CHORAL RESEARCH

Chorus America Study Nearly 28.5 million adults and children regularly perform in choral groups in the U.S. – that's more than any other art form. There are approximately 250,000 choruses in U.S. – more than any other art form. One or more adults in 15.6 percent of the households in America performed in at least one chorus in the past year. Almost 70 percent of the people who sing in choruses today say they sang in a chorus when they were in their elementary or middle school years. America’s Performing Art: A Study of Choruses, Choral Singers, and Their Impact (2003). Chorus America.

Phenomena associated with choral singing affect large numbers of people on a daily basis. Yet, compared to many other human endeavors, research- based knowledge about choral phenomena is relatively limited.

Why might such be the case?

Some Possible Explanations Choral music viewed as an “art form” and, as such, somewhat removed from the “real” world. The “choral work” has been a primary lens through which to view choral phenomena. No doctorates in choral music per se until the mid 20th-century. Choral conductors who earned doctorates prior to that time did so in musicology or other areas, such as education. Choral music is vocal music, and scientific study of the human voice was not a major emphasis until the 1960’s and 1970’s. It was not until the late 1980’s that researchers began to study choral singing in its own right. Scientific instrumentation for studying choral singing just now approaching systematic development. DMA degrees have not emphasized research.

RESEARCH Latin circa, “to circle around or explore” French recerche, “to search closely” Cognate words include: inquiry, scholarship, investigation (American Heritage Dictionary)

RESEARCH “..an unusually stubborn and persisting effort to think straight which involves the gathering and intelligent use of data.” (Hamblin, 1966). “…a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.” (US Government, Office of Management and Budget)

RESEARCH A process of constant exploration and discovery (Zumann, 2002) Systematic and organized activity to investigate a specific problem that needs a solution Different from a simple opinion, unexamined point of view, or unfocused curiosity RE-search

Science vs Common Sense Theories & Hypotheses systematically and empirically tested Systematically rules out alternative explanations by instituting controls Systematically pursues relationships, guided by theory “Hypothesis testing” is highly selective, biased No attempt at systematic control Haphazard, selective, non-systematic study of things

Science vs Dogma Conclusions are validated by systematically obtained data Accepts facts as given - -belief systems (theories) are tentative Data that do not support the conclusions are ignored Accepts belief systems as given --facts are irrelevant

How do we know? Epistemology: the philosophy of knowing Methodology: an approach to knowing

How do we know? CREDULITY CYNICISM CREDIBILITY

Ways of Knowing (Kerlinger, 1986) Tenacity: We’ve always believed it Intuition: Feels right Authority: Respected source Science: Objective, empirical = Primary ways of knowing in choral music to date.

Perspectives on Scientific Research: Positivist and Post-Positivist

Positivist View of Research Science is a way to learn the TRUTH Science is deterministic and mechanistic Science deals only with what we can see or measure. It is EMPIRICAL. Best way to learn the truth is through the scientific method: controlled experiment. Science is objective.

Mainstream Scientific Research quantitative measures an emphasis on measurement relatively few variables laboratory conditions precise causal hypotheses study derived from the literature, and the situation then chosen to fit reductionist assumptions interpretation of data by the researcher researcher as independent inflexibility once data collection has begun use of control groups generalization highly valued

Post-Positivist View of Research Empirical Observation is theory laden and therefore subjective Multiple perspectives and triangulation of data are preferable Context should be embraced, not avoided.

Critical Realism A moderating position that attempts to avoid scientific claims to objective truth while avoiding post-modernist subjectivist perspectives There is a reality that we should try to “get right” We should be critical of our ability to ever get it perfectly right

Garbage In Garbage Out Good research is good research, regardless of its methodological paradigm. GIGO Methodologies are only as good as their assumptions.

Why do Choral Research? Develop or contribute to new knowledge, to help –Teaching/Conducting –Learning –Choral Sound –Recruitment/Retention –Working with developing voices –Administration –Decision making Both –for your own work, and –to advance knowledge base of the profession

Why is competence in choral research appropriate for a DMA program?

To enable you to become aware of, appreciate, and critically evaluate a growing body of choral research that can potentially help you and your choirs. To begin to blur some current dualisms between art/life, mind/body, artist/citizen, research/creative activity. To equip you to contribute to the knowledge base of your profession. In short, to afford you a variety of lenses through which to view and assess choral phenomena.

Why this course? 1. Stimulate thinking about choral music-making as it relates to life, to some self-chosen value system, and to the human quest for knowledge. Research for its own sake. Knowledge for knowledge’s sake. 2. Utilitarian goal of getting your degree, successfully landing a job, and eventually gaining tenure.

In this course…. 1. You will do a whole lot of thinking, reading, and writing. Researchers are like performers in that they have to practice (think, read) and rehearse (write, re-write) in order to present their work publicly for a wider audience. Publication=public performance. 2. By course’s end, with guided practice and rehearsing you will produce a work of publishable quality.

Two options 1. A completed research project and research report of publishable quality, ready to submit to a journal and/or a research session at a professional conference. Most journals require submissions be no longer than approximately 20 pages. 2. A completed proposal for a master’s thesis, DMA document, or Ph.D. disseration.

Annual Faculty Evaluations 1. Teaching (40%) 2. Research/Creative Activity (40%) 3. Service (20%) Research/Creative Activity is evaluated in terms of –Refereed (juried)/Non-Refereed (non-juried) –Major/Minor –Quality/Quantity A published article in a refereed research journal of national or international stature carries the same weight as being invited to premier a major work for a national or international audience.

Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin, It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. A.A. Milne (1926)

Paradigms are shifting We can no longer be content with just bump, bump, bumping down the stairs World is experiencing an explosion in new knowledge Hard questions are being asked about music as an art form and about the nature of choral music-making Apprenticeship model is being replaced Growing understanding of choral music-making as relational: conductor/teacher, singers, score, society as a whole

The approach this course takes: Romance Precision Generalization --Alfred North Whitehead, The Aims of Education, 1929