Department of Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being. 2013 Aug 7;8:20611. doi: 10.3402/qhw.v8i0.20611.
This article considers the question of how to produce ecologically valid assessments of music's role as a health technology. To address this question, I consider critically some of the standard quantitative instruments used to assess well-being and quality of life. I suggest that these instruments do not lend themselves well to the production of ecologically valid assessments and understandings for two reasons: (1) the process of data elicitation is removed from everyday meanings and practices and therefore risks producing data that is an artifact of the situation in which it is elicited (2) standard, quantitative instruments are not neutral but are rather discursive texts that are inevitably imbued with a politics of expertise and an image of the health care client. For these reasons, I suggest that we consider the question of how to develop ecologically valid, client-centered assessment measures. To that end, I introduce a third critique of the standard quantitative instruments, namely that they are associated with, and promote, an ontology of wellness/illness that downplays the temporally variable and situationally emergent nature of both wellness/illness and musical interventions themselves. As an alternative mode of assessment, I suggest that we reconsider the value of singular case studies and I describe a set of principles that can assist researchers to produce ecologically valid assessments. To this end I introduce the concept of the musical event as a more ecologically valid means for illuminating the specific mechanisms by which music aids well-being. I suggest that the case study approach is temporally sensitive, that it lends itself to an emergent ontology of wellness/illness, and that it is client-centered (and can also be user-led).
这篇文章探讨了如何对音乐作为一种健康技术的作用进行生态有效评估的问题。为了解决这个问题，我批判性地考虑了一些用于评估幸福感和生活质量的标准定量工具。我认为这些工具不适合进行生态有效评估和理解，原因有二：（1）数据收集的过程脱离了日常生活的意义和实践，因此有风险产生出受数据收集环境影响的结果；（2）标准的定量工具并非中立，而是具有特定论述的文本，不可避免地体现了专业知识的政治立场和医疗客户的形象。出于这些原因，我建议我们考虑如何开发具有生态有效性和以客户为中心的评估措施。为此，我对标准定量工具提出了第三个批评，即它们与强调健康/疾病的本体论有关，这种本体论淡化了健康/疾病以及音乐干预本身的时间变化和情境涌现性质。作为一种替代的评估模式，我建议我们重新考虑单一案例研究的价值，并描述了一套原则，可以帮助研究人员进行生态有效评估。为此，我引入了音乐事件的概念，作为一种更具生态有效性的方法，可以阐明音乐促进幸福感的具体机制。我认为案例研究方法具有时间敏感性，它适合于健康/疾病的涌现本体论，并且以客户为中心（也可以以用户为导向）。
