Understanding Meta-Analyses as a Tool for General Music Advocacy

This article provides an overview of the research method meta-analysis as a tool for general music advocacy. “Why music education?” is framed as underlying advocacy efforts, noting a historical duality between musical outcomes and nonmusical outcomes. A vignette is provided to show how meta-analyses were used to impact legislation on general music programs in the state of Florida. To further promote advocacy, a breakdown of how to understand a meta-analysis is given. Then, results from potential meta-analyses for advocacy platforms are shared which empirically validate the positive effects of music participation on cognitive, social, and emotional outcomes with children. Implications suggest that while “Why music education?” is rarely tied to extramusical outcomes from a philosophical or phenomenological perspective, there are instances when policy or budget is beholden to demonstrating the potential for nonmusical outcomes. In these situations, there is empirical evidence to support advocacy for general music programs.