Choice of method

Area of investigation and focus of research must determine which method to use; in other words, what tool we use should depend on the task we wish to perform. I have already chosen human experiences as the area of investigation, and I have selected a version of the research interview to learn something new about what music therapy can be for service users within compulsory mental healthcare. The outline of these paragraphs is an attempt to explore the research tool in relation to the task it is meant to perform,

and to describe my thoughts on this matter. Let us now see if we can tighten the wrench a little bit, and find out whether this method seems to be suitable for the given task.

5.1.1 The researcher as a truth-seeker and a truth-constructionist

The concept of truth is dependently related to our understanding of knowledge and to our view on being in the world. The history of science shows that different views on knowledge affect the research (Thornquist, 2003). Methods used, language used to present findings, and objects of research are subjects of the researcher’s understanding of knowledge. And vice versa: The researchers’ choices can indirectly tell us a great deal about their view on important fields, their favourite area of investigation, the research traditions they are part of, and what methods they believe will give adequate answers to their research questions.

As we have seen, most postmodernist perspectives go quite far when it comes to under-standing truth and knowledge as something constructed by the researcher and academic circles, and as a researcher with a postmodernism-informed critical perspective I partly follow these ideas (Alvesson, 2002). Also, I agree with Foucault (2002) when he stresses that new knowledge always builds on previous thoughts, and follows certain rules within specific discourses. The constructionist approach, and the view on knowledge as local and temporary, can be criticized for not fitting entirely with the empirical investigation of people’s experiences through interviews and thematic analyses. I will in the following try to explain why I find the constructionist approach compatible with this research.

5.1.2 Research on human beings

The objective of researching human nature calls for ontological reflexivity. Our under-standing of human nature is determining for what we think we can know about the human being. Scientists throughout the last few centuries have developed methods to investigate and analyse the laws of nature through controlled trials. This is, some would say, the proper approach to seeking knowledge about the world. This knowledge may help us predict the world, and interact with it, in a better way. The 19^th century’s thinker Auguste Comte wanted to implement scientific laws and predictions to the field of human nature (Thornquist, 2003). The new sociology would execute controlled trials, so that empirical data would give us information about human behaviour. Also behaviourist psychologists have, to some extent, tried to predict and cause human acts by exposing them to different stimuli (Teigen, 2004).

This sort of prediction of human agency could be handy for the field of healthcare, and for several other academic disciplines. If we could forecast acts of crime, addictiveness,

or harmful behaviours in general, based on predictable factors, then we could intervene in advance of the occurring emergencies. Thus, the empirical research would soon pay off through the saving of both lives and money. I believe though, that human beings are not that easy to predict. I therefore find it useful to investigate the experiences from music therapy participation for some service users. Even though this knowledge cannot be generalized into a common law of about experiences from music therapy, I believe that the acquired knowledge may still be relevant for someone.

5.1.3 Research on human experiences

In this very study the aim of the empirical investigation is directed towards participant experiences of music therapy, as a voluntary based part of compulsory treatment in mental healthcare. It follows then, that an interpretation of experiences needs to be defined.

As mentioned earlier, not everything that goes on within the person’s mind is necessarily part of the conscious experience. We might argue that all we know and experience is dependant on a body through which we participate in the world (Merlau-Ponty, 2007), yet there are limitations for what can be transferred verbally. As the philosopher Michael Polanyi (2000) puts it: ‘we can know more than we can tell’ (p. 18). In chapter two of this thesis we also briefly addressed the discoursive works of Gary Ansdell (1999) in which he points out the challenge of describing music therapy practices with words.

There is bound to exist a gap between what is performed and what is described. In the initial phase of this research project I planned to perform each of the interviews directly after a music therapy session. In this way, the participants’ accounts about music therapy experiences might at least get closer to the experience of the music therapy participation (Stensæth & Næss, 2013). Due to practical implications, however, only one out of seven interviews was actually performed in the wake of a music therapy session. Hence, user experiences need to be understood as something broader than the real time experience of music therapy activities; rather, we have to do with hindsight considerations and explanations about important aspects of the music therapy sessions.

Based on previous literature on user experiences from music therapy within mental healthcare (Ansdell & Meehan, 2010; Solli & Rolvsjord, 2014), it seems that user experi-ences include the perception of the client-therapist relationships, feelings of being met, and thoughts about music therapy as something that facilitates for a sense of freedom, and positive occupation of the time spent within mental healthcare. For this study as well, the interview guide targets themes that refer more to the research participants’ thoughts about music therapy and music therapy participation (see appendix 1). Experiences

then, include notions about the importance of music therapy, motivating elements in music therapy, and the potential in music therapy for helping people.

Regarding the postmodern perspective on knowledge and meaning production, I argue that I also believe that experienced meaning is affected by language (Alvesson, 2002). I believe that expressed meaning may influence the experience retrospectively, at least over time. How people experience hospital environments and the use of compulsory treat-ment is partly constructed through the ruling discourses in the culture; the discourses differ between communities and within institutions, thus the experience of the situation will differ as well. Knowledge is local and temporal, and so is experienced meaning, as this is also constructed and understood within particular discourses (Foucault, 2002).

When I choose to interview participants about their experiences, the answers cannot simply represent copies of their innermost feelings and thoughts. Rather, the intention is to offer participants ways to form their own story of the experiences. I support Kvale

& Brinkmann (2010) when they argue that the interview intervention functions as a construction site for knowledge.

Summing up, the user experiences that I speak of in this study must be understood widely; these experiences include thoughts, ideas, and reflections about music therapy participation, and about their relationships with music in general. In addition, some of the reflections that are expressed need to be understood as retrospective elaborations that follows from the interview situation itself. This being said, every user experience is useful in order to understand music therapy within compulsory mental healthcare, regardless of the construction of the expressed statement.