more support

 More people benefit from Music Therapy, reach a larger
base

How do we know it works?

 What is Research?

 “Careful or diligent search”

• “Careful study that is done to find and report new knowledge

about something”

• Bruscia (2014, pg. 196): “a systematic, self-monitored inquiry

which leads to a discovery or new insight, which, when
documented and disseminated, contributes to or modifies
existing knowledge or practice”
 Research Papers

1. Clear statement of purpose and what is to be investigated

2. Clearly described/justified methodology
3. Report of the results
4. Conclusions that are subsequently related to existing
knowledge
 Quantitative

 Quantitative “Primarily relies on objective forms of

data, and most often requires quantification and
statistical analysis”

Objectivist Research – truths that are discovered through

systematic inquiry
 Purpose is to determine what is true or not true
Outcome: fact
 Method designs are crucial to establishment of facts
 Qualitative

 Qualitative “relies primarily on subjective data, and this mostly

involves gathering and analyzing other types of data such as verbal,
musical, and artistic materials or qualities”

 Interpretivist Research – findings are constructions of the researcher

 Purpose: to explore a particular phenomenon as it unfolds and reveals itself
during the study
 More like an “approach” or “perspective” than design or method
 Interpretivist Research in MT

 Phenomenological approaches  concerned with

how a person PERCEIVES, FEELS, THINKS, and
DERIVES MEANING from a lived phenomenon

 Meaning-Focused Approaches  what clinical data

mean in music therapy

 Case approaches  concerned with a particular

individual or group
 Qualitative and Quantitative

• Growing practice – to mix both Objectivist and Interpretivist 

“Mixed Methods Research”

Both paradigms are concerned with: Answering research questions,

defining and describing the process, documenting outcomes, analyzing
data, evaluating and interpreting human behaviour, determining how
music therapy functions as a treatment
 Research Outcomes

Physiological Measures
 Physical state of health
 Coping with pain, physical disability
 Physiological responses (heart, blood pressure,
respiration, EEG, skin temp)

Psychological Measures
 Change in self-esteem
 Change in self-perception/ insight
 Resolution of conflicts, emotional issues, social interactions,
self management
 Basic Versus Applied Research

Basic research – a systematic study directed toward fuller

knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of
phenomena and of observable facts without specific applications
toward processes or products in mind

* Done more often in OTHER disciplines than music therapy

 Examples of Basic Research

Basic Quantitative Research example:

Experiments on how cells divide, lab research, or what
brain is activated by certain stimuli

Basic Qualitative Research example:

Looking at how people experience a particular
phenomenon BUT without focusing on a practical
application of that information
 Basic Versus Applied Research

Applied Research – a systematic study to gain knowledge or

understanding necessary to determine the means by which a
recognized and specific need may be met
 Examples of Applied Research

 Examples of Applied Research: researchers investigating how

reinforcement could be applied to education and therapy using
behaviour modification

 Neurologic Music Therapy using the findings of basic research

about brain and music to apply this to real life healthcare settings
 Four Stages in Researching
Treatment Strategies

The Medical Research Council identified 4 stages in

researching treatment strategies, such as those used in music
therapy:
1) Development Stage
2) Feasibility and Piloting Stage
3) Evaluation Stage of the Treatment
4) Implementation Stage
Why Understand These Different Needs
and Purpose at Each Stage?

 Music therapy research will develop more efficiently

 Leads to more useful results
 Assists in acquiring funding for research
 Evidence Based Practice (EBP)

 Approach to health care that promotes the collection, interpretation

and integration of valid, important and applicable patient reported,
clinician observed, and research derived evidence.

 An evidence-based practice (EBP) is any practice that relies on

scientific evidence for guidance and decision-making. Practices that
are not evidence-based may rely on tradition, intuition, or other
unproven methods.

 Largely determines what interventions should be funded

 Common Challenges/Limitations in Music
Therapy Research

 W.E.I.R.D studies
(Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic)
 Not a Master’s-level profession
 Small sample size
 Case study presentations
 Next Week

 Focus: Neurologic Music Therapy

 Quiz #1 begins Thursday January 18th at 6:00am and is

available until Friday January 19th at 11:59pm
 on Avenue