Week 6 Reading (Barbour, 2010) Focus Groups

Question 1

Outline the key points made by Barbour in explaining the utility of focus groups?

Answer 1

Overall, focus groups can access uncodified knowledge that stimulates sociological imagination in both participants and researchers.

Focus groups may save labour by providing concentrated and detailed accounts of information that an ethnographer may require months to access.
Focus groups can elicit responses or discussion of topics that may not be of prime importance to participants. Group discussions give participants time and opportunity to form and develop their own responses that may not have been as well articulated without the group setting.
Focus groups reduce the direct pressure of individual response, and the group setting feels less threatening to harder to access groups.

Question 2

What does she suggest enhances rigour when conducting focus group research?

4

Answer 2

Developing topic guides that have prompts or guiding statements in the circumstance that focus groups.

Selecting stimulus material that does not create discomfort or seek to expose personal information. Additionally, facilitating accessibility to focus group locations, such as physical accessibility.

Being conscious of assumptions of ‘sameness’ in a diverse focus group cohort, such as with ethnic minorities.

Paying careful attention to sampling; purposive and theoretical sampling are good

Question 3

What are the key advantages of using focus groups as a data collection method?

Answer 3

Advantages of focus groups relate to the group setting in understanding shared experiences, where participants can deliberate on topics that they had not previously explored, with less pressure than an immediate interview. Focus groups can illustrate key points in culture and social norms in a shorter timeframe.

Question 4

What are the key disadvantages of using focus groups as a data collection method?

Answer 4

Disadvantages include the ethical constraints, especially regarding confidentiality, in focus groups. There is also the issue of whether participants tell the truth in a focus group context. Many researchers do not apply the strengths of focus groups and hence decrease the potential findings from data. Or, there may be unrealistic expectations of identifying individual attitudes, which is difficult to do in the group situation.

Question 5

Ethical issues in focus groups

5

Answer 5

• Don’t alienate participants through insensitive labels while recruiting, ie ‘obese’
• In the same way, it’s kind of weird to ‘sample by deficit’ e.g. if you sample those who missed a folic acid screening don’t call the title ‘reasons for sub-optimal folic acid intake in pregnancy’ just say ‘folic acid intake and pregnancy’
• Focus groups may actually be useful in participants who do not like authority and would not be interviewed; ie they offer safety in numbers
• Will there be a transcript? Focus group members need to consider whether their descriptions of certain events or experiences can be transcribed
• Talk to key gatekeepers

Question 6

Other decisions related to the focus group setting

4

Answer 6

• Travel time and group location (also travel expenses)
• Physical environment of group and whether this prompts certain discussion, ie a hospital with posters will prompt more medical discussion than a classroom
• Accessibility
• Recording (audio or visual) - consider nonverbal cues

Question 7

Decisions related to conducting focus groups

5

Answer 7

• Translation and back-translation
• Assumptions related to groups different from the researcher ie different cultural groups
• Anticipate analysis
• Developing topic guides
• Selecting stimulus material (i.e. to start and prompt discussion)