This investigation sought to obtain responses from a heterogeneous sampling of students in choirs at 63 colleges and universities across the United States to a series of statements that reflected three categories of possible reasons for enrolling in a college-university choir regardless of any degree requirement. For this purpose, the present study adapted a choir participation survey designed for an investigation by Sichivista (2003) with a homogenous sample of college-university choral singers from the same institution, which found that social integration within a choir and experienced musical value best predicted college students’ intentions to continue participation in the future.
In addition to considering social aspects of choir membership (Social) and musical and aesthetic satisfaction (Musical/Aesthetic), a third category of statements reflecting behaviors and attitudes of choir conductors (Conductor) was incorporated for the present study. Results indicated significant differences both within and between these categorical variables. Respondents expressed higher degrees of agreement with statements about choir conductor attributes (Conductor) than Musical/Aesthetic or Social elements as factors that would contribute to their decisions to re-enroll in a college-university choir. No significant differences were found by gender, degree plan, or the interaction of those variables with the categories of Conductor, Social, and Aesthetic/Musical. These findings were discussed in terms of the limitations of this study and directions for subsequent research.
(“Scholarly Abstractions” is a feature highlighting brief abstracts from recent graduate projects in choral music and research published in the IJRCS. To share your thesis abstract, contact Scott Dorsey at )
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