Considering the Paradigmatic Frame: Social Science Research Approaches Relevant to Research in Music Therapy

Music therapy research literature has broadened in recent years to include reports of projects which use qualitative methods (Aldridge, 1996; Forinash, 1993; O’Callaghan, 1996a). This movement arguably reflects a significant philosophical shift in music therapy research from one which is based on a “scientific” or quantitative method of inquiry to one which acknowledges that the quantitative method is one direction possible within a wider range of approaches to the pursuit and creation of knowledge in this discipline.