Barbara L. Wheeler (Ed) (2005). Music Therapy Research. Second Edition. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers. 586 pages. ISBN 1-891278-26-6. Hardback: $72

Abstract

Barbara L. Wheeler (Ed) (2005). Music Therapy Research. Second Edition. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers. 586 pages. ISBN 1-891278-26-6. Hardback: $72. imagine that, like me, when many people learn of second edition of that they already have, they think to themselves I already own this book, so what is the point in buying another copy? Well, in the case of Music Therapy Research edited by Barbara Wheeler, there are certainly many compelling reasons. While it is marketed as the second edition of the 1 995 publication Music Therapy Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives, it is really completely different text - in size and content. At first glance, you can see that it is very different book. In contrast to the earlier smaller page size paperback version, the second edition is an 8% × 11 hardcover that is black with silver lettering. The second edition is divided into five parts rather than four, with only Part retaining its original title. And the second edition has 41 chapters, 17 than the first edition. Not only are there chapters, but only 13 of the original chapters remain in the second edition and most of these have been revised substantially. Part One is entitled Music Therapy Research: Overview and Issues. Wheeler states that this section provides a brief overview of therapy research . . . [and] can be read alone, using the overviews of quantitative and qualitative research rather than the detailed coverage included in the remainder of the book (p. xi). The first chapter, Introduction: Overview of Music Therapy Research, is thoroughly updated from the first edition. In this chapter, Wheeler defines therapy research, describes how it has grown and changed over the years, examines the distinctions and reciprocal relationships between research, theory, and practice, and broadly classifies types of research. Her chapter, as does the entire book, reveals the diversity in therapy research. In the second chapter, Developments and Issues in Music Therapy Research, which is entirely new material, Edwards provides an overview of the rich and varied history of music therapy research since the establishment of the first therapy peer-reviewed journal in 1964 (p. 20). She chronicles the peer reviewed/refereed journals in therapy that are published in English and that are continuing to be published. Edwards also raises issues about who is conducting and disseminating therapy research, discusses issues concerning research training, and highlights some of the characteristics and achievements, trends and opportunities, of research in therapy. In chapter three, Philosophy and Theory of Science, also an entirely new chapter, Ruud provides brief overview of different philosophies of that inform research decisions. For each philosophy covered (positivism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, critical theory, systems theories, semiotics and structuralism, and postmodern currents), he provides brief historical background, epistemologica! issues (that is, what is possible to know), critical issues (criticisms of the approach), and its relevance to therapy. With so much to be covered in such chapter, Ruud provides brief overview and encourages the reader to explore more extensive introductory texts as well as to extensive literature within the different philosophies of science (p. 43). He states: What we can learn from the study of the theory of is to be critical, aware, and reflexive concerning our own theorizing and understanding of our work (p. 43). He warns against the temptation to treat his overview as way to obtain a method that is precise and easy to administer - short route to truth (p. 43)! Chapters four (by Prickett) and five (by Wheeler and Kenny) outline the principles of quantitative and qualitative research respectively and provide taste for parts three and four that provide much detail on these perspectives. …