Considering the Paradigmatic Frame: Social Science Research Approaches Relevant to Research in Music Therapy

Abstract

Music therapy research literature has broadened in recent years to include reports of projects which use qualitative methods (Aldridge, 1996; Forinash, 1993; O’Callaghan, 1996a). This movement arguably reflects a significant philosophical shift in music therapy research from one which is based on a “scientific” or quantitative method of inquiry to one which acknowledges that the quantitative method is one direction possible within a wider range of approaches to the pursuit and creation of knowledge in this discipline.