Doing Focus Groups. Rosaline Barbour
Examples include the work of Makosky-Daley et al. (2010) who explored, with American-Indians in Kansas and Missouri, the barriers to breast and colorectal cancer screening and use of the Internet for obtaining health-related information. Another example is afforded by Littlechild et al. (2015) who engaged with older people (including black and minority ethnic community members and people with dementia) in order to evaluate the impact of health services and policy. (These projects are further discussed in the next chapter, in relation to the specific advantages afforded by focus groups.)
Some researchers have also employed focus groups to good effect in communicating with or, even, working collaboratively with policy makers. Examples include the work of Wutich et al. (2010) who elicited the views of water policy makers in Arizona. In the context of research into sustainability and everyday practice of members of the general public, Prades et al. (2013) also sought to engage policy makers through an action research approach.
As suggested by this quick rundown of the various uses to which focus groups have been put, there is no one hard and fast approach. However, where researchers casually employ focus groups without weighing up the respective merits afforded by these very different traditions, they may miss out on possibilities. The advice dispensed via marketing research manuals, for example, although it may be helpful with regard to some aspects of focus group studies in other contexts, may be less appropriate where the method is being employed to achieve different ends.
While marketing researchers and political pollsters seek to ‘multiply up’ (Asbury, 1995) their findings from focus groups to make inferences about the population at large, health and social care or social science endeavours using focus groups are generally carried out on a much smaller scale and rely on sampling techniques (see Chapter 5) that preclude statistical generalization. Although much of the research carried out within the field of health and social care is also concerned with eliciting participants’ perspectives, the focus is less on establishing simply whether audience responses are positive or negative, as on teasing out the reasons behind these views; who holds particular views and why; and, ultimately, how attitudes are formed. Accordingly, health and social care researchers would be well-advised to look beyond the sampling strategies offered by marketing texts (see the discussion in Chapter 5), and to explore, instead, approaches which move beyond the notion of ‘representative’ sampling. Here researchers could learn important lessons from community development applications of focus groups, where recognition is given to the different lenses through which various sectors of a ‘community’, or social situation, may view events, suggesting that the researcher should be mindful of the need to consult with, or even simply to reflect the views of, these different constituencies – regardless of how many people are involved, or how ‘representative’ they are of the wider population.
Puchta and Potter (2002) argue that ‘attitudes’ are, in practice, the result of a series of analytic decisions on the part of those who profess to hold certain views. This references the capacity of focus groups to unpick these processes and to arrive at a deeper understanding of how ‘attitudes’ are articulated, contested, defended, qualified and revised through interaction. This moves away from the notion of measuring views enshrined in much research employing questionnaires, and explores, instead, the many shades of meaning that may be involved, allowing for inconsistencies and contradictions. Those usages of focus groups which capitalize on this feature of group discussions produce more nuanced explanations that can, ultimately, provide more useful – although more complex – insights (see the discussion in Chapters 8 and 9 on analysis). Moreover, community development approaches – and others which pay attention to the content and process of interaction within groups – are much better suited to dealing with such complexities, treating ‘messiness’ as data rather than as ‘noise’ or a source of frustration for the analyst.
Similarly, the organizational model of focus group usage tends to prioritize the concerns of employers – or professionals – rather than those of patients or clients. (This topic is re-visited in Chapter 2.) This raises a different set of questions, relating to why the research is being carried out; who has commissioned it; and whose interests it ultimately serves. Again, such topics are more fully addressed within the community development literature – and important insights can be gained from such discussions, even where the research is not specifically geared towards effecting change.
Returning to the myriad possibilities afforded by different approaches to using focus groups by these different models, each potentially has something to offer the researcher. However, uncritical acceptance of advice dispensed in different contexts can serve to merely exacerbate some of the tensions and challenges involved. There is no right or wrong way to go about doing focus group research; however, there are less- and better-considered ways, depending on the thought that has gone into selecting approaches or elements of different focus group traditions. The researcher is free to adapt, borrow, or combine any approaches that take his or her fancy, but should always be mindful of the fit between these and the research question at hand (Kitzinger and Barbour, 1999). The development of hybrids is entirely acceptable – and may even result in the most innovative use of focus groups and the most insightful data and analysis. As Morgan and Bottorff (2010) advise: researchers need to find what works for them and should ‘select a way of using focus groups that matches the goals of the project’ (p. 579). This, however, is easier said than done and the next two chapters set about equipping the focus group researcher to make a considered choice, having weighed up the advantages and potential disadvantages of focus groups and having decided where his/her own usage fits in relation to philosophical, methodological and disciplinary traditions.
Key points
You can be selective in drawing from the various focus group ‘traditions’ on offer.
Choices depend on the purpose of your research, available funding and the time available to carry out the research.
You should critically evaluate available advice in the context of your own research.
Hybrid approaches can work – provided that they fit with the aims of your study.
Further reading
The following works will extend the first introduction to focus groups given in this chapter:
Bloor, M., Frankland, J., Thomas, M. and Robson, K. (2001) Focus Groups in Social Research. London: Sage.
Kitzinger, J. and Barbour, R.S. (1999) ‘Introduction: the challenge and promise of focus groups’, in R.S. Barbour and J. Kitzinger (eds), Developing Focus Group Research: Politics, Theory and Practice. London: Sage, pp. 1–20.
Macnaghten, P. and Myers, G. (2004) ‘Focus groups’, in C. Seale, G. Gobo, J.F. Gubrium and D. Silverman (eds), Qualitative Research Practice. London: Sage, pp. 65–79.
Chapter Two Focus groups in practice
Contents
Assets of focus groups 17
Limitations of focus groups 19
Claims and challenges in focus 23
Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should:
have an appreciation of the particular advantages of focus groups;
be equipped to take a critical look at claims made about focus groups;
be able to distinguish between shortcomings and potential resources; and
have