Abstract
Focus groups have received little attention from sociologists, although they are a commonly used qualitative technique in market research. The data collected in focus group sessions typically consist of tape-recorded group discussions among four to ten participants who share their thoughts and experiences on a set of topics selected by the researcher. We present a brief description of dimensions along which focus groups vary in their format and relate these dimensions to an example from our own focus groups, where the topic is how people think about the causes and prevention of heart attacks. We compare focus groups to informant interviews and participant observation, and we describe their application, either as a self-contained data collection strategy, or in conjunction with other qualitative and quantitative methods. We conclude with a discussion of the value of focus groups in triangulating data collection from several different methods.
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An earlier version of this paper was presented in the Qualitative Methodology Session organized by Malcolm Spector at the 1983 meetings of the American Sociological Association in Detroit, and we wish to thank Prof. Spector for his comments during that session. We would also like to thank Pamela G. Smith for originally bringing the focus group technique to our attention and Susan Wladaver-Morgan for her valuable comments and editorial suggestions, as well as the editors and anonymous reviewers atQualitative Sociology.
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Morgan, D.L., Spanish, M.T. Focus groups: A new tool for qualitative research. Qual Sociol 7, 253–270 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00987314
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00987314