Disadvantages Of Focus Groups

Focus group interviewing is a way to design a small group of individuals that are unfamiliar with one another to discuss a specific topic. According Berg and Lune, researchers use this approach to learn through discussion about conscious, semiconscious, and unconscious psychological and sociocultural characteristics and processes amongst various groups (p. 164). Focus groups are useful for collecting data related to specific research. Group interviews are a fast and convenient way to simultaneously collect data. Another method used to collect data is through group interactions. At times, there will be individual interviews to check the validity of findings to design a survey tool. Focus groups are run by a facilitator or a moderator.

The atmosphere of these groups is to inspire the participants to freely speak about behaviors, attitudes, and opinions they have, staying on the subject. Group interaction is observed during session because the heart of the data is in group dynamic (p. 160). Focus group interviews provide a means for qualitative data in some settings for situations where a one-shot collection is necessary. One – shot data associates with surveys and questionnaires, in some cases, focus groups may serve the same purpose. A targeted group of interest to social scientists may only be available for a short time. For example, you may want to study homeless women. A female women’s shelter is the only way to gain access to them. Unfortunately, the female may move out of the shelter, leaving the information vague. Individual interviews are not highly recommended for collecting data. Focus group interviews, however, might work well. The text gives suggested populations suitable for focus groups: Prisoners, hospital, clinic, and HMO patients; students and children in special courses; migrant workers, parents at PTA or PTO meetings; and even conventioneers (p.

The groups allow the gathering of a large amount of information from a particularly large in a short period of time. They give insight into misunderstood topics from the past. It allows researchers to better understand how members of a group reach conclusions about topics and issues. Focus groups gather information from temporary populations. It places the participants and the investigator on an even field in terms of opinions. The moderator can explore related, but unanticipated topics as they come up in the course of the group’s discussion. Focus groups do not usually require complex sampling strategies