Musicians hold diverse opinions about the value of scientific inquiry in their field. Although some see music-making as a human behavior that can be studied from, say, a psychological perspective, others maintain that music's subjective and almost magical qualities defy scientific explanation. Even within the field of music education there seems to be a divide. University professors often have a hard time selling the merits of music research to their students. And some graduate students in music education, most of whom are experienced music teachers, are not easily convinced that the published results of research studies can be meaningfully applied to their teaching activities. Advocates of the scientific study of music, are often required to defend the worth of this research. As much as we would like to think that all criticism is undeserved, there is often an element of truth to the arguments made by skeptics. In general, however, much of the criticism does not cut to the heart of music education research, but is a reaction to poor research, or misuse of research. These have led to some misunderstandings about the true objectives and functions of research in music education. In hopes of clarifying the situation, the author offers five misconceptions with their element of truth and a more informed way of looking at each one.