ABSTRACT
In addition to expanding the knowledge base from which practitioners work, it is both fitting and appropriate that the research endeavors of a profession occasionally contribute to the self-knowledge of that profession. Such self-knowledge can provide a basis for reassessment of the mission and values of the profession and for the establishment of goals for future work. Schmidt and Zdzinski made such a contribution with their 1993 analysis of research articles published between 1975 and 1990. Their work was based on the assumption that advancement within a profession occurs in incremental steps with one "new discovery" providing the basis for subsequent steps. Schmidt and Zdzinski believed that by identifying those research reports that were most frequently cited by subsequent researchers in their quantitative studies we might discover streams of thinking in music education that evolved through this time period. As their purpose, they stated:
we examined journal article citations in order to reveal prominent streams of music education research during the years 1975-90. The purpose of the study was twofold: The first was to tabulate citations to determine specific studies that were cited most often within the 15-year period. Second, a content analysis of the 25 most cited articles was conducted with the objective of classifying the range of populations and variables studied within these widely cited studies. (Schmidt and Zdzinski, 1993, p. 3)
