Framework and Taxonomy Working Group
Problems with shared language and terminology present challenges to how we describe and explicate the elements or components of music and music-based interventions (MBIs) under investigation. This severely limits the ability to isolate characteristics of music and music-based interventions responsible for modulating pain perception.
Developing a clear taxonomy is an essential initial step to bring clarity and unified understanding across disciplines and researchers as they engage in multidisciplinary research efforts.
To address these limitations, a Framework and Taxonomy Working Group was formed with members of the four music research networks. This working group is currently developing a Music and MBIs Taxonomy Framework that will include primary components (and corresponding subcomponents) of music and MBIs that investigators may want to consider when designing mechanistic research studies. The rationale for creating the framework is grounded in two observations. First, essential to mechanistic research is the selection and explication of music elements or MBI components under investigation. Second, music and MBI research studies are conducted by clinicians and research scientists from diverse fields such as music psychology, music therapy, neuroscience, nursing, sociology, population health, and medicine. This creates differences in how music and MBI studies are conceptualized and the terms used to describe the music condition under investigation. The intent is to provide a common structure, shared terminology, and definitions to ground the research and facilitate more nuanced descriptions of music and MBI conditions under investigation.
