problems with music in research

Problems With Music In Research
There are many reasons why using music in research is
problematic. From
inconsistencies in peoples connotations of the spoken language,
to simple familiarity
from portion of the population and not from others, there are
many things that can make
music in research very difficult.
One reason for difficulty is that the measurement of peoples
perception of music
goes far beyond what can be described verbally. Feeling evoked by
the music although
described by the same words i.e. this music makes me feel happy,
sad ,etc. is inconsistent
from one person to the next. Also, there is no way to measure
many of the reactions that
the person may have. Even if the person tells you what feelings
the music evokes, there
is no way of knowing what other thoughts the person might be
having, nor how these
reactions will affect that person.
Another factor of difficulty in research with music if
familiarity to the music. If
you were to play a piece of music from the classical era to
someone who primarily listens
to popular music and is not familiar with any sort of classical
music, you will get a very
different reaction than you would if you played that music to
someone who is a classically
trained musician. Even if it evokes the same emotions, there
might be a difference in

anxiety levels that can be measured by things such as heart rate.
A third factor to take into consideration is the fact that often
times we connect
music with experiences that change the feelings experienced
whenever the music is heard.
An example of how this makes research difficult is that if
someone heard the music on a
first date with the person they love, it will have very different
feeling tied to it than it
would if the heard it when a loved one died, or something
negative occurred when they
first heard it.