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Data collection in qualitative research focus groups october 2015
Focus groups are a qualitative research method useful for exploring shared experiences in a group setting. They involve 4-12 participants discussing a topic while being facilitated and recorded. Focus groups allow ideas to develop through group interaction and provide an environment to explore attitudes, feelings, and perceptions on a topic. The facilitator must structure the questions, manage dynamics, and probe for both a range and depth of perspectives from participants.
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Data collection in qualitative research focus groups october 2015
- 1. Qualitative data collectionin Educational Research: focus groups J.McIsaac & T.Varga-Atkins Academic Development University of Liverpool November 2015 Photo credit: to Ian Willis
- 2. Outline • Situating focusgroups in educational research • Why? (Purpose) • What? (Characteristics) • How? (Method/Process) • Key considerations
- 3. Your experience? • Haveyou been a participant in a focus group? • Have you been a facilitator of a focus group? • What qualities/attributes and skills are needed for each role?
- 4. Situating focus groups •Derived from market research context, increasingly popular in social science research • Data gathering process extends academic practice of exploratory discussion (Cousin, 2009) • A form of group interview • It is all about the group interaction • Useful to triangulate with other methods
- 5. Possibilities for focusgroups Can be: • A lead-up to a larger quantitative study • Used with a quantitative study to deepen researcher’s understanding • A way to help researchers understand previous data collected by quantitative methods • Used with other qualitative methods e.g. interview • A stand alone method (Wilson, 1997)
- 6. Methods: from individualto group Surveys Focus groups Interviews Researcher present individual group Researcher not present
- 7. Methods: from individualto group Surveys Focus groups Interviews Researcher present individual group Researcher not present How many hours do you spend studying? What makes you study (more)? Can you tell me a bit more about what you do when you study? Thinking time? Participant motivation Bias by others? Shared experience?
- 8. Surveys Focus groupsInterviews Bias? Useful when you don’t want others to bias your participant Potential of ‘group bias’ – participants say what they think you or other participants want to hear Useful when you don’t want others to bias your participant Shared experience? Participant relies on own experience – may be more difficult to recall. Useful to talk about shared experiences. ‘You bounce off ideas from one another’. Useful when you want to explore individual experiences. Thinking time? Relies on participant able to formulate their ideas without prompts. As ideas develop during the process, FGs are useful when this thinking time is useful. As ideas develop during the process, FGs are useful when this thinking time is useful. Motivation/Enjoyment ? Non-response and quality of response as a problem. Participants generally enjoy the process.* They learn something new. Participants generally enjoy the process. They learn something new.
- 9. Why? (rationale) focus groups “Whenpeople gather to talk about something, their contributions and understandings will be enriched by the group dynamic” (Cousin 2009) “To display and discuss differences in a group.” (Ritchie & Lewis 2003)
- 10. Characteristics of a focusgroup • Structured group activity designed to elicit views on topic(s) • Small group: 4-12 people • Meet 1-2 hours • With trained researcher/facilitator • Non-threatening environment • Explore participant’s perceptions, attitudes, feelings, ideas • Encourage and utilise group interactions
- 11. What is afocus group? Researcher/FacilitatorSize: 6-8 (4-12) participants Incentive Sample selection! Ethics: informed consent and reporting Audio recorder & other resources or stimulus material 1-2 hours
- 12. Part 1: Introduction Scene-setting,establishing trust • purpose • ground rules (conformity / convergence) • ethics • reporting 1. Introduction 2. The ‘Focus’ = questions 3. Analysis
- 13. Part 2: TheQuestions Low vs high moderation 2 questions 6 questions: exploring international student experience on campus 6 questions (Cousin 2009, p63)
- 14. Anatomy of agood focus group question with ready probes (Cousin 2009, p63) Preparation and good question (and prompts, probes) design is very important! English language Peer support Probing for range Probing for depth Study skills Can you say something about further support..? Open question
- 15. Sample questions • Whataspects of the X best facilitated your learning? • What aspects of the X inhibited your learning ? • What aspects of the X caused the most stress/anxiety and did this stress/anxiety worsen or lessen as the X progressed? • Optional specific questions • Can you suggest one (two) different ways in which the X could be improved? (UoL curriculum review, 2013)
- 16. Key considerations Cousin, 2009 •Trustworthiness • Group Dynamics – Interpersonal – Intrapersonal – Environmental • Convergence or Conformity
- 17. Summary • Focus groupsenable – exploring a shared experience. – the research benefits from the development of understanding and ideas in a group environment. – group bias or conformity is not likely/important. • Must be facilitated. • Valuable in terms of the quality of the data • Facilitator must attend to follow up questions, seeking alternative views • Nominal Group Technique can be used to end a focus groups (or used alone)
- 18. References • Focus groups –Cousin, G. (2009). Focus Group Research in Researching learning in higher education : an introduction to contemporary methods and approaches. – Ritchie, J. & Lewis, J. (2003). Qualitative research practice : a guide for social science students and researchers. – Varga-Atkins, T., McIsaac, J. & Willis, I. (2015) Focus Group meets Nominal Group Technique: an effective combination for student evaluation? Innovations in Education and Teaching International. Published online – Wilson, V. (1997) Focus Group: a useful qualitative method for educational research? British Educational Research Journal, 23:2 • Nominal Group Technique – Practical guide: Varga-Atkins, T., with contributions from Bunyan, N; McIsaac, J; Fewtrell J. (2011) The Nominal Group Technique: a practical guide for facilitators. Written for the ELESIG Small Grants Scheme. Liverpool: University of Liverpool. October. Version 1.0. Available at http://slidesha.re/s5KPUr – Project report: Varga-Atkins, T. with contributions from Bunyan, N; McIsaac, J and Fewtrell, R. (2011) Using the nominal group technique with clickers to research student experiences of e-learning. Project Report written for the ELESIG Small Grants Scheme. Liverpool: University of Liverpool. Available from slideshare.net at http://slidesha.re/sc8gwT
Editor's Notes
- #2 Purpose: to talk about focus groups as method of data collection Why us?: have been doing with Educational Development colleagues focus groups, mainly for curriculum review purpose – Nominal Group Technique. Enjoy this method and participants get something back too. 30 minutes Optional practical hands-on workshop 2-3pm today Slides available on slideshare now, so feel free to upload. References included. On tables, our reports on Nominal Group Technique and a recent journal publication promoting FG as a site for student engagement and evaluation. Feel free to ask questions throughout.
- #3 Situate the method in relation to other forms Focus group process Example questions Mention alternatives such as Nominal Group Technique
- #4 First question (large group) : Have you had experience of focus groups as participants or facilitators? (show of hands) Last question – have a think, write down your responses – we will return to this later in the session. Talk with peers about this.
- #5 Popular in commercial world, testing products, services, markets. Social science – used to explore experience of particular groups
- #6 How have you used focus groups? For what purpose?
- #8 A research method that allows for ‘sharing and comparing’, ‘co-construction of knowledge’ (Cousin, 2006)
- #9 Just to get started – a brief comparison with other two research methods (more after this session) – there are other considerations. May depend on research question and facilitation and group! Feasibility and practicalities: getting volunteers, organisation Give a handout version
- #10 Explore experiences of groups, including those ‘hard to reach’ Focus groups gathers common views and experiences – useful method to gather what most students experience – and moderator can capture dissenting voices. How much of a combined issue/comment/problem? Any dissenters? Reporting includes the sense/tone/nuances from the focus group environment.
- #11 What is a focus group? Note: there are various definitions, sometimes referred to as focus group interview Analysis is based on the resulting interactions as productions of data. Your views on the skills/capacities/qualities needed? (return to your list from earlier)
- #12 Ethics – informed consent and reporting Your views on the skills/capacities/qualities needed? (return to your list from earlier)
- #13 Might have a note-taker or observer taking field notes? Observer reflections on process are additional data. Refer - 3 December: Analysing data in educational research session.
- #14 Preparation – read the literature to shape the research focus, inform data gathering and analysis, support (your) researcher reflexivity and theorising. Prepare a prompt sheet of questions to use flexibly! Topics to cover – might need to leave some out depending on group discussion Could pre-test questions or show other researchers your questions. Method – use Cousin, 2006 Recruitment Single group or series of groups? Purposive sampling Saturation Focus the questions Facilitator – tolerating silences, non-verbal communication, bias, skills, ground rules, warm-up, observer, participant identification, materials, summarising, ranking key points.
- #15 Credibility, trust and maximum participation Group management: Convergence and conformity Are we looking for consensus? Are participants trying to conform to emerging group norms? Are participants Closure (reporting) and thanks
- #16 Briefing guide needs probes and prompt questions, as well as the opening question.
- #17 Trustworthiness: diversity of group (sample) to ensure range of views gathered eg. Across years of a programme, types of students. Importance of exploring new lines of enquiry. Using observer to watch and comment on discussion process, researcher reflexivity, sharing transcript with participants? Interpersonal: relationships between participants and with the researcher/facilitator. Age, Gender & Social Power differentials Intrapersonal: what everyone brings to the room. Facilitator watch for ‘positions’ and work with these. And self-management. Environmental: physical setting influence (any distractions?) and layout of space between seated participants – safety Convergence/conformity: process of sharing and comparing should enable participants to progress their understandings but easy to mistake group talk as agreement. Facilitator watch for who sets moral tone for discussion, any dissenting voices? For some research, group talk will be the key interest while for other research, want to explore the range of opinion, so a developmental approach should be taken. Focus group might introduce new ways of talking about things – ‘stretching the thinkable’ Unintended outcomes: e.g. students reporting feel valued and listened to (in CR focus groups) NB: Depth of data – rich data, not about scale, choice of participants important (sample)
- #18 Add other points arising from group discussion