Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

Reviewing the sub-questions, the wording of sub-question 4 is not optimal. Again, ‘influence’
should have been used instead of ‘effects’ – in order to maintain the openness. (As can be
seen on p. 315 ‘effect’ was not included in the first version of the subquestion.) On the other
hand, words traditionally associated with quantitative research and positivism, such as
“effect”, “outcome”, “causality”, “evidence” and “significance” can also – if they are
carefully explained – be used within qualitative research and post-positivist designs, however
with different meaning.
Basically my project is eclectic in nature. The use of multiple methods in the study reflects
my understanding of the multi-paradigmatic nature of music therapy research, but not a wish
to mix paradigms. Thus, in my understanding, the research project is not split in two halves
with separate paradigms. I use the word ‘eclectic’ in the same way as Ferrara uses it when
characterizing his method of music analysis (see chapter 8) as eclectic: Music is Sound,
Structure and Meaning. (The same goes for Ruud’s four level model, see below (13). I also
note that Helen Bonny was eclectic in her theoretical orientation (Bonny 1978 Monograph #1,
p. 46)). Each aspect or level of the research demands a specific methodological approach. But
the basic philosophical stance is post-positivist. As a human endeavour music is a multilayered
phenomenon, not either a case of stimulus-response or an experiential paradigm.
Paradigmatically and epistemologically I share Lakoff and Johnson’s ideas about causality, as
they are unfolded in ”Philosophy in the Flesh” (1999). The book demonstrates that there are
many distinct conceptualizations of causation, each with a different logic. (p. 171). The –
positivist – prototypical case: the manipulation of objects by force is only one of many cases
of causality. Metaphorical concepts of causation is a much richer source of causal reasoning.
“…the literal skeletal concept of causation: a cause is a determining factor for a situation,
where by a “situation” we mean a state, change, process, or action. Inferentially, this is
extremely weak. All it implies is that if the cause were absent and we knew nothing more, we
could not conclude that the situation existed. This doesn’t mean that it didn’t; another cause
might have done the job. …” (p. 177)
Also Robson (2002) discusses the issue of ‘causality’ in positivist vs. nonpositivist paradigms.
An axiom of positivism (based on Hume’s theory of causation) is that “Cause is established
through demonstrating such empirical regularities or constant conjunctions – in fact, this is all
that causal relations are.” (p. 20). This positivist, successionist view on causality is challenged
by the realist, generative view, where qualitative analysis can be a powerful method for