As a Music Therapy undergraduate and a beginning researcher, I have been particularly interested in McFerran's philosophy of personal, life questions hiding underneath our formal research questions.
This past summer, I participated in a research program with Dr. Wheeler as my mentor where I studied a research topic, developed a research design, implemented it, and presented the study results at the program's poster session. Upon reading McFerran's column, I was challenged to dig deeper into my own research question and discover what hidden questions lie within.
My research topic was focused on how our musical preference changes over repeated exposures. After reviewing the literature I learned that preference for a piece of music can be enhanced over repeated exposure, but then after reaching a satiation point, the preference may decrease again after subsequent exposures. This is referred to as an inverted-U relationship between musical preference and amount of exposure.
I also learned from the literature that there is an inverted-U relationship between musical intelligence (musical background, experience, training, education...) and musical preference. In this theory, we most enjoy music that is neither extremely simple nor extremely complex in relation to our musical intelligence. Most of these musical preference and intelligence studies included classical music. And maybe in that genre, complexity is a determining factor in appreciation, but does that speak for all genres?
My research questions included the following: Is there an inverted-U relationship between musical preference and amount of exposure? Does the relationship between musical preference and amount of exposure differ across different musical genres? Will preference ratings among different songs vary with the varying genres, or with the varying complexities of the songs?
But what hidden questions was I really trying to answer? I brainstormed the following list, ending with a larger-than-life question that may motivate more than just this research study.
If I enjoy simple music, does that make me musically unintelligent?
Do I really know and how do I know when I like/dislike a piece of music?
Am I capable of liking anything that I give a chance?
Am I being closed minded every time I dislike something?
Can I control what I like? Or by controlling it, am I limiting it?
Can I trust my own intuitive opinions?
The fact that all these factors - exposure and intelligence - can shape our preference, I began to wonder if we have any control over our musical opinions at all. If I hear a piece of music and hate it, but then grow to like it the more I listen to it, what other thoughts and opinions could unpredictably transform within my life?
Almost every decision we make is based on opinion. And if they are so vulnerable to change and transformation (such as musical preference is to exposure), then how can we go around confidently making decisions based on them? If I can't say, "I don't like country music" then how can I say, "I want to be a music therapist"?
Surprisingly, the results from my study found that the overall musical preference curve experienced two subsequent inverted-U curves. This was seen in almost every genre.
So how did it answer my personal questions? Our opinions are not definitive. They are vulnerable to dramatic change, going up and down, up and down, and may continue the cycle for who knows how long. It's not just that our initial opinion will change, but the opinion we've had after time has passed will change too.
This insight has transformed the way I view my own, and others', opinions. Although I am very opinionated, I have learned to always keep the possibility that my judgment may change, on the back burner. In addition, I am more willing to let my opinions evolve, feeling less confined to strong preexistent beliefs. I am also more accepting of other's people's inconsistent viewpoints. Finally, when expressing certain opinions, I have adopted that tendency to preface those statements with a shelf life, such as, "Right now, I believe that...."
What truly matters is what our opinions are now, for we can't predict or control what our opinions will be tomorrow. Maybe after it is all said and done, our opinions are not that important after all.