When people say the word “research”, the scenarios that usually come to mind involves white lab coats with chemicals or elaborate equipments to test out theories or perhaps modeling large amounts of data with differential equations. The idea, then, of conducting an ethnomusicological research seems a far cry from my preconceived notions of a reasonable research topic. After all, what are my observations (or anyone else’s for that matter) worth when I can’t rigorously quantify the results or draw correlations? It doesn’t help either that the other liberal arts classes I had taken was primarily focused on memorizing facts or even memorizing interpretations that are established within the educated community. With these thoughts, ethnomusicological research seems merely like a fashionable term to throw around, a buzz word to make the liberal arts seem more scientific.
This view was radically changed – broadened – with this opportunity to conduct undergraduate research.
Initially, I was surprised by how much conducting ethnographical research followed the scientific process. I was expected to iterate my expectations of the events that I were to attend and possible biases I had as a hypothesis. Class lectures provided the foundations needed as a background research. Minute details were observed and noted during events like they would in a controlled experiment. And later on, these details were analyzed to form a conclusion relating general, broad areas of interest such as gender, commercialism, and diaspora.
There definitely is a difference between what I originally perceived as ‘traditional’ research and research conducted in a social context, but this difference does not make the latter any less scientific. In a sense, they are like the two ends of a penny, but a penny nonetheless. The sciences – physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics – conduct research for a futuristic goal. The idea is to have better technology and medicine, to create more commodities for more comfortable lifestyles, and to understand the unknown. In contrast, ethnomusicology and other social studies seek to understand the past and present in a context much more pertinent to us as the study subjects are human beings. They vocalize the nuances in our everyday lives – the things that come so naturally for us that we take them for granted. They attempt to explain the often times contradicting and convoluted social relations and activities. They document us as a species to illustrate how we have grown and changed. Without them, we would be left bereft of a past.
I am very thankful for having this opportunity to conduct undergraduate research as it has greatly enriched my education. Not only has it broadened my understanding of what research entails, it has given me first-hand experience in conducting research in an unfamiliar context to me. The experience taught me to observe even the diminutive details, to connect the dots between these details to form a conclusion, and then to relate the conclusion I made in a broader context in an articulate manner that properly conveys my interpretations. These analytical skills are all indispensable whether to a researcher or any other profession.
