Share your thoughts about music; help my Ph.D. Dissertation
 

Hello fellow music fans,

In addition to being an avid music fan I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Texas – Pan American. My dissertation is focused on music fans; I would love your help with taking a short survey… AND each completed survey taker will be entered into a drawing for a new iPad.

The survey should only take about 5 minutes, and you’re welcome to pass it along to as many people as you’d like. The only requirement is that the survey-taker must be 18 years or older.

https://edu.surveygizmo.com/s3/11356...ic-Perceptions

Thank you!
Paul Barretta / The University of Texas – Pan American

As a fellow graduate student, I wholeheartedly encourage people to help this dude out.

Plus his research topic sounds way cooler than mine.

Thanks Duga! and everyone who takes his advice :)

And thanks mods for being cool with my posting the survey, and making it sticky!

I took the survey.

Yes; it`s a very simple and painless process. Good luck with the research, Paul.

So did I. It only takes a few minutes :)

I think UTPA needs to look into subscribing to an HPR program, where social science undergrads are required to take grad students' surveys as part of their intro course grade. Just a thought. Would make things a lot easier.
Anywho, I'll take the survey as well.

Thanks Ki, Lisnaholic, Burning and Gunnels.
Gunnels... Our undergrads take our surveys quite often. In fact, they were the survey-takers for my pilot survey that led to this final version. The pilot survey had 75 questions!

The reason for NOT usign undergrads for this stage is that the sample should be as widespread as possible so that the results can be reflective of a larger population. If I were to use only UTPA undergrads, then I would have the limitation that the results reflect the perceptions of undergraduate college students in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. However, by gathering data from the entire world, I can make the claim that the results are representative of a larger population.

Thanks very much for your participation, and if you could pass it along that would also be appreciated.

- Paul

Not to throw a wrench in anything...but wouldn't asking us to help you out bias your results towards avid music listeners?

Most of us are pretty obsessive about music.

I was thinking this.

Plus, there's bias inherent in any voluntary survey, because some types of people may choose to fill it out over others.

Done.

Hi Duga,
Thanks for the comment... My research focuses on avid music consumers... which is why it was so important for me to get people like the music fans on this board. People who are obsessive about music are ideal participants :)

Thanks Plankton and Pedestrian. Pedestrian, yes your point is correct... though unavoidable and a limitation of any survey research. I'm also using qualitative research including participant observation to limit this.

I would worry that there is bias inherent in approaching any community of people for data; after all, there are a number of qualities which have drawn and held all of us to this particular website, which may not be specific to fans of music in general. I would caution that out community is likely not representative of music fans on the whole, and that you will want to seek a much greater sample of fans in order to balance your data out.

EDIT: Presumably as a researcher you are aware of the basics of statistics, but I am simply looking for clarification for my own interests in your survey. :)

Pedestrian, you make an excellent point, and it's related to external validity of the research. I am gathering data from many places and many types of music fans... from Robert Johnson to Justin Beiber; from people who discover music through recommendations of trusted friends to people who discover music through prime time television.

By gathering data from many places through many channels I strengthen the external validity of my study - meaning my sample will be representative of the music-listening population. I have no doubt that people who reach my survey through Music Banter will answer questions much differently than people who reach it from other music-related websites, or social media sites such as Facebook. This is why I don't look at any one answer individually. Instead, I will analyze the full data set that is made up of everyone's individual perceptions.

I am getting excellent response from Music Banter... yet like other places where people click in from it represents a small percentage of the complete data set. This is the point of doing a widespread survey. Each of us perceives music differently. The goal of a statistical analysis isn't just to see basic statistics, it is to measure how perceptions of various aspects of how we enjoy music interact with other related aspects of how we enjoy music. For you fellow stats nerds out there, I'm interested in the covariation that lives in my data set.

Also, keep in mind that my survey is one part of my dissertation research which focuses on music consumers, but keep in mind "consumer" doesn't mean "buyer" - I am interested in how people use/consume/listen to music in contemporary society. The survey is a result of qualitative research, theoretical framework, philosophical foundation, and a pilot survey used to clarify the items on the survey that is posted.

I hope that was more helpful than it was confusing. The bottom line is this... there are no right or wrong answers - we're all individuals who add equal benefit to the study.

Thank you.

Another "bottom line" of this is that by participating in the survey, each person is contributing his/her own thoughts about music. When Pedestrian writes "there are a number of qualities which have drawn and held all of us to this particular website, which may not be specific to fans of music in general" he is absolutely correct... these qualities are represented through the cumulative participation of Music Banter members.

Good to hear, and best of luck with your dissertation.

Thanks Pedestrian... I appreciate it a lot!

Gonna do it!

Thanks John!

This is a great forum to find a broad cross-section of music lovers respondents for your survey. A good number of us are geeks who spend way too much money on music.

Won't you have some validity issues with your survey because the respondents are self selected instead of chosen from a random sample?

Done. Noticed alot of similar questions on repeat, hope it helps.

Good point Gavin. Self-selection is always an issue with web-based surveys, however in my opinion it is outweighted by the geographic reach that can be accomplished. I am using snowball sampling methods (social media, forums, email campaigns, etc.) to reach people in as many places as possible. Currently, I have participation from 19 countries and 40 states in the U.S.

Different methods have different advantages and disadvantages -- ther is no perfect research design. Depending on the research questions that are being answered, one must determine the best design to answer those questions.

Thanks Fred, I appreciate it. Every entry helps a lot!

Okay, done. A few of the questions were a little hard to answer, as they were based around friends, and being solitary and also a homebased carer I really don't have a circle of friends I could relate that to, but I just filled it in as if I had (sad I know) --- most of my friends are here (even sadder, yes...)

Anyway good luck with it. Left the ipad thing blank as I wouldn't want one, not even for free.

Cheers
TH

Thanks TH. Some of my best friends are the ones I've never met.

Done mate, no problem. Nice thought-provoking survey. Hope you tell us about the statistics, it would be interesting here.

Thanks Rjinn, I appreciate it. I will definitely share some results when I get them. Also, I am keeping a list of people who want to be kept up to date with the results as I get them via email. Anyone who would like to be added to the list can pvt msg me and I will add their email address.

Thanks everyone,
- Paul

Done! Good luck!

As for the effectiveness of the sample, lets consult fun with statistics. I recently finished up my undergrad class and it was no fun. I hope you have the fancy computer prorgams to run the tests. Again, good luck!

Thanks Katsy! And yes, SPSS and AMOS are my two best friends :)

Thanks Gothmule!
By the way everyone, please feel free to share the link... I'd appreciate it :)

I don't think he'll be around long enough to do that

Yeah, I just noticed that after I posted :) :clap:

done!
Thank you for taking our survey. Your response is very important to us.

Thanks Gangamben! Much appreciated. Feel free to share with some other music-lovnig friends. The survey will probably be active for about 10 more days.
- Paul

Done! Good luck with your dissertation. :)

Thank you FunkDoktah... Much appreciated! Love your user name :)

Thanks Vlad! Much appreciated... and I'll do what I can :)

The folks at MusicBanter are indeed very kind to make my thread sticky. I hope it hasn't been offensive to anyone. The survey will be closing within days and I will be happy to inform the admins here. And of course, share some preliminary results!

Thank you all... from admins to users, both participating and not.

- Paul