Week 1 – Clearer Goal Setting

Allison Y -

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! Today I want to provide a few updates on my research. 

First, I’ve gained better clarity on what I want to research and how. In my last blog, I mentioned how I was uncertain of what route to take. Now, after talking with Mr. Stewart and Professor Mommaerts, I’ve decided to take the path of researching the effect of music on the general population, specifically college students. 

So what is my project on now?

My project’s goal is to explore the impact of music on the mental health and well-being among college students. Currently, there is a mental health crisis among young adults; from doom-scrolling on social media apps to dealing with difficult family situations, young adults, 18-24 years of age, are feeling depressed and hopeless (Kindelan, 2023). In 2024, 23% of US adults have experienced a mental illness in the past year, which is equivalent to 60 million people (Reinert, 2024). In America, 42.5 million adults have an anxiety disorder; 46.5 million adults have a substance abuse disorder; 3.3 million adults have bipolar disorder; and 22.5 million adults with major depression (Mental Health America, 2022). This transition between adolescence and adulthood can be hard to adapt to, affecting one’s mental health and well-being. One way to help cope with this new phase in life is through music. In this generation with popular and accessible music streaming apps like Spotify, music is all around us, especially in young adults. Music can be an outlet of expression, allowing us to express and heal our emotions. From this, I hope to understand the impact of music on college student’s lives: how does music affect, both positively and negatively, a college student’s academic experience? How does music improve a student’s mental health and well-being in college? Overall, mental health is a very important issue to look at as it has major implications for people’s well-being in general, and I hope this study can demonstrate the power of music.

Next Steps

Now, with a clearer goal and path in mind, I need to start working on my survey while I wait to hear back from my IRB submission. I’ve already started the survey, drafting the background/demographic questions, but haven’t dug into the mental health and music questions yet. I plan to work on these questions with Professor Mommaerts this week. 

Thank you for reading and see you all next week with more updates!

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Comments:

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    anagha_n
    Hi Allison! Exploring the effects of music on college students' mental health is a very interesting topic. For the survey, are you planning to survey college students from different majors and colleges. Additionally, are you going to be looking at the effect that different genres of music have or are you just looking at the effect of music in general.
    February 13, 2025 at 6:52 pm - Reply
    sandhya_s
    Hi Allison! I'm glad you were able to gain more clarity on your research. For your study, will you differentiate between how active music engagement (singing, playing an instrument) and passive listening affects mental health? Or is your focus on music as a whole?
    February 14, 2025 at 1:48 pm - Reply
    allison_y
    Hello Anagha! Thank you for your interest in my project! For the survey, I'm leaning towards surveying college students in Arizona, specifically at NAU where my professor works, to keep the research more specific, but, I have yet to make a final decision about it. As for the different majors, I don't think I'll be asking that question since it won't be relevant/necessary in my project to know what a student studies in relation with my research question. In the end, I am researching on the overall effect of music in general on any college student, age 18-24.
    February 14, 2025 at 9:01 pm - Reply
    allison_y
    Hello Sandy! Thank you for the message! I am researching music as a whole and am currently working on the survey questions. Even though my research is broad, I do plan to break it down like asking students what manner/way do they engage in music (active or passive) and analyzing how that manner effects their well-being/mental health.
    February 14, 2025 at 9:18 pm - Reply

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