Project summary:
Awareness of the value of participatory group music activities, especially singing, to a sense of community, belonging, and wellbeing, is growing. However, the underlying elements that make group singing unique are not well understood. In this project the extent to which musical interaction and engagement moderate cultural and wellbeing outcomes in workplace choirs will be investigated. Hybrid virtual choir technologies will be utilised in Shared Harmonies’ existing choir programmes that aim to create thriving workplace cultures. The choir practices that emerge and their outcomes will inform and evidence beneficial factors of group singing.
PhD project description:
Working closely with Shared Harmonies in their evidence-based practice supporting organizations to create ‘happy, healthy and connected people’ through group singing, this PhD research will seek to better understand the specific links between the experience of group singing and elements of workplace culture, including, team building, collaboration, and self-confidence. The focus of Shared Harmonies workplace choirs on individuals, teams, and organisations parallels the network’s focus on understanding links between micro, meso and macro musical-social dynamics. Elements to consider might include the willingness and confidence of individuals to contribute vocally, the musical role they adopt within the group, sense of shared musical experience, and the extent to which these moderate similar observations in workplace culture.
Considering the recent increase in home-working and a shift to hybrid working environments, a focus of this PhD will be working with Shared Harmonies to explore the potential value of the latest hybrid virtual choir technologies to engage physically remote choir members from the in-person group. The AudioLab at the University has developed a workflow that allows users on Zoom to take part in a live in-person choir: wearing headphones they hear the choir surrounding them as if they are sitting within it. The issue of latency is removed (the Zoom participant is muted). Using this technology in workplace events will shed light not only on the potential of hybrid choirs to feed into the model of Shared Harmonies and improve access to choir singing more generally. It will also shed light on what’s happens during in-person singing, by observing what might be lacking through virtual engagement. Questions include the extent to which hybrid choirs can build team connections between remote and in-situ workers (including quality of musical experience, sense of shared experience, social connectedness, willingness to sing etc.), how successful practices might need to be adapted to accomplish similar wellbeing measures in remote participants, and, the potential of hybrid choirs to reduce the isolation sometimes felt by home workers by promoting collegiate working practices amongst remote employees.
A mixed-method approach will be employed. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected through questionnaires and interviews, with statistical analysis of coded data. At a micro-level, participatory engagement might be measured utilising existing music information retrieval methods and tools such as Sonic Visualiser, assessing acoustic features such as synchrony, tuning, dynamics and timbre. A number of experiments might be conducted during the research (designed and adapted to fit the on-going activities of Shared Harmonies) including single data collection points from participants and activity leaders to provide a macro-level baseline of perceptions and perspectives around the value of workplace choirs and potential involvement of technology to engage remote workers. A longitudinal study, with multiple data collection points to capture this data, as well as audio recordings throughout and across sessions might be utilised to consider changes in perspective and levels of engagement and measures of quality of experience and wellbeing over time.
This project has possibilities in seeking to understand the features of group singing that make it valuable for workplace team building and personal wellbeing through the practices employed by Shared Harmonies. Within this area there is much scope for the PhD student to shape the research in terms of specific research questions and approach.
The mixed-method perspective and the opportunity to engage with technology provide an opportunity for candidates to play to their strengths and experience gained from their academic background, but also to diversify their skills set and expertise, integrating technology and music acoustics within a framework of quantitative and qualitative methodologies around the lived experience of music making.
Qualifications:
Applications are invited from students with a good first degree in an appropriate subject (music psychology, music, music technology, sociology, or similar) as well as a Master's degree appropriate to the topic. The candidate must have a passion for and experience of group singing at some level. We especially welcome applications from candidates belonging to groups that are currently under-represented in PhD cohorts; these include (but are not limited to) individuals from under-represented ethnicities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people from low-income backgrounds, and people with physical disabilities.
How to apply:
Applicants are required to submit an Expression of interest to WRoCAH by 5pm on Wednesday 8 March 2023. Full details on how to apply can be found on the WRoCAH webpage.
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