What Is the Music Taste of the University of East London - Case Study Example

? BUSINESS RESEARCH and Business Research Introduction This paper entails a small scale research done to determine the taste of music of students from the University of East London. The paper will also outline the factors that determine the tastes and preferences of the students. The small scale research will entail collection of data through the use of various collection methods as determined by the researcher. Analysis of the data will be done, and major findings outlined regarding the study. Findings will be shown in both qualitative and quantitative data acquired from the collection methods. The paper will be inclusive of various presentation slides that will summarize the findings and the methods employed in coming up with those findings. Finally, the paper will discuss the ethical considerations in the research and limitations and recommendations for further studies to be done to verify data for the next years. Research Questions The study will first outline the background of arriving at the research question formulated. The study will attempt to answer the following questions: What is the music taste of the University of East London? What factors determine those tastes? Hypothesis Different musical tastes are observed in a university environment as a result of different mix of culture and gender (Bryman 2007). Methodology For there to be accuracy in this study, there was a need to hear out the views of various individuals regarding their taste in music genres. The assumption, as stipulated in the hypothesis was that all the students had different types of music genre they listen. The researcher conducted a small scale investigation due to the limitations and constraints created by time (Collis and Hussey 2009). A British study conducted by Bourdieu retrieved both qualitative and quantitative information hence provided a base for future research, this one included. In order to add to these findings, this study will include interviews from groups of students from the universities, ranging from different points of views (Munn and Drever 2004). Focus was put into three groups. These include undergraduates and the post graduates and staffs of the university. There three groups would be represented by about five individuals. The five individual comprised of two females and three males. The groups comprised of at least three different races. The aim here is also to analyze if the factors relating to race, social class and gender influenced the tastes of music. The age group interviewed ranged from 18-35. Questionnaires were distributed to various groups formed as a result of sampling (Srivastava 2011). This method of collecting data was approved since it gave the respondents the confidentiality they asked for in answering the questions. Three groups were targeted. The questionnaire was formulated in such a way that the respondents described the type of music genres they were interested. The questionnaire also contained a description part where they would describe what drives them to love certain types of music appendices (Knight 2002). Sampling The researcher adopted the snowball sampling in order to be able to convince unknown people to participate in the study. According to Bryman (2008), snowball sampling entails the researcher making contacts with a given group of people he or she describes or finds to be relevant to the subject study. The researcher then uses these groups to establish or reach other individuals. I used some of the students I was sharing classes with to reach other. I also approached some of the lecturer I dealt with to establish contacts with others. Some of the students introduced me to the staff where I gathered a number of them who said their views or opinions (Collis and Hussey 2009). Results The music type that was highly rated included techno, rock and pop. Most of the females in the university advocated for rock and pop and blues while most males went for techno, rock and hip hop. Most of the males also favored Christian rock while most of the females advocated for blues and disliked techno. This brings the issue of gender as a major factor that influences the genre of music. The highest population was made of the teenagers and college students. The music tastes that can be advocated for this university include classical rock, Christian rock, blues, jazz, techno and pop. The table above has summarized the results that were obtained from the study undertaken regarding the music genre was the population of university of east London listened. It is evident from the table that jazz was listened by the entire making it more popular than all the other genres. This study's limitation is that the students were categorized as overall (Kothari 2004). Findings Analysis of the Music Taste The University of East London, which received the charter to become a university in the year 1992, accommodates a lot of students both from the continent and the Diaspora. According to the research done on the university, about 23,000 students from the university were from abroad or other countries in the Diaspora. According to Hennion (2007), the tastes of music are comparable to climbing rocks or other hobbies every individual would like to perceive as the best for him or her. According to Ferne (2009), various categories of musical tastes exist. Individuals listen to the music genres depending on their circumstances relating to their life schedules, for instance when sad, happy, busy amongst others. The music genres include jazz, pop, disco, country, rock, classical, hip-hop, rock and blues amongst others. A number of these have been identified in the University of East London students. This was done practically through playing music and observing the general reactions of the groups. Some of the genres recognized include the rock and blues, jazz, techno and pop and rock music. Most students admitted that rock music was their favorite genre as evidenced by the albums they bought or owned. The age group ranging from 27-35 mostly made of lecturers and staff preferred jazz and some pop music. Some of the students however depicted dislike for particular music genres claiming different stories relating to the dislike. One of the students disliked the popular rock music terming it silly to listen to popular music alone. Savage (2009) argued that a more accurate way of analyzing the music tastes of various individuals is through analyzing the dislikes and avoidance. This supported the findings that each individual had something extra to add regarding the genre of music they prefer. Some of the students also preferred songs from Don Moen, terming them inspirational music. The taste was widespread to many who thought the moods influenced the music they wanted to listen. Findings on Factors Influencing Music Tastes Having analyzed the music tastes, the study also reviewed on the factors that influenced the music taste each individual had. Social Classes Extensive research relating to the aspect of culture with reference to the music tastes was done (Dunning 2013). Social classes differences are major determinants of the type of music students listen to according to the Bourdieu theory, differences exist between the music tastes of individuals and their social classes. The middle and the upper classes have different culture when compared to the working classes. Participants that represented the upper or middle class mostly the university students were found to lie in the category of the highbrow music, that is, rock, hip hop and pop. This was contrary to the working class who disliked this and opted for classical music including jazz (Dunning 2013). This study supported the theory that advocated for the difference in the music taste due to the social classes. The practical carried out included giving the respondents a description part to describe some of their favorite music and describing the artists and the genre. The working classes who comprised of lectures and the staffs were found to write much about classical music. The upper class, also called the middle class had a broad knowledge regarding the rock music and hip hop genre. Sociology studies done in British indicate that most of the teenagers who are working had their music taste lying on the rock and roll genre (Dunning 2013). Gender According to previous studies undertaken in Britain, gender roles were observed when music was played. The boys were found to be confident in public performances while the females were found to be privately constrained (Hennion 2007). The females were found to be attracted to those songs that were romantic and were a candidate for courtship. Their tastes were more inclined to personal music. The males on the contrary were found top be more overt and liking the sexually expressive songs. They were attracted to the harsh songs described as rough, for instance the rock and hip hop music. When the studies were carried with the undergraduate as the objects of study, it was found that the makes preferred the hard rock while the females viewed those songs as the dumping ground music. However, there were certain types of music that were shared by both males and females. In some other cases, there were no great differences that were observed between males and females with reference to the type of music they preferred. Assumption was made based on the majority (Hennion 2007). Moods Ferne (2009) describes the basis of the taste of music as the mood individual bears at that time. This can be explained by movements in genres that happen over periods of times as one listens to other music. This is also explained by the changing of music in a player to suit the one in your mind. She describes and pin points various types or genres of music that suit various categories of moods. According to Ferne, moods range from boredom, busy, happiness, sadness, hyper active to relaxing moods. She describes that when one is happy, the likely type of music that he or she is likely to listen to is jazz, pop, disco, deep house or techno and jazz funk. When one is bored, the kind of music to listen is classical music ranging from the Beethoven orchestra to normal jazz. When one is hyper active, for instance dancing or clubbing or partying, the music genre they are going to listen to is techno or deep house, rock and disco music. When one is sad, or is in a melancholy mood, blues pop or country music will do. Relaxing mood also goes with county, classical and jazz funk. When one is busy, pop or deep house will do. The mental state of an individual determines in a wide range the type of music genre he or she is going to listen. The moods drive one to like partying songs or loud music or soft music (Ferne 2009). Dancers Dancers tend to have very different unpredictable behavior toward the taste of music. This is because their tasted will be driven by the dancing mood in them. However it is also argued that it is the music that drives the dance. According to Fogarty (2010) many dancers will attribute their types to the various dancing styles they know. For instance, a dancer will love the sing he or she can dance comfortably. Popular dances, which are different from the theatrical dances, will require completely different music styles. Most dancers will go for techno, pop and hip hop genre. Few dancers are likely to like the blues or jazz. Their music taste is directed to the hyperactivity mood in them to dance or express body movements relating to the songs. Partying therefore requires songs that are faster with reasonable beats; hence most of their tastes will be naturally directed to techno and other related music genre (Fogarty 2010). According to many dancers studied, the social groups formed are centered in the musical tastes agreed. Dancing has also evolved from the past times to now, just like music has evolved. Dancers in the 20th century will most likely find it hard to dance to the moves of the 21st century. Most dancers however do not like attributing specific music to particular dancing styles. The musical taste of every dancer will inform and define their dancing practice. Dancers view tastes as activities and not an attribute or a property (Hennion 2007). According to Shapiro and Kauffmann (2006), the musical tastes of dancers transform with their dance practice. It also transforms with culture as music migrates from one culture to the other. Age Group This is described as the factor that contributes most in individuals music tastes. This study was carried out in the university where it is assumed that at least every age group is represented, that is from teens to old men. This is the factor that described the popularity of certain categories of music in the university. For instance, the most preferred music, according to the study done is techno, rock, pop, jazz, rock and blues. That represents the types of music genre that will be liked in every institution comprising of age group ranging from 18-30 as the highest population. At least every age group is represented I the music tastes they bear. For instance, the age group ranging from 40-50 will be comfortable with the soft music. Classical music and jazz would make their day. That is slightly the same with those of higher age group like the 60s, 70s and above. The age group that is described s the middle class will go with loud, partying music. This is attributed to the hyperactivity their bodied depict (Hennion 2007). Limitations This study was carried in the University of East London and failed to incorporate the factor of cultural diversity. The study also categorized the population of university generally. For instance, there could be lectures and staffs who belonged to the age group of 25-30 and students belonging to an older age group. The study therefore was based on the assumption that every individual in a given age group had the same taste as the rest. This calls for further research to be done to cater for that age group that is more specific. Also, a further research should incorporate other cultures and not British students only (Denscombe 2010). Conclusion This represents a small scale research that was done in the University of East London (UEL). This study has outlined the music tastes of students from the University of East London. This was done through involving the students in coming up with the results. The document has articulated the most popular genre in the university as jazz, techno and rock. The paper has also analyzed the results of the study. The findings of the study comprise of the factors that influence the choice of the tastes. This paper has outlined all the factors that influence such tastes. Bibliography Bryman, A, 2007. Business Research Methods. London: Oxford University Press. Bryman, A, 2008. "Of methods and methodology", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 3: 159 – 168. Print. Collis and Hussey 2009. Business Research: A Practical Guide for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Denscombe, M, 2010. The Good Research Guide: For Small-scale Social Research Projects. England: McGraw-Hill Education. Dunning, A, 2013. 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