A Modular Tool for Music Research to Assess Musicianship, Musical Capacity, Music Preferences, and Motivations for Music Use
Music engagement is complex and is influenced by music training, capacity, preferences, and motivations. A multi-modular self-report instrument (the Music Use and Background Questionnaire, or MUSEBAQ) was developed to measure a diverse set of music engagement constructs. Based on earlier work, a hybrid approach of exploratory and confirmatory analyses was conducted across a series of three independent studies to establish reliability and validity of the modular tool. Module 1 (Musicianship) provides a brief assessment of formal and informal music knowledge and practice. Module 2 (Musical capacity) measures emotional sensitivity to music, listening sophistication, music memory and imagery, and personal commitment to music. Module 3 (Music preferences) captures preferences from six broad genres and utilizes adaptive reasoning to selectively expand subgenres when administered online. Module 4 (Motivations for music use) assesses musical transcendence, emotion regulation, social, and musical identity and expression. The MUSEBAQ offers researchers and practitioners a comprehensive, modular instrument that can be used in whole, or by module as required to capture an individual’s level of engagement with music and to serve as a background questionnaire to measure and interpret the effects of dispositional differences in emotional reactions to music.
Chin, T.-C., Coutinho, E., Scherer, K. R., & Rickard, N. (2018) MUSEBAQ: A Modular Tool for Music Research to Assess Musicianship, Musical Capacity, Music Preferences, and Motivations for Music Use, Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 35 (3), 376-399. DOI: 10.1525/mp.2018.35.3.376.