Despite the current ‘resurgence of interest’ (Lunt and Livingstone, 1996: 79) in focus groups, particularly in applied areas, such as communication/ media studies, education and health care, few feminists are yet using the method. Limited use of focus groups by feminists is suggested by the omission of the method from feminist research methods texts: for example, focus groups are not referenced in Miller and Treitel's (1991) annotated bibliography of feminist research methods; Nielsen's (1990) volume of exemplary readings of feminist research methods; or in the recent collection edited by Maynard and Purvis (1994). (A rare exception is Shulamit Reinharz's [1992] text, Feminist Methods in Social Research, which includes two paragraphs on focus groups in a chapter on ...