Music is the art of arranging tones in an orderly sequence so as to produce a unified and continuous composition, according to Webster’s II: New Riverside University Dictionary. However, people have different meanings for music. Therefore there is not just one meaning for “music”. Meanings of music to other people:
Music plays an integral and emotional role in our lives.
Music is the way one expresses their selves.
Music is an instrument that we speak through.
Music is the way in which a person relaxes.
These are a few meanings I came across from the young people/ youths. Every age group listens to music, but from observation; the youths seem to listen music way more than the ‘older folks’ nowadays. Different ways in which people listen music:
In today’s time, there are a lot of means to listen music. Radio
Electronic devices such as iPods
Internet
CD players
Television Channels etc.
There might be many more ways that might not be listed above.
How music affect youths?
The type of research that will be used to investigate this issue is mixed methods. Research designs which can be used are observation, historical, survey and experimental. This research is both qualitative and quantitative. This research will be focusing on children from 13-18. The population will be both boys and girls in this age group. Random persons in my surrounding between this age group will be involved in my research. The 4 main methods of data collection used are:
Questionnaires
Interview
Focus group
Observation
Methods of data collection
Questionnaires
A set of printed or written questions with a choice of answers, devised for the purposes of a survey or statistical study. The instrument used for this method of data collection is:
Questionnaire
Ten questionnaires were given out to ten persons between the ages of 13-18. This sample included 5 girls and 5 boys.
Advantages
Takes up less time and saves money. The sample did not take up much time when doing the questionnaires. This is because the same questions were asked to many persons and options were there to choose from.
Most persons preferred to respond to the questionnaire than to participate in the interview.
In my analysis, I would not sound bias because the same questions were asked to each sample.
Disadvantages
All questions were not completed by only a few persons. This causes assumption which is not valid.
Interviews
A formal meeting where the interviewer asks the interview a number of questions based on a particular topic. It can also be a conversation in which information is elicited. The instrument used in this method of data collection is:
Interview schedule- this is the guide an interviewer uses when conducting a structured interview. About 5 persons between the ages of 13-18 were interviewed. All interviews took approximately 5 minutes. Advantages
More information was gathered in the interview than in a questionnaire.
Persons have the chance to express their self-more when in an interview.
This is useful to gather various quotes or stories.
Disadvantages
This method is time consuming.
Interview might seem bias to the interviewer.
Focus group
A focus group is a carefully planned discussion designed to obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest in a permissive, non-threatening environment. In a group, a few questions were asked on music. They were asked to express their selves. This group is a sample of my population. Advantages
Persons express their selves better. Mostly because the persons in the group share similar thoughts.
This method was done very quickly and it was easy to set up.
This provides useful information that individual data collection does not provide.
Disadvantages
The discussion was dominated by only a few persons
This type of data collection does not provide valid information at the individual level.
This data collection takes up time and has to be planned in advance
Observation
Observation is the action or process of closely monitoring something or someone. The instrument used in this method of data collection is:
Observation schedule
I observed a group of persons between the ages of 13-18 over a 2 week period. This observation was very consistent. Advantages
When observing, I directly what happens instead of relying on a persons’ response
I could clearly state where and when an event is occurring.
Disadvantages
I could not understand why individuals behave the way they do
Findings
In my research, it shows that 80% of youths between the ages of 13-18 are affected by music in many ways.
Difficulties experienced
Not all individuals wanted to participate in my research.
All questions were not answered especially in the questionnaire.
An interviewee was hard to find because most individuals do not like to be in that position. In other words they don’t like to be questioned face-to-face.
Some of the questions were not interpreted the same way by only a few individuals.
All information could not be proven to be valid but information is credible.
In observing, valid information was collected but there was not a reason for the observation seen.
Context for publishing and presenting data
An article about how music affects youths- both negatively and positively, could be written and presented in the entertainment section of a newspaper. This article will state the causes and effects.
A youth conference could be held where a health representative or chairman of the school board talk about how certain music can affect your health (hearing problems) or distract you from your school work.
A presentation could be done by students in the form of a graded work. In this case they would inform their pairs about how music can affect them.
The ministry of health could use a popular artiste to present this information on a popular television music program such as intense.
Bibliography
http://library.ucsc.edu/help/howto/choose-a-research-topic
http://hccedl.cc.gatech.edu/documents/120_Fisk_focus%20group%20research%202004.pdf http://sapp.uv.mx/univirtual/cursos/LEI/Research%20in%20the%20L2%20Classroom/unit3/docs/LR2_ExamplesObservationSchedules.pdf http://srmo.sagepub.com/view/the-sage-encyclopedia-of-social-science-research-methods/n451.xml http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~syverson/worldsfair/exhibits/hall2/yoshimura/music.htm http://www.hawaii.edu/mauispeech/pdf/interviewschedule.pdf
http://www.stageoflife.com/music.aspx
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/interview
