How Music Affects The Way We Communicate

Music may have proceeded speech as a form of human communication (Darwin; Mithen, cited in Thompson, Russo & Quinto 2008, p. 1468) and its place in human interaction stems from its relationship with emotional expression (Swaminathan & Schellenberg 2015, p. 189). The perception of emotion in music begins in early childhood (Dalla Bella,

For as long as mankind has walked on this earth, music has been an important part of our culture and lifestyles. Each walk of life beats to a different drum. Different cultures use music for many aspects of their lives; for religious purposes, for celebrations, for comfort, for sorrow, for relaxation, for sports, for dances, for energy, for learning, for sleeping, and for sexual experiences. Everyone uses music for something. Music connects with people and reaches them in ways that words simply cannot. Music is a representation of what feelings sound like. It expresses emotion and brings that characteristic out from within us; it tells us a story. Every generation has its’ own sound and different music styles have emerged and become

This method is applicable to my study because it allows the group of students the freedom to share their experiences, understanding and beliefs of the topic being presented. Focus groups are an asset to my research design because these groups work best for topics people could talk about with one another in their daily lives but do not. Focus groups are not always appropriate for highly sensitive and personal topics to be shared with strangers. However, for the purposes of my research the racially sensitive issues will be open to discussion because the focus group will only have African American students (Merriam,

Flexible and inexpensive, focus groups consist of six to ten participants (Hartman, 2004, p. 408). Additionally, a moderator guides the discussion among its panel members that allows researchers to observe real-time verbal responses and nonverbal cues (Hartman, 2004, p. 402; Cooper & Schindler, 2014, p. 160). Focus groups moderators also have the ability to introduce new ideas to gain a greater understanding of concerns from respondents (Hartman, 2004, p. 402). However, a concern with focus group is the lack of anonymity due to the face-to-face participation.

Music plays a central role in the everyday life of people all over the country. Research has

To further analyze how music brings together, music must be understood as a universal language. Researchers from Universities of Canada, McGill, Montreal, and Berlin went to go explore this concept through playing music to Mbenzele Pygmies and Congo tribes in solitude. (This is How Music Is Indeed a Universal Language). Not only is the author credible, By playing different musical compositions to the two groups and while measuring various physiological responses such as heart pulse, the experiment resulted in both parties feeling similar emotions and objective emotions. Knowing that idea, will

Music can be comforting and personal players are an easy way to listen to it. It is also a way to improve one’s mood and de-stress. However, the music player user is missing out on an important experience and the growth of an important skill. Simply, music players shouldn’t interfere with the growth of one’s communication skills.

It is crucial to think through the composition of a focus group because that focus group is considered a particular sample of the larger population that a researcher is studying. As samples vary so do the conversations within the focus groups. According to Hesse-Biber (2011), researchers should try to “construct samples composed of people who can best shed light on your topic through their personal thought sand life experiences” (p. 178). This signifies that the quality of the results of the study are contingent upon the composition of the focus group. Focus groups vary by size but in most cases the composition is distinguished between homogenous or heterogeneous.

The sole purpose of focus groups is to collect data through conducting primary research. However, aside from data collection, focus groups may also be for other motives, such as: therapy,

A focus group instrument is used when it is well suited to the subject matter in question by listening to the opinions of others in a small and safe group setting before they form thoughts and opinions. An A typical focus group is between 6-12 homogeneous people who share similar characteristics or common interests. Focus groups generally reveal what each person within the group truly feels on the subject which provides credibility to the study. The facilitator is key to promoting an accepting environment where the participants can speak freely without judgment allowing them to answer each question in their own words and acerbate on each answer. Surveys are good for collecting information about people’s attributes and attitudes but if you need to understand things at a deeper level then use a focus group. The facilitator’s goal is to generate as many and diverse opinions from as many different people in the time allotted. Although the discussion is free flowing, the facilitator follows a carefully structured list of predetermined questions that specifically satisfy the purpose of the subject matter (Christiansen, Johnson, & Turner, 2014). Ideally, participant comments will stimulate and influence the thinking and sharing of others. Some people even find themselves changing their thoughts and opinions during the group.

Carson et al (2001, p.114) refers to focus groups as “A research technique that collects data through group interaction on a topic or topics”. They also suggest that the central distinctive characteristic of focus groups is group interaction, which generates a mass of data, which would be

Music Psychology, also known as Psychology of Music is observed in the areas of Psychology and musicology. The main focus of this topic is to explain and understand Musical behaviour and experiences. This includes the progression which music is created, perceived, responded to and how it incorporates into everyday life. In modern Music Psychology, the knowledge has a tendency to advance on the basis of interpretations of data collected by observations and interactions with human participant making it empirical. Music Psychology is a part of many different research with practical relevance, including composition, education, performance and therapy, as well as investigations of peoples aptitude, skill, intelligence, creativity and social behaviour.

Music is an intriguing, inspirational and important driver of Creativity in modern day society. You hear it around and about cities, in the media, in your local shopping center, in elevators, on hold during a call etc. It is utilized in medicine, meditation, entertainment, recreation, and education. Other than facilitating creativity and productivity, music itself is a product of creativity. It is one of the most common depicters of ingenuity. From Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Bach, to today's Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Ed Sheeran, from classical music, Jaz and oldies, to today's Hip Hop, K Pop, and country music, the methodology has changed dramatically, but its effect and contributions to society remain unfazed. The dictionary defines music as "vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion", but there is more to music other than its components. Music is a product of creativity that facilitates communication of emotions that can't be expressed by words. There are the neurological aspects of music and how it affects the various hemispheres of the brain. There's the cultural aspect of music and how it influences the norms of society. There's the educational aspect of music and how it can be applied towards nurturing creativity. There are the psychological aspects of music and how it can be applied to satisfy parts of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. The versatility of music is what makes it one

“A focus group is a common qualitative research method used by companies for marketing purposes. A focus group typically consists of a small number of participants, usually around six to twelve, from within a company 's target market. The consumers are brought together and led through discussions of important company and brand topics by a moderator.” (SmallBusiness, n.d.) Researchers will usually design the focus group based on the research question. There are four main characteristics researchers consider when designing focus groups:

Participants of a focus group are not selected at random, but rather have the capability to offer different perception in the question posed (Schneider, Kerwin, Frechtling and Vivari, 2002). Although there is no recommended group size, but smaller groups may confine the analysis. Hence, Mazza and Berre (2007) has suggested groups of six to nine cross-selected stakeholders is the ideal size for researchers to extract several useful ideas at once.