Cameron Campbell

10/25/19
Psychology
Research Paper Outline
The Study of Music Listening Habits Among High School Students
Cameron Campbell
St. Mary’s Jr/Sr High School

Abstract
Music is everywhere, it’s something we all listen to, whether voluntary or
involuntary. Genres are a way we categorize music based on various stylistic elements
found within a specific type of music. There are many different genres of music and
certain ones may resonate more with someone than others. Since this is the case,
some genres of music may be more popular among larger groups of people. That being
said, what are the most popular genres of music among high school teenagers? In a
survey conducted at St. Mary’s Schools, students in the ninth through twelfth grade
were asked various questions about their music listening habits and what genres they
do or don’t prefer. Through the survey it was found that most students in the target
population listen to music for at least an hour or more per day. It was also found that in
general the most popular genre among high school teenagers is pop music, and the
least popular is country music.
listen to. This is more specific to high
Introduction schoolers. For example, if someone's
It is common knowledge that parents don’t allow them to listen to hip
there are genres commonly favored by hop, they would most likely not consider
younger people, specifically high that genre one of their favorites.
schoolers, that someone older or
younger than that age group may not Methods & Procedures
enjoy. This is because of a number of Using Google Forms, a survey
factors such as, the age of the music was made and sent out to students in
itself as well as the musicians involved the ninth through twelfth grade at St.
in a certain genre, the general Mary’s High School. The questions were Commented [1]: Where is this school? What is the
student body like?
connotation associated with a genre, about students music listening habits.
and when the genre itself was most First general questions about the
popular. For example, genres like jazz students were asked, such as “what is
or classical may not be as popular your gender?” and “what grade of high
among high schoolers and younger school are you currently in?”. The
people because the general connotation survey went on to ask “do you listen to
associated with it is that it is old music music often?”, “about how long per day
for old people. Another factor that may do you listen to music?”, “what is your
contribute to what genres are popular favorite genre?”, “what is your least
among high schoolers is what genres favorite genres?”, “what is the most
they may or may not be permitted to recent genre you listened to?”, and
Cameron Campbell
10/25/19
Psychology
Research Paper Outline
“what other genres do you enjoy
listening to?”. The questions asked were
not complex, but were the most direct
way for me to gage the results of the
survey. All the questions asked were
multiple choice and required to answer,
as to gain complete and
uncompromised answers and results
from the survey.
Results
Based on the survey, the
following results were found:
Figure 1
Figure 1 depicts what gender the
participants were. The majority, 72.7%
were female, and the rest, 27.3% were
male.
Figure 2
Figure 2 depicts what year of
high school the participants were. 31.8%
were Freshmen and Seniors, and 18.2%
were Sophomores and Juniors.
Commented [2]: How so? Can you explain the
significance of each one?
Figure 3
Figure 3 depicts if the participants
listen to music often. 90.9% answered
“yes”, and 9.1% answered “sometimes”
Figure 4
Figure 4 depicts how long the
participants listen to music per day.
33.3% answered 1 hour. Following that
the highest percentages are, 19% for 2
hours, and more than 5 hours, 14.3% for
4 hours, and 9.5% for 3 hours.
Figure 5
Figure 5 depicts the participants
what their favorite genre of music is.
27.3% answered pop. Following that the
highest percentages are, 22.7% for
“other”, 18.1% for hip hop/rap, 9.1% for
Cameron Campbell
10/25/19
Psychology
Research Paper Outline
country, and 4.5% for christian/gospel,
EDM, classical, rock, and reggae.
Figure 6
Figure 6 depicts the participants
what their least favorite genre of music
is. 36.4% answered country, 13.6%
answered jazz and “other”, 9.1%
answered EDM and christian/gospel,
9% answered hip hop/rap, 4.5%
answered rock and pop.
Figure 7
Figure 7 depicts what the most
recent genre participants listened to
was. The top percentage was 36.4% for
hip hop/rap. Next was 27.3% for pop,
9.1% for rock, and r&b. After that
followed classical, country, reggae,
christian/gospel, all at 4.5%.
Figure 8
Figure 8 depicts what other
genres the participants enjoy listening
to. The top percentage was 31.8% for
hip hop/rap, next was 13.6% for r&b,
and 9.1% for classical, pop, and other.
After that followed jazz, reggae, EDM,
and soundtrack, all at 4.5%.
Discussion
As seen in figure 1 The majority
of survey takers, 72.7% were female,
and the rest, 27.3% were male. This
could play a factor because there may
be a connotations associated with
certain genders listening to certain
genres of music. Generally females may
listen to more pop than hip hop, while
males may listen to EDM or hip hop. In Commented [3]: Is this what your results show or are
you making a generalization?
the case of high school students, friend
groups could also play a role in why
people may listen to certain genres. If
your friend group is mostly female, you
are most likely going to be influenced by
their tastes in music. The amount of Commented [4]: And vice versa.
time spent listening to music per day is
also an important area to look at. This is Commented [5]: Was that something that was looked
at? Does it matter? In what way?
because it can be asked whether the
19% of students in figure 4 who said
they listen to music for more than 5
hours are only listening to one style of
music for that whole time period or are
they diversifying their listening. Commented [6]: This sentence is confusing. Can you
split it up? Also, explain why it matters.
Conclusion
This study could be beneficial to
music producers and music marketing
companies. It is important for those
companies to know what genres of
Cameron Campbell
10/25/19
Psychology
Research Paper Outline
music are most popular so that those
are the genres they are heavily
producing. The biggest music producers
don’t want to be putting all their money
into jazz, for example, if hip hop is the
genre selling the most money. A
drawback in this study is that it doesn’t
fully take into account that some
students listen to multiple genres of
music. While one of the questions asks
about other genres that participants
enjoy listening to, that still doesn’t take
into account that many people listen to
more than two genres of music.
If I were to do this study again, I
would ask more specific questions. For
example, I might ask about people’s
friend groups, and if everyone in the
friend group listens to the same genres
of music. I might also ask about listening
habits in the car, whether students are
listening to their own music or if they are
listening to the music their parents like. Commented [7]: This sentence is a little confusing.
Can you rephrase it?
Questions like these delve deeper into
the subject and would help give me
reasons as to why some of the results
came out the way they did. Commented [8]: Can you add more on the process?
What were the benefits and drawbacks of the survey
method in general? What did you think?
References