20101126 - Focus Group - a qualitative research (Kitzinger)

Qualitative Research: Introducing focus groups Jenny Kitzinger, research fellow Glasgow University Media Group, Department of Sociology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8LF This paper introduces focus group methodology, gives advice on group composition, running the groups, and analysing the results. Focus groups have advantages for researchers in the field of health and medicine: they do not discriminate against people who cannot read or write and they can encourage participation from people reluctant to be interviewed on their own or who feel they have nothing to say. Rationale and uses of focus groups Focus groups are a form of group interview that capitalises on communication between research participants in order to generate data. Although group interviews are often used simply as a quick and convenient way to collect data from several people simultaneously, focus groups explicitly use group interaction as part of the method. This means that instead of the researcher asking each person to respond to a question in turn, people are encouraged to talk to one another: asking questions, exchanging anecdotes and commenting on each other's experiences and points of view.1 The method is particularly useful for exploring people's knowledge and experiences and can be used to examine not only what people think but how they think and why they think that way. The idea behind the focus group method is that group processes can help people to explore and … Source: http://www.bmj.com/content/311/7000/299.extract