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Qualitative Music Therapy Research

Course Number: MU606

Subject: Music, Music Therapy

Scholarly sources

In general, when looking for previous research in music therapy, you will be consulting and citing three formats:

journal articles

Mitchell, E. (2019). Community music therapy and participatory performance: Case study of a coffee house. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v19i1.2701

books

Silverman, M. J. (2015). Music therapy in mental health for illness management and recovery. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198735366.001.0001

book chapters

Ahonen, H. (2016). Adult Trauma Work in Music Therapy. In: The Oxford Handbook of Music Therapy. Ed. Jane Edwards. Oxford University Press. 268-288. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199639755.013.47

Generative AI

While using Generative AI (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT for academic research can be helpful in getting a general overview, explaining complex concepts in simpler terms, or generating keywords or search terms for databases, there are several important reasons why you should avoid relying on it as a primary or sole source for academic research.

  1. Limited language model
    • GenAI queries a large language model made up of public, freely available data (web pages, Wikipedia, etc.), and does not include much academic or peer-reviewed content.
  2. Lack of source transparency
    • GenAI doesn’t cite sources unless explicitly asked, and even then, it can generate fake or inaccurate citations. This makes it unsuitable for producing verifiable, citable academic content.
  3. Potential for inaccuracy
    • While GenAI is generally reliable, it can produce confident-sounding but incorrect or misleading information, especially in niche or rapidly evolving fields.
  4. Lack of critical analysis
    • GenAI summarizes well but does not engage in deep, critical thinking or original analysis, which is essential for high-quality academic work.
What is a library database?

A library database is an online searchable collection of information, often in the form of references to articles, books, and book chapters (but also newspaper articles, thesis, music, etc). These examples offer a glimpse of how databases are used.

Dissertation

Lee, J. (2015). The effects of music on pain: A review of systematic reviews and meta-analysis (see page 33)

Scholarly Article

Alvarenga, W., Leite, A., Oliveira, M., Nascimento, L., Silva-Rodrigues, F., Nunes, M., & Carvalho, E. (2017). The Effect of Music on the Spirituality of Patients: A Systematic Review. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 36(2), 192–204. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898010117710855

Review Types
Scoping Reviews

Scoping reviews are exploratory research projects that systematically map the literature on a relatively broad topic, by identifying key theories, concepts, and sources of evidence that inform practice in the field. The objectives of a scoping review are to assess the size and scope of available research literature, identify gaps in current research, and highlight areas that require further inquiry. Scoping reviews can use qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods approaches. 

While scoping reviews are sometimes used as a preliminary research to justify further investigation, they can also be standalone projects, especially where the research topic is complex or has not been reviewed comprehensively in the past. They share several characteristics with systematic reviews by way of being systematic, transparent, and replicable. However, the scoping review process can be iterative, where researchers adjust their focus based on what they discover as they analyze what they have found so far.

Literature searches for scoping reviews are exhaustive, and often incorporate literature that is not published by commercial publishers, or indexed in commercial databases and catalogues - for example, governmental or private sector research, dissertations, and conference abstracts (See Grey Literature on this page).

The 5 main steps to successfully complete a scoping review are:

  1. Identify: What is the research question(s) - what domain needs to be explored?
  2. Find: Locate relevant studies - electronic databases, reference lists, websites, conference proceedings, clinical trials, etc.
  3. Select: Choose studies that are relevant to the question(s) – use predetermined inclusion/exclusion criteria.
  4. Extract/chart: Organize the data from relevant studies selected.
  5. Collate: Summarize and report the results.

Scoping Review Example

Shenoy, R., Harvey, S., Krishnan, G., & Nickels, L. (2025). Sorting the “mixed bag” of semantic tasks in aphasia therapy: a scoping review. Aphasiology, 39(7), 968–1005. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2024.2401421

Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis

A systematic review or meta-analysis is a study of studies. These reviews aim to collect all existing evidence to address a specific research question. The final product can then be used to inform clinical decision-making, policy, and research. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are often conducted by a research team, rather than an individual researcher, to take advantage of specialized knowledge and expertise, facilitate expedited review of studies, and reduce bias.

It is important to note that all meta-analyses are systematic reviews, but not all systematic reviews are meta-analyses.

Features

Systematic review

Meta-analysis

METHOD

Systematically search for, appraise, and synthesize research evidence

Statistically combine the results of quantitative studies to provide a more precise effect of the results

FORMAT

Results are typically narrative, may have tabular component

Results are graphical and tabular with narrative commentary

CONTENT

Analyzes what is known; recommendations for practice. Identifies what remains unknown; uncertainty around findings, recommendations for future research

Numerical analysis of measure of effect assuming absence of heterogeneity.

There are six steps to a systematic review/meta-analysis:

  1. Plan: Frame research question, determine inclusion and exclusion criteria for studies, create project management outline including deadlines and responsibilities, and develop protocol.
  2. Identify: Determine search terms and databases to search, retrieve studies and document findings.
  3. Evaluate: Screen, select, sort, and appraise studies.
  4. Collect & Code: Determine forms, code selected studies, and synthesize data extracted.
  5. Explain: Analyze findings and put them into context.
  6. Summarize – Write up the report.

Systematic Review Examples

Hanson-Abromeit, D., & Sena Moore, K. (2014). The Systematic Review as a Research Process in Music Therapy. The Journal of Music Therapy, 51(1), 4–38. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/thu002

Magee WL, Clark I, Tamplin J, Bradt J. Music interventions for acquired brain injury. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017, Issue 1. http://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD006787.pub3. (see Methods)

Database searching tips
  1. Tutorial: Developing a research question: for graduate students
  2. Consider word variations and synonyms
    • think about how others might refer to your ideas
    • e.g, child death, perinatal death, neonatal death, stillbirth, sudden infant death, etc.
Search Tactics

What is the tactic?

What does the tactic do?

Examples

Boolean AND

Use AND to ensure that all terms appear in every search result.

depression AND home care

Boolean OR

Use OR to ensure that at least one term appears in every search result.

auditory OR acoustic OR sound

Phrase searching

Use “quotation marks” to find more than one term in a row.

“vibroacoustic therapy”

Truncation

Use an asterisk* at the end of a term to include multiple endings. (sometimes $)

trauma*

trauma, traumatic, traumatically, traumatize, traumatized, traumatizing

Wildcard

Use a question mark ? within a term to search for variations of a single character.

decoloni?e

decolonize, decolonise

Proximity

Use NEAR/n to search for terms within n words of each other (sometimes Nn)

"music therapy" NEAR/5 child* OR adolescent*

Tutorial: Better searching using AND, OR, NOT 

  1. Employ search limiters (available limiters depend on the database)
    • peer reviewed, article type, date
    • e.g, in PsycInfo, can include: age group, population group, methodology
  2. Identify key publications and authors
    • note citations, and cited references, repeated author names
  3. Document and track everything you do in the steps above
Books and ebooks

Tutorial: Finding books in Omni
Tutorial: Requesting books from other libraries in Omni

  • Start with known titles
    • Hendricks, K. S. (Ed.). (2023). The Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197611654.001.0001
    • Edwards, J. (2016). The Oxford handbook of music therapy. Oxford University Press. http://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199639755.001.0001
  • Search with Omni
Articles

Tutorial: Finding scholarly articles on a topic

Search in Omni

  • limit to "Articles" and "Peer-reviewed journals"
  • article content in Omni is not chosen or curated, but dumped in, i.e, it may not have everything on a particular topic.

Researchers rely on curated collections of content according to discipline

Other interdisciplinary subject databases that may be helpful depending on your topic

Other considerations

Predatory journals

Predatory journals are a global threat. They accept articles for publication — along with authors’ fees — without performing promised quality checks for issues such as plagiarism or ethical approval. (Grudniewicz, A., Moher, D., Cobey, K. D., Bryson, G. L., Cukier, S., Allen, K., & Ardern, C. (2019). Predatory journals: no definition, no defence. Nature, 576(7786), 210+)

Grey Literature

Grey literature is information produced outside traditional scholarly publications. It includes reports, policy briefs and reports, major research papers, white papers, working papers, government documents, speeches, etc. 

There is no single database that covers grey literature well, so Google is helpful in cases like this. Consider the following tips when searching Google, often using these in combination:

 Below are some links to some possible sources of grey literature.

Available through Laurier Library

PAIS Index

International index to various types of publications on public/social policy and social sciences. Includes PAIS Archive.

More Info

Available online

Dissertations and Theses

Dissertations and theses may be considered scholarly sources since they are closely supervised by a dissertation committee made up of scholars, are directed at an academic audience, are extensively researched, follow research methodology, and are cited in other scholarly work.

However, dissertations are still considered student work and are not peer-reviewed. Always clarify with your instructor as to whether you can include and cite dissertations and theses in your research.

Music therapy journals

It is helpful to know about the prominent music therapy journals (Edwards, 2016, p. 711) if you want to stay on top of current research in this field, or to know which journals to "hand-search." While you can browse and search these journals, all of these titles are indexed in RILM where a more efficient search on a topic can be completed.

APA Style Guide

While the Library owns print copies of the entire APA Style guide, you should get enough information from the following two APA pages:

Zotero

Attachment(s)

example of a call for papers for a suspected predatory journal

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