CHEEK, II, JIMMY ALEXANDER, Ph.D. The Effect of Race and Racial Perception on Adjudicators’ Ratings of Choral Performances Attributed to Racially Homogeneous and Racially Heterogeneous Groups. (2007) Directed by Dr. Constance L. McKoy. 127 pp. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of two independent variables, race and racial perception, on ratings of choral performances attributed to racially homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. A secondary research objective examined relationships between adjudicators’ choral performance ratings and their self-reported ethnic social encounter preferences. Subjects were 26 Black and White choral music educators from five counties in North Carolina. Subjects from the two racial categories were assigned randomly to experimental Treatment Group A (n = 10), B (n = 8) or Control Group C (n = 8). Subjects in Groups A, B, and C evaluated the same listening stimulus while presented respectively with a photograph designed to be perceived as a choral group comprised of homogeneous Black, homogeneous White or heterogeneous Black and White members, Subjects also completed a posttreatment measure of preferences for Black and White social encounters. A two-way ANOVA was used to analyze ratings of choral performances; the Pearson Product-Moment correlation procedure was used to analyze choral performance rating data and data from the social encounter measure. An alpha level of .05 was established for all statistical and inferential analyses. Results of the study revealed no significant main effect of race, and no significant interaction effect of race and treatment on the dependent variable; however, a significant main effect was found for treatment. Correlation analyses revealed weak to strong negative relationships between adjudicators’ racial- encounter preference mean scores and choral performance evaluation ratings for subjects in Treatment Groups A and B. Moderate, positive relationships were found between these variables for the control group. The following conclusions were drawn from the study: (a) adjudicators’ racial perceptions may influence their evaluations of choral performances, and (b) although adjudicators’ ratings of music performance and their ethnic social encounter preferences do not appear to be strongly associated, future studies should examine these relationships further while controlling for factors known to influence responses to measures designed to examine racial attitudes. Continued research concerning the effect of non-musical factors on choral performance evaluation may result in the enhancement of the educational value of choral performance experiences for students and teachers. THE EFFECT OF RACE AND RACIAL PERCEPTION ON ADJUDICATORS’ RATINGS OF CHORAL PERFORMANCES ATTRIBUTED TO RACIALLY HOMOGENEOUS AND RACIALLY HETEROGENEOUS GROUPS by Jimmy Alexander Cheek, II A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2007 Approved by ______________________________ Committee Co-Chair ______________________________ Committee Co-Chair © 2007 by Jimmy Alexander Cheek, II APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Co-Chair _________________________________ Committee Co-Chair _________________________________ Committee Members _________________________________ _________________________________ ______________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee ______________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sincere appreciation is extended to the members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Constance McKoy, Advisor and Co-Chair; Dr. Randy Kohlenberg, Co-Chair; Dr. William Carroll and Dr. Brent Nolker, for their understanding, patience and invaluable contributions to the completion of this scholarly endeavor. Appreciation is expressed to Dr. Patricia Sink who was an initial source of inspiration for my current academic pursuit. Deepest appreciation is extended to Dr. Constance McKoy for her unyielding guidance, genuine concern, unwavering commitment and intellectual insight into the role of a researcher. Appreciation is extended to the choral music educators that participated in this study. Acknowledgement is expressed to Mrs. Jane Woody for being the choral music educator who provided influential and rewarding high school choral music experiences during my high school years. Sincere thanks are expressed to Dr. Clifford Watkins and Mrs. Gwendelyn Bell for their continued mentorship and support of my academic advancement. Gratitude is extended to Dr. Kenneth Ruff for his unfailing encouragement, motivation and continuous support. Sincere appreciation is expressed to Loleta Chavis for her devoted friendship and personal commitment to my educational goals. My deepest gratitude is extended to my parents and family for their love, support, concern and understanding. Finally, sincere thanks are expressed to my church family, friends and colleagues at Dudley High School for their support. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………..…….….. vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………..... 1 Overview and Rational for the Study …………………………… 1 The Development and Process of Choral Adjudication in Music Education ……………………...…………………….... 2 The Educational Value of Music Performance Adjudication ……..……………………. 6 Adjudicator Qualifications ……………………………………….. 9 The Issue of Fair and Accurate Adjudication ................……………...................... 12 Extraneous Factors Affecting Adjudicator Evaluation of Choral Performance…...……………………... 13 Perceptions of Race and Ethnicity………………………………. 15 Ethnic Social Encounters and Preference …………………….. 16 Statement of Purpose ………………………………………........ 18 Definition of Terms ………………………………….................... 19 Contributions of the Current Study to Music Education............ 19 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE …………………………………….. 20 Reliability in Music Performance Evaluations ……………….… 21 Non-Music Factors Affecting Evaluation of Instrumental Performance …………………………………..... 22 Non-Music Factors Affecting Evaluation of Vocal Music Performance ....………........………........…...... 27 Racial Differences and Music Performance Evaluation…………..……........….......... 28 Summary …………………………………………………………... 30 Restatement of Purpose …………………………………………. 30 Null Hypotheses …………………………………………………... 31 iv III. METHODS AND PROCEDURES………………............................. 32 Selection of Subjects ............................................................. 32 Assignment of Subjects and Treatments………………..…....... 37 Validation of Experimental Treatment Photographs ………………………………..…...... 38 Selection and Validation of Music Listening Stimulus ………………………………….….. 44 Storage of Experimental Treatment Materials ………….……… 49 Experimental Procedure, Listening Equipment, and Experimental Controls ……………………………………….... 50 Data Collection Instruments and Procedures ………………….. 51 Choral Evaluation Form ………………………………….. 51 Racial-Encounter Measure ........................................... 52 Administration of the Experimental Treatment ……………..……………………….. 52 Posttreatment Procedures.....................................................… 56 Data Analyses and Reporting of Results ………………………. 56 IV. ANALYSES AND RESULTS ……………………………….............. 58 Introduction ………………………………................................... 58 Choral Performance Evaluation Instrument ………………….... 63 Preliminary Descriptive Analysis............................................... 66 Analysis of Variance................................................................. 73 Correlation Analyses................................................................ 75 Summary …………………………………………………………... 80 V. SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH….. 82 Summary…………………....……………....……………....…...... 82 Subject Selection …....……………....……………....…… 83 Treatment Procedures …....……………....…………….. 84 Posttreatment Procedure....……………....……………... 86 Discussion of Results of Data Analyses…....……………......... 87 Treatment ………………………………………...…...….. 87 Race………………………………………...…...….....….. 90 Treatment and Race ……………………………………… 90 Research Question ………………………………………. 91 Other Research Considerations ……………………...... 93 Conclusions and Recommendations…………………......…….. 95 v Conclusions…………………......……........……........… 95 Recommendations for Future Research…………………......……...……... 96 BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………….. 98 APPENDIX A. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO CONSENT TO ACT AS A HUMAN PARTICIPANT FORM (WITH DECEPTION) ………………..................…………............... 105 APPENDIX B. TREATMENT GROUP PHOTOGRAPHS …………………… 109 APPENDIX C. CHORAL PHOTOGRAPH SURVEY..........…………............. 112 APPENDIX D. VOCAL ADJUDICATION FORM.......................................... 114 APPENDIX E. RACIAL-ENCOUNTER MEASURE ……………..……………. 116 APPENDIX F. PHOTOGRAPHS OF TEST ADMINISTRATION STATIONS………..……………………..…………..….. 122 APPENDIX G. DEBRIEFING STATEMENT ………………………………….. 125 vi LIST OF TABLES Page TABLE 1. Subjects Categorized by Race and Gender across Treatment Groups………………………………………………… 33 2. Racial Perception of Pre-digitally-Modified (PreM) Group Photographs and Postdigitally-Modified (PostM) Group Photographs…………… 43 3. Choral Conducting Doctoral Students’ Perception of Choral Groups’ Racial Identity in Listening Examples……………………………………………… 45 4. College/University Choral Conductors’ Perception of Choral Groups’ Racial Identity in Listening Examples ………………………… 47 5. Evaluation Category Components of the Adapted California Music Educators Association Bay Section Vocal Adjudication Form ………………………… 65 6. Mean Scores and Standard Deviations for Choral Performance Evaluation Components across Treatment Groups……………………… 67 7. Mean Scores and Standard Deviations for Overall Choral Performance Evaluations across Treatment Groups… 68 8. Mean Scores for Choral Performance Evaluation Components across Race and Treatment Groups……..…….. 70 9. Means Scores and Standard Deviations for Choral Performance Evaluation across Racial Groups………………… 72 10. 2 x 3 Analysis of Variance of Choral Performance Evaluation Scores for Treatment and Race…………………… 73 vii