Date
7-2014
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Chair
James Swezey
Keywords
Christianity, faith development, music, phenomenology, singing, youth
Disciplines
Christianity | Education | Religion
Recommended Citation
White, Winnie, "Christian Music Experiences in the Faith Development of Adolescents: A Phenomenological Study" (2014). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 895.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/895
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenology study was to discover how Christian music experiences affect the faith development of adolescents. The lived experiences are the on-going process in which adolescents develop through the stages of faith and how Christian music fits into that process. The participants were adolescents who participated in a youth group with an active music experience on a weekly basis. I used the transcendental phenomenology model which included the epoche, phenomenological reduction, imaginative variation, and synthesis of texture and structure to collect, gather, and analyze the data. Data were collected from 11 adolescents utilizing observations, Fowler's Life Tapestry Journal, Fowler's Faith Development Instrument, and Christian music experiences interview questions. I analyzed the data using systematic phenomenology procedures by developing individual textural and structural descriptions, compositing textural and structural descriptions, and synthesizing textural and structural meanings and essences of the Christian music experience in the faith development of adolescents. This study resulted in compelling and insightful phenomenological descriptions about the faith development of adolescents and how Christian music affects their development.
