A meta-analytic approach to qualitative studies in music education: A new model applied to creativity and composition

Abstract

Qualitative methods are well established in music education research. This has led to an interesting body of research, each project investigating in depth a specific situation or phenomenon. One way of combining the advantages of qualitative studies with the aim of acquiring general theories of music education might be to develop methods of re-analyzing primary studies on a secondary, meta level. The aim of this article is twofold: to present a preliminary model of a method of meta-analysis on qualitative studies in music education, and to exemplify how such a method might be adopted, in this case on studies in musical creativity and composition. From a starting point in literature on meta-analysis, a method of qualitative re-analysis of the results of qualitative studies in music education is presented. The result indicates that the basic qualities and essential elements in musical creativity and composition are very similar for all participants from early childhood through adolescence and up to adulthood, inside as well as outside of institutional settings such as schools. In conclusion, the method of analysis and its implications for further research in music education is discussed as one way ahead in establishing music education theories.