Scientific Research Paper

Introduction
In this experiment we used music to improve comfort in a specific environment. Music today is
used throughout daily life. Music is played constantly in cars , while exercising or, relaxing as a
personal hobby According to North and Greaves(1999) music listening is consistently rated as
the most favored way of spending time in doors (as cited in
McFerranGradyBrockeSawyer,2002,page1). According to Tarrant(2002) music is especially
meaningful and popular during adolescence(as cited in McFerran
GradyBrockeSawyer,2002,page1).
Methods
Participants
The participants in this experiment were college students that are currently attending The
University Of North Carolina at Charlotte. College students were used because majority of the
people who are on UNC Charlotte's campus are enrolled at the school. The chance of running
into a non-college student in this area is very slim.
Participants in this experiment were students on campus who passed through the student
union. The people that were calculated were the ones that happened to be present in the union
when music wasnt being played, and when it was.
The age of subjects for this experiment ranges. The typical age group from college
students ranges from 18 years old to 22 years old. There are cases where you have high school
students who are getting on their education and take college classes at a university, so you can
have students who are under the age of 18 on campus. Then again there are also adults who want

to further their education and go back to do so, and their age group can vary from the age of 25
to so on.
The controlled group that was used in this experiment were UNC Charlotte students who
were in the union around 5:00pm on a Wednesday.

Results
Before the music was being played, few people were sitting down while others continued
to pass through the lounging area. In order to form results for this experiment, student
engagement in conversation and the atmosphere around them, needed to be observed. Between
the ten people that were seated there was hardly any interaction being made.
When music began playing, gradually more people began to hang around the area. There
then were a new total of 58 people filling the chairs, standing around, talking, laughing and even
dancing.

Discussion
In conclusion music made a notable difference in the interaction amongst the University
of North Carolinas students in the student union. Music being played increased the interaction
and the amount of people in the student union at the time in which the music was played. As
previously stated music is a source of relieving tension, taking mind off of things, passing time
and negating boredom, as well as helping with the feeling of loneliness and creating and
maintaining a good mood (Gantz,Gartenberg 1978 pg4).

The experiment conducted proved that music increased the interaction and released
tension amongst college students allowing for a new environment to be created in which people
felt free to talk, dance, and socially interact with each other.
Teacher: (1) Add a little more to the introduction. (2) This sentence is not necessary to talk
about high school students and older adults. (3) How did you observe the experiment? Was it
just if people were talking? (4) No need to restate the same quote from the introduction again.