Alan Merriam's Research
294 Words2 Pages
Anthropologist, Alan Merriam, has a completely different approach to his research. Merriam presented on his study of the Basongye people in the Republic of the Congo. His method was to do a study of Basongye culture before beginning work specifically on their music. To Merriam, the people’s behavior with their music was what was important. He believes that music, itself, comes from “people behaving.” Merriam wants to know “how music is being used in terms of the social system” of the Basongye community. He wants to be able to relate between what is happening in the social system and how it relates to music and vice versa. Overall, he was interested in their way of life and how music is connected to that. Another important factor in his research