Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Education

Major

Teaching-Learning Processes

Date of Defense

5-16-2013

Graduate Advisor

Kathleen Haywood, PhD

Committee

Fred Willman

John Hylton

Carole Murphy

Abstract

Music is universally acknowledged as a vehicle for bonding with family and friends and as a badge of identity. Children come to develop preferences for certain genres of music. This study addressed whether or not the musical preferences of fourth grade students’ could be predicted by their parents’ musical preferences, their home environment, and the technology available to them for music listening. A 23-question online survey with open-ended and closed-ended questions was given to 43 pairs of students and parents. The survey asked about the home environment and availability of technology related to playing instruments or listening to music. It also provided identical listening segments of different genres to which the children and the parents responded. Multiple regression was employed but revealed that none of seven independent variables formed from survey items predicted children’s musical preferences. It is possible that the current availability of music sources, many of which can allow children to choose music for listening, minimizes the influence of parents and the home environment on later preferences. A replication of this study with changes in some of the methodology employed could provide further information about this hypothesis.

OCLC Number

852698788

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