Discourse analysis reframes oncologic music therapy research findings

Abstract

Constructivism informed an investigation into music therapy's relevance in a cancer hospital, that is, what did the music therapy do and did it help? Thematic findings, emergent from separate group data analyses (representing patients, visitors, staff, and a researcher's reflections), were contrasted and compared. While some perceptions about music therapy's relevance were shared, discrepancies were also evident. A discourse analysis provides a framework for examining how social reality is produced, acknowledging how multiple meanings can emerge through disparate dialogues informing individual life histories. A discourse analysis on this music therapy research extended the researchers' refle..