Analysis of Poster and Publication Trends in the American Music Therapy Association

The purposes of this study were to: (a) analyze trends in poster session presentations at national music therapy conferences; (b) identify factors related to the number of posters presented; and (c) explore the rate at which results from poster presentations are published both in and outside of AMTA journals. Results indicated that most research posters at the AMTA national conference were presented by authors in the Southeastern, Great Lakes, and Midwestern regions. Furthermore, the number of graduate schools in the region was the largest predictor of number of posters presented, accounting for approximately 14% of the unique variance. Finally, a systematic literature search indicated that the majority of posters were not published. In conclusion, the authors provide recommendations concerning utilizing research poster sessions as a means to support the association’s research initiative, encourage collaboration between clinicians and researchers, and increase the profession’s body of evidenced-based practices. Conferences can be a forum for professions to support, educate, and provide opportunities for collegiality among their members. Although factor and content analyses of conferences would be interesting from a historical viewpoint, researchers have not extensively studied conferences. In fact, Jacobs and McFarlane (2005) noted that research concerning conferences is under-developed and suggested, “developing a theoretically informed understanding of conference practice” (p. 317). Specific to the study of music conferences, researchers examined papers presented at the International Society for Music Education Research. The investigators found that presenters primarily cited sources within their own geographic region and that the Journal of Research in Music Education was the most frequently referenced journal (Price, Madsen, Cornacchio, & Webb, 2010). While researchers have performed factor analyses of music education conferences (Orman & Price, 2007; Price & Orman, 1999, 2001), these studies do not exist in the music therapy literature. These types of studies would be valuable to identify trends, strengths, and areas for improvement in clinical practice, research, and areas of membership interest. Research poster sessions at professional conferences may also constitute a forum for research dissemination. While professional publications are often considered the paramount method for sharing results, research does not necessarily have to be presented in journal or manuscript form. Research poster presentations at conferences can be an informal and effective mode of disseminating research findings. Particularly, this forum can serve as a venue for clinicians and researchers to interact concerning contemporary clinical practice and collaboration on future projects. Poster sessions have become an integral part of regional, national, and international conferences (Moore, Augspurger, King, & Proffitt, 2001). Perhaps due to the more informal structure and ability to expediently share a plethora of qualitative and quantitative research (Duchin & Sherwood, 1990), poster sessions at professional conferences have become increasingly popular (Moore et al., 2001). Additionally, scholars have noted that research poster sessions may allow interaction with researchers, attract a participant base interested in a specific topic, and facilitate networking and collaboration (McCann, Sramac, & Rudy, 1994; Sherbinski & Stroup, 1992). Given that research – and its connection to reimbursement – is a stated priority by the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), it would seem important to investigate poster presentation trends and the extent to which these findings are published in the profession’s journals. With regard to music therapy, Silverman (2008) analyzed research posters presented at national music therapy conferences by the principal investigator’s institutional affiliation and clinical population studied. Results indicated that independent clinicians and scholars presented more posters than any single academic institution. This finding highlighted the relevance of clinicians in contemporary music therapy research poster sessions. However, while Silverman noted that posters may be presented at conferences, posters were not necessarily published and that this could be a potential area for future investigation. In fact, as Standley (1984) found that music therapy clinicians did not publish articles as frequently as academicians did, it seems that this discrepancy deserves present day attention. Hence, what happens to unpublished research findings? These data can be difficult to locate, making it challenging to inform and enhance clinical practice or future research. As noted, professional publications are often considered the paramount method for disseminating research results. By systematically examining publication trends, researchers can better understand how a profession and its research base have evolved over time. Researchers from related helping professions have examined publication trends in special education (Lee et al., 2007), psychiatry (Mendlowicz, Braga, Cabizuca, Land, & Figueira, 2006), social psychiatry (Pleban & Richardson, 1979), school psychology (O’Callaghan, 1974), and counseling psychology (Tinsley & Tinsley, 1979). Music therapy researchers have also contributed to this body of research (Brooks, 2003; Codding, 1987; Gfeller, 1987; Gilbert, 1979; Jellison, 1973; Wheeler, 1988). However, © the American Music Therapy Association 2014. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected] Michael J. Silverman, PhD, MT-BC, is the director of music therapy at the University of Minnesota. Eric G. Waldon, PhD, MT-BC, is an assistant professor of music therapy at the University of the Pacific. Elizabeth Kimura is a music therapy student at the University of Minnesota. E-mail: [email protected]. doi:10.1093/mtp/miu008 Advance Access publication June 18, 2014 Music Therapy Perspectives, 32(1), 2014, 93–98 at U niersity of M inesota on N ovem er 4, 2014 hp://m tp.oxfoournals.org/ D ow nladed from Music Therapy Perspectives (2014), Vol. 32 94 previously conducted music therapy inquiries into publication trends have been limited to content analysis (Codding, 1987) or descriptive examinations (Brooks, 2003; Gfeller, 1987; Gilbert, 1979; Jellison, 1973; Wheeler, 1988). Additionally, researchers conducting previous studies did not focus exclusively on journals published since the inception of American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) in 1998 nor did they utilize inferential statistics to investigate publication trends. Waldon (2007), utilizing a statistical model, studied AMTA publication trends in the Journal of Music Therapy and Music Therapy Perspectives using three predictor variables: regional membership size, number of undergraduate programs in the region, and number of graduate programs in the region. Results indicated that these three predictors accounted for approximately 41% of the total variance in published articles. The number of graduate schools per region was the strongest predictor and researchers from the Southeastern and Midwestern regions of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) evidenced the largest number of publications. However, there was no significant relationship between a region’s membership size and the quantity of university programs with number of publications. This study was particularly valuable as Waldon analyzed publication trends since 1998, when the National Association for Music Therapy (NAMT) and American Association for Music Therapy (AAMT) merged to form AMTA. Previously, researchers had not examined this time period. With an increased focus on evidence-based practice in music therapy (Abrams, 2010; Edwards, 2005; Kern, 2010), research is becoming progressively more vital to the profession. Additionally, a frequently overlooked aspect of research is dissemination of the results (Sherbinski & Stroup, 1992). As the music therapy profession grows in size, sophistication, and diversity, systematic analysis concerning trends of both research posters and publications is warranted. To better examine evolving research trends in music therapy, it would seem appropriate to combine Silverman’s (2008) descriptive analysis of poster presenter affiliation with Waldon’s (2007) use of inferential statistics and publications to better identify trends in music therapy research. Therefore, the general purpose of this study was to utilize a combination of inferential and descriptive techniques to examine poster session presentation at AMTA national conferences and frequency of publication resulting from those presentations. Based on findings from existing studies, the researchers formulated the following research questions: 1. Does the number of research poster presentations differ significantly by region? 2. To what extent does a region’s membership size, the number of undergraduate programs within a region, and the number of graduate programs within a region as a set (and individually) predict the number of research posters presented? 3. What proportion of research posters are published in AMTA and non-AMTA scholarly journals?