At the heart of music therapy research, as in any field, is a search for knowledge. For centuries, researchers in a remarkable range of disciplines have conducted research and published findings in a vast array of professional journals and books. It therefore seems reasonable to suppose that we ought to know by now how to go about conducting research, and more importantly what it means to have gained knowledge. Yet problems have persisted along the way and have at various times proven quite challenging and even inconvenient for researchers and their claims to knowledge (Kuhn, 2012). Of particular significance are philosophical beliefs regarding what actually constitutes legitimate knowledge and how knowledge can be gained, or in other words beliefs about what can be known and how we can know it (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 2009; Denzin & Lincoln, 2003; Pascale, 2011). These are questions of ontology and epistemology.
- Music and
- Music Therapy
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/james_hiller/29/
This chapter also appears in the Barcelona title Music Therapy Research, Third Edition.