Music as a social science explores the production and perception of music from a range of social science perspectives and involves quantitative and qualitative investigations.

Social sciences were added to the research interests of the School following the appointment of Winthrop Professor Jane Davidson as Callaway/Tunley Chair of Music.  

1. Music medicine
2. Music and health
3. Music and evolution
4. Ethnomusicology and sociology of music
5. Music psychology

Music medicine

• Associate Professor Suzanne Wijsman has studied the biomechanics of cello bowing.
• Professor Davidson has investigated topics as diverse as performance anxiety, the role of the contraceptive pill on the female operatic voice and the role of obesity in the control of the singing voice.

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Music and health

• Winthrop Professor Davidson in a project titled Act, Belong, Commit to Singing, is investigating interventions for older people, especially those facing social isolation and including people with dementia, a research interest shared with Assistant Professor Nicholas Bannan. 
  
• Research Assistant Professor Robert Faulkner and Assistant Professor Jonathan McIntosh have been investigating the impact of music on the well-being of people in migrant communities.

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Music and evolution

In this rapidly expanding field, Assistant Professor Bannan is:

• editing Music, Language and Human Evolution for Oxford University Press
• investigating the role of music in the life and writing of Charles Darwin
• developing a testable model of the development of the capacity for language out of an existing vocal 'song' system
• evaluating the perception of meaning in song and speech.

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Ethnomusicology and sociology of music

• Assistant Professor McIntosh has conducted fieldwork on children’s practice and performance of music, song and dance competitions in Bali. He has also conducted applied research concerning the use of gamelan in community music settings.
• Assistant Professor Faulkner has explored Icelandic men’s vocal identities in his forthcoming book, Icelandic Men and Me: Sagas of Singing, Self and Everyday Life (Wesleyan University Press). He has also investigated the role of music in the construction of gender identity amongst teenage girls in Western Australia.
• Winthrop Professor Davidson and Associate Professor Victoria Rogers have also been working on an Australian Research Council funded Discovery Project exploring the concept of Communicative Human Musicality as it relates to the works of ethnomusicologist, Professor John Blacking.

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Music psychology

Winthrop Professor Davidson is a world-leader in this field.  Her work on performance expression and body movement has been pioneering, along with her studies of musical development and social interaction in performance ensembles.

Findings from a 13-year longitudinal, multi-methods investigation tracing musical journeys from initial instrumental tuition in primary school wind bands to young adulthood (From Child Learner to Adult Musician) were presented at international conferences in 2008 and 2009. Assistant Professor Faulkner and Professor Gary McPherson (University of Melbourne) are co-authors with Professor Davidson in a book titled Music in Our Lives: Redefining musical development, ability and identity which is forthcoming with Oxford University Press.

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