Music technology, education and maps: The use of geospatial technology and data to inform music education research

Recent developments in geographical information systems and geospatial statistics, together with greater access to large, fine-resolution ‘geocoded’ datasets, are transforming environmental, social and economic research. Over the past decade, there has been a small, but growing application of these techniques within the fields of music making, music education and music research. This article begins by offering a brief overview of some of the developments as a whole. It goes on to offer a detailed treatment of a series of geospatial statistical techniques which, it is hoped, may be applicable within a wide range of music and music education research fields. These techniques are illustrated through references to a deviant idiographic case study dealing with instrumental tuition provided by one English local government area (local authority) between 2003 and 2010. The case study draws on analyses of detailed anonymised participant records (n = 6,063) using, amongst other techniques: location quotients, tests for spatial autocorrelation and distinct distributions, and ‘global’ and ‘local’ regression models. The paper will demonstrate how these techniques can be applied using open-source software and freely-available census, government and cartographic data.