Elsevier

Journal of Pediatric Health Care

Volume 19, Issue 2, March–April 2005, Pages 104-110
Journal of Pediatric Health Care

Original Article
The use of focus groups in pediatric and adolescent research

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2004.08.006Get rights and content

Abstract

Through this past decade, health care research has focused on clinical trials and establishing intervention versus control group research to improve the health of children and adolescents. Many of these clinical intervention trials have not demonstrated significantly improved health for these persons. One possible reason for the failure to demonstrate improved health is that the young persons' perspective is lacking. Focus group method of data collection is an excellent vehicle to help gain the young person's perspective on a variety of issues related to health and wellness. Including the young person's perspective when designing a program may encourage this person to participate in the new initiative, which would ultimately improve the health of children and adolescents to a greater degree than when their perspective is not taken into account. This article discusses the use of focus groups as an important part of the research process in pediatric and adolescent populations.

Section snippets

What type of data can be obtained from the use of focus groups?

The strategy of focus group work relies on the dynamic of interactions to encourage thinking among group members and to promote reflection of others' verbal contributions, thus providing opulent, detailed perspectives. The discussions within these small groups allow the researcher to probe both the cognitive and the emotional responses of participants, which often are difficult to uncover in a quantitative survey. At the same time the researcher is encouraging discussion, the researcher is able

Examples of focus group outcomes

There are many excellent health care examples of focus group work with children and adolescents. Focus groups have been used to assess adolescents' perceptions about factors influencing food choices and eating behaviors to demonstrate that a broad array of interrelated socioenvironmental, personal, and behavioral factors are associated with adolescent food choices (Neuman-Sztainer, Story, Perry, & Casey, 1999). Social learning theory was used as the theoretical background in a focus group study

The composition of a focus group

Although focus groups generally are made up of 4 to 12 members, focus groups for pediatric research should be smaller than those for adults, with only 4 to 6 participants (Heary & Henessey, 2002). Young children may be quite reluctant to talk if there are more than four participants. It may be wise to keep the group size smaller if discussing a topic that the participants have a lot of experience with. Focus groups are not suitable for children you-nger than 6 years of age, because these

Suggestions for the formation and the management of a focus group

Once Institutional Review Board approval has been obtained, participants may be recruited through lists of former patients, word of mouth, flyers, pamphlets, posters, and letters (Beyea & Nicoll, 2000). When using pediatric populations, the researcher begins with an initial contact with the prospective participant and parent or guardian, explaining the purpose and procedures for the focus group meeting prior to asking for assent from the child or adolescent and consent from the parent or

The semi-structured interview tool to use in a focus group

An outline of open-ended questions that are based on a literature review of the topic and the purposes of the study should be prepared and pilot tested prior to the focus group meeting. If little is known about the topic, one interview question may be adequate to guide discussion (Morrison-Beedy, Cote-Arsenault & Fischbeck Feinstein, 2001), although if more is known about the topic, a very specific list of 8 to 16 questions can be used depending on the age of the participants. All focus group

Transcription of the focus group results

To establish trustworthiness of focus group data, audiotape transcription should occur as soon as possible following the focus group, budgeting 3 hours of transcription for each hour of audiotape (Morrison-Beedy et al., 2001). To avoid errors, the researcher should be present at the focus group meeting. Employing the services of a professional transcriber also can decrease the chance of transcription errors (Easton, McComish, & Greenberg, 2000). Following the transcription, the researcher

Analysis of focus group data

Focus group analysis should be practical, systematic, verifiable, and continuous (Krueger & Casey, 2000). Analysis begins by referring to the intent of the study. The information gleaned from focus group work can be overwhelming in its amount. Focusing on the intent or purpose of the study will assist the researcher in limiting the data needing to be analyzed. Analysis of focus group data is systematic; it is deliberate and planned. The analysis strategy should be documented, understood, and

Summary

Focus group methodology can be a powerful research tool to bring out the voices of pediatric and adolescent populations. Because of their knowledge related to growth and development, pediatric nurses, nurse practitioners, and nurse specialists are well prepared to assist in planning and implementing focus group research, as well as to facilitate focus groups of children and adolescents. Many resources exist that provide additional information on focus group techniques. The experiences of

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    Kathleen Peterson-Sweeney is Associate Professor, State University of New York, College at Brockport, Department of Nursing, and a doctoral student, University of Rochester, School of Nursing.

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