Reconsidering the Role of Interaction in Analyzing and Reporting Focus Groups
- 20 April 2010
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Qualitative Health Research
- Vol. 20 (5), 718-722
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732310364627
Abstract
In the two sections of this article, I examine aspects of the analysis and reporting of interaction in focus groups. In both sections, I argue that the essential importance of interaction for producing the data in focus groups does not correspond to any requirement that the analysis or the reporting of that data should emphasize interaction. With regard to analyzing interaction, the goals of the research should guide the analysis of the data, and those goals might or might not emphasize interaction. In particular, a great deal of focus group research is conducted for substantive and practical purposes, where the analysis typically requires little attention to the dynamics of interaction in those groups. With regard to reporting interaction, quotations from single individuals can often be the most efficient and effectives ways to accomplish an article’s goals; however, I also discuss the kinds of situations where there are good reasons to report interaction among the participants. I conclude by briefly describing a different agenda for examining the importance of interaction in focus groups.Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Focus group research and “the patient's view”Social Science & Medicine (1982), 2006
- What About Focus Group Interaction Data?Qualitative Health Research, 2005
- “I would rather be size 10 than have straight A's”: A focus group study of adolescent girls' wish to be thinnerJournal of Adolescence, 2000
- Asking elaborate questions: Focus groups and the management of spontaneityJournal of Sociolinguistics, 1999
- Focus Groups in Health ResearchJournal of Health Psychology, 1998
- Displaying opinions: Topics and disagreement in focus groupsLanguage in Society, 1998
- Focus groups in feminist research: Power, interaction, and the co-construction of meaningWomen's Studies International Forum, 1998
- Focus group methodology: a reviewInternational Journal of Social Research Methodology, 1998
- The methodology of Focus Groups: the importance of interaction between research participantsSociology of Health & Illness, 1994
- Social interaction and the cognitive organisation of health‐relevant knowledgeSociology of Health & Illness, 1985