An analysis of qualitative music therapy research reports 1987–2006: Articles and book chapters

This article is a comprehensive analysis of qualitative music therapy research studies published in peer-reviewed music therapy and non-music therapy journals, peer-reviewed research monographs, and in edited books. The review focuses on four areas of the research report: author, publishing venue, and report information; topic and focus; methodological concerns; and, the reporting of findings. Important conclusions are that this research is meeting the stated goal of its originators by creating a clinically relevant research base. However, some methodological concerns emerged that warrant attention from researchers, primarily in the area of evaluation standards and procedures, and in the lack of sufficient transparency in data analysis. The most frequently used methods include grounded theory, naturalistic inquiry, and phenomenology. Although the results are primarily descriptive in nature, the study also contains a list of ten representative studies that demonstrate how to include sufficient methodological information within the size constraints of book chapters and journal articles.