Population Served and Researcher Institutional Affiliation of Research Posters at American Music Therapy Association National Conferences, 1992–2006

ABSTRACT: The purposes ot this paper were to determine the population served and institutional affiliation of the researcher of research posters presented at the national music therapy conferences from 1992-2006. The author attained national music therapy conference programs and categorized population served and researcher institutional affiliation from the research poster session section in the conference program. Descriptive results indicated that studies involving perception and cognition, medical populations, and music therapy students and professionals, respectively, were most frequently presented. Independent clinicians/scholars have been active participants at each year's research poster session and constitute the largest group of presenters. In addition, a total of 67 universities within the United States have presented research during the last 15 years. The Florida State University and the University of Kansas, respectively, have been the most active academic institutions presenting at the research poster sessions. Suggestions for future research and implications for clinical practice are included. In 1984, Yarbrough wrote "From time to time, it would seem appropriate to reflect on our past accomplishments in order to gain perspective and to establish goals for the future" (p. 213). Over 20 years later, her statement still holds true. Research conducted upon existing music research can lead to greater insights about the progress of the field and where improvements could be made to strengthen the literature base. Thus far, these types of music studies have identified motivation and rewards for scholarly activity (LeBlanc & McCrary, 1990), research topics and variables (Sample, 1992; Sidnell, 1972), the mode of inquiry in music therapy research (Jellison, 1973), organization of research topics (Yarbrough, 1984), journal content (Hedden, 1993; James, 1985), case studies used in music therapy journals (Silverman, 2006) and the use of behavioral research designs (Gregory, 2002), test instruments (Gregory, 2000), and control groups (Jones, 2006) in the Journal of Music Therapy. Descriptive research methods have provided insight into a plethora of research activities and productivity. A noteworthy descriptive research study was conducted on music education and therapy scholars, their affiliated institutions, and their citation rates from the three premiere research journals in music education and music therapy (Journal of Research in Music Education, Council for Research in Music Education, and Journal of Music Therapy) (Standley, 1984). This study was valuable in that it objectively quantified articles from inception of the journals to 1982 and identified Florida State University and the University of Kansas as the two most productive music research institutions. A follow-up study quantified articles published during the 10 year period following Standley's study and, to determine retrievability due to technological advancements, classified productive authors' research by specialists outside the field (Brittin & Standley, 1997). A related study noted Florida State University and the University of Kansas were the two universities most authors were affiliated with in the Journal of Music Therapy from 1964-1983 Games, 1985). Other studies have examined the institutional affiliation and terminal degree of manuscripts published specifically in the Journal of Research in Music Education from 1990 to 2005 (Grashel, 2007). Results from that study indicated Florida State University and Indiana University, respectively, were the institutions most frequently granting terminal degrees of the authors publishing in the Journal of Research in Music Education. Professional conferences can be a forum for organizations to support, educate, and provide opportunities for collegiality between members. However, conferences themselves have typically received little study. Jacobs and McFarlane (2005) noted that research on conferences is under-developed and suggested "developing a theoretically informed understanding of conference practice" (p. …