Designing the testing methodology

Using the I/R project as a template it was decided to use mainly qualitative questionnaires, which would be completed by the participants after listening to surround sound playbacks through multiple speakers. The purpose of using

qualitative methods is that they allow listeners to express themselves. Quantitative methods can impose restrictions on participants resulting in the loss of potentially valuable data (Marshall and Rossman, 1999:54). However, as Denzin and Lincoln note, ‘Lived experience cannot be studied directly’, qualitative research does not give access into the inner psychology of a participant (Denzin and Lincoln, 2003:573). Additionally, as discussed in 1.3.4, it is not always easy to express verbally one’s feelings about music. Below is an outline of the specific

methodological issues to resolve arising from the main areas of study identified in the introduction:

 How to create a piece of E/A music for 5 channels suitable for the purposes of the project.

 The following workshop issues:

a) Teaching heightened listening skills to young people.

b) The design of questions to collect data from young people to assess the effectiveness of listening exercises.

c) The design of questions to collect data from young people to assess the impact on appreciation of the listening exercises.

e) Playing the work in surround sound.

f) Collecting data from blind participants.

These issues and considerations are expanded on throughout the rest of this chapter.

2.1.1. Listener subject groups

The methodological framework was built around a research strategy that employed case study analysis using two separate groups:

Subject group

This consisted of young inexperienced listeners in secondary school between the ages of 11- 14 with no knowledge of E/A music and hence no established listening strategy for it. It was also thought that their music tastes might not be as ingrained as older listeners, as suggested by the ‘open earedness’

hypothesis (Hargreaves, 1982:51) explained in 1.3. However, music can play an important role in ‘identity’ for secondary school pupils, and this is usually tied up with pop or rock music (Hargreaves and Marshall, 2003:265). A short

demographic section at the start of the first questionnaire gathered information about the respondents’ music tastes (as well as age and sex), to investigate if any patterns emerged in relation to this.

Reference group

A group of long-term blind/visually impaired people. In studies (at McGill University) comparing the listening skills of the blind with sighted people, the early blind group (blind since childhood) was significantly better at predicting the direction of pitch change and spatial listening than the sighted or later blind group (Gougoux et al, 2004).

If the HL hypothesis is correct then the reference group will have greater appreciation for the music due to their more advanced listening skills. Additionally the subject group’s appreciation should improve as their aural awareness

increases. To investigate this the results from the subject group were compared with the reference group.

Originally it was hoped to have a larger blind group who would act as a control group in the research. However problems arose in recruiting enough blind participants who could provide useful data. Workshops were conducted with the help of organisations who work with the blind (such as the RNIB and VISTA in Leicester) but many of the participants, who although often enjoyed the

workshops and would be valuable subjects for further research, came from a wide range of age groups and abilities and therefore would not be directly comparable to the subject group. As a result, the data was treated as a reference point to the inexperienced listeners rather than a comparison between two groups.

2.1.2. Ethical issues

Any research involving human subjects particularly if they are young or vulnerable raises a number of ethical questions. De Montfort University requires that approval be obtained from the human research ethics committee where research involves gathering information about human beings through surveys, interviews, observation or questionnaires. For the HL project the ethical issues were identified as:

Anonymity - the identity of the participants should not be revealed without their consent.

Informed consent - participants should have clear information about the purpose of the research and what involvement will entail.

These issues were addressed by providing a letter for all participants explaining what the research would involve, its objectives and to gain written consent regarding their voluntary participation. It made clear that the research was anonymous and that their responses would only be used with their (or in the case of minors, their parents/guardians) permission. See Appendix 2 to view the letters and consent forms (one for the reference group and one for the subject group).

2.1.3. Teaching heightened listening skills

This centered on ‘ear cleaning’ exercises as designed by Murray Schafer (Schafer, 1977:208) and soundwalks as used in workshops by Hildegard Westerkamp (Westerkamp, 2001) as outlined in section 1.3.

Soundwalk

A soundwalk was recorded in both rural and city environments and recordings made in coastal locations were also used (see 2.2.4). After listening participants were asked to write down the sounds they could hear, thinking about the location and how close or far away they appeared. In the final tests this was used at the start of each workshop and was a popular exercise.

Ear cleaning exercise

A commonly used ear cleaning exercise is to ask participants to listen to the sounds around them, then to listen with earplugs in and finally listen to the room again (Sounds like Staten island, 2009). For the HL project students were asked to sit quietly, close their eyes and listen to what they could hear for 2 minutes. They then put their fingers in their ears for 1 minute and listened, following that they listened with just their eyes closed again for another 30 seconds. This aimed to change their perspective, so the listening became internalised. Removing the fingers from the ears then has the effect of making the external sounds seem clearer and a little more vibrant. Variations of this exercise were used in both workshops before the second and third listenings.

It is unrealistic to expect listeners to develop heightened skills comparable to the blind (which have been learnt over many years) from taking part in a workshop. The aim of such exercises is to reconnect participants with their sonic environment in the hope that this will provide a means of access to sound based music. It was intended, as with ‘Action Learning’ (influenced by Action Research), that students would benefit from the learning and that it would have a practical use in their everyday lives (Regelski, 1992:111).