Focus Groups As Qualitative Research

by David L. Morgan

• ISBN13: 9780761903437
• ISBN10: 0761903437
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781506318820
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-10-23
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

The extensively revised edition of the bestselling Focus Groups as Qualitative Research continues to provide an excellent guide for researchers across the disciplines.Reflecting the many changes that have occurred in the study of focus groups in recent years, the book begins with an updated introduction offering a discussion of current social science approaches to focus groups. Expanded coverage on the comparison of focus groups to individual interviews follows, and there is more material on the strengths and weaknesses of focus groups. The section on self-contained focus groups has also been expanded. Subsequent chapters have been revised to include examples from social scientists who have established their own practices and methodological research on focus groups. In conclusion the author offers future directions and references that take into account the explosive growth of focus groups as a research tool for all social scientists.

Table of Contents

Series Editors' Introduction	v
Preface	vii
Introduction	1	(6)
Uses for Focus Groups	2	(2)
Focus Groups in Historical Perspective	4	(1)
Focus Groups and Group Interviews	5	(2)
Overview of the Remainder of This Book	7	(1)
Focus Groups as a Qualitative Method	7	(10)
Compared to Participant Observation	8	(2)
Compared to Individual Interviews	10	(3)
Strengths and Weaknesses	13	(4)
Summing Up	17	(1)
The Uses of Focus Groups	17	(14)
Self-Contained Focus Groups	18	(4)
Linking Focus Groups and Individual Interviewing	22	(1)
Linking Focus Groups and Participant Observation	23	(2)
Linking Focus Groups and Surveys	25	(3)
Linking Focus Groups and Experiments	28	(2)
Summing Up	30	(1)
Planning and Research Design for Focus Groups	31	(14)
Before Starting	31	(3)
Overview of Focus Group Research Design	34	(1)
Determining the Types of Participants	35	(4)
Determining the Level of Group Structure	39	(3)
Determining the Size of Groups	42	(1)
Determining the Number of Groups	43	(2)
Summing Up	45	(1)
Conducting and Analyzing Focus Groups	45	(20)
Determining the Interview Content	47	(1)
Moderating the Group	48	(6)
Site Selection and Data Collection	54	(4)
Analysis and Reporting	58	(6)
Summing Up	64	(1)
Additional Possibilities	65	(6)
Factors That Affect the Nature of the Discussion	65	(2)
Effects of Group Composition	67	(1)
Changes in Groups Over Time	68	(2)
Changes Within Groups	70	(1)
Summing Up	71	(1)
Conclusions	71	(4)
References	75	(5)
About the Author	80