RESEARCH FOUNDATIONS
6 Research: An Expert Panel
Kathleen DeLaurenti
Each of our expert panelists shared the way they define research with us. One thing that’s consistent with musician-scholars is acknowledgment that research requires building and access to knowledge systems to understand or construct new knowledge. They also view this as a core part of their musical lives.
“Research is a system in which to find the deepest, truest facts and information of a particular subject. It’s an exploration to get to a deeper core, which of course really ties into the core of music and the value of what music is.” Jonathon Heyward
“Research is studying anything that’s unknown to you and potentially finding something that is also unknown to others as well. You’re starting with this kind of question of wanting to know about something that you don’t know about. You’re starting to read and listen and explore various resources about that, and continuing to read and find out all that there is to know. Perhaps then stumbling onto a gap in the kind of general knowledge base and being able to uncover new information about a particular subject.” Paula Maust
“The artistic research I do is diligent. It’s usually systematic research and something I’m interested in, something I’m curious about. There’s a lot more self-motivation involved in my artistic research as opposed to maybe research I might do for a journalistic story.” Kyoko Kitamura
“Research is intentional inquiry to make meaning. In the classroom, I feel like I’m doing research all the time. I’m often with students who I haven’t met before, so I have to get to know them. I have to do research about them and their interests. I’m always asking questions. I’m always probing, I’m always trying to learn about them so that the experience that we’re making together is relevant and interesting to them. So that’s kind of a microcosm sort of research that applies to me. But also, of course, research really impacts my work in the big study kind of way—really looking at how we know it’s effective in teaching, how we know it’s effective in the arts in terms of impact. Research is both mini-inquiries into people in the moment but also very broad studies into the bigger picture of the work that I do.” Christina Farrell
“Research is a process of seeking to better understand something about the world through asking questions, gathering information, critically and examining materials and information, analyzing data, and then sharing those results and coming up with new ideas as a result of that process.” Lauron Kehrer
Dr. Suzanne Kite acknowledges the different lenses in her definition of research and the different modes of research that exist in different cultural contexts.
“I think I have a unique perspective on this. It’s different than other kind of academic researchers. My view of research is as a toolkit of inquiry for any medium or mode of learning. To me, research is just a term in a larger toolkit of ways we make new