IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socres/v20y2015i4p58-70.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Re-Thinking the Boundaries of the Focus Group: A Reflexive Analysis on the Use and Legitimacy of Group Methodologies in Qualitative Research

Author

Listed:
  • Martina Angela Caretta
  • Elena Vacchelli

Abstract

This article aims at problematizing the boundaries of what counts as focus group and in so doing it identifies some continuity between focus group and workshop, especially when it comes to arts informed and activity laden focus groups. The workshop [1] is often marginalized as a legitimate method for qualitative data collection outside PAR (Participatory Action Research)-based methodologies. Using examples from our research projects in East Africa and in London we argue that there are areas of overlap between these two methods, yet we tend to use concepts and definitions associated with focus groups because of the lack of visibility of workshops in qualitative research methods academic literature. The article argues that focus groups and workshops present a series of intertwined features resulting in a blending of the two which needs further exploration. In problematizing the boundaries of focus groups and recognizing the increasing usage of art-based and activity-based processes for the production of qualitative data during focus groups, we argue that focus groups and workshop are increasingly converging. We use a specifically feminist epistemology in order to critically unveil the myth around the non-hierarchical nature of consensus and group interaction during focus group discussions and other multi-vocal qualitative methods and contend that more methodological research should be carried out on the workshop as a legitimate qualitative data collection technique situated outside the cycle of action research.

Suggested Citation

  • Martina Angela Caretta & Elena Vacchelli, 2015. "Re-Thinking the Boundaries of the Focus Group: A Reflexive Analysis on the Use and Legitimacy of Group Methodologies in Qualitative Research," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 20(4), pages 58-70, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:20:y:2015:i:4:p:58-70
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.3812
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5153/sro.3812
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5153/sro.3812?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Catterall & P. Maclaran, 1997. "Focus Group Data and Qualitative Analysis Programs: Coding the Moving Picture as Well as the Snapshots," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 2(1), pages 41-49, March.
    2. Dave Merryweather, 2010. "Using Focus Group Research in Exploring the Relationships between Youth, Risk and Social Position," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 15(1), pages 11-23, February.
    3. Gill Callaghan, 2005. "Accessing Habitus: Relating Structure and Agency through Focus Group Research," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 10(3), pages 33-44, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. S. H. Hengky, 2022. "Evolving sustainability Ciletuh's Global Geopark," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Massey, Oliver T., 2011. "A proposed model for the analysis and interpretation of focus groups in evaluation research," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 21-28, February.
    2. Sabirah Adams & Shazly Savahl, 2017. "Children’s Discourses of Natural Spaces: Considerations for children’s Subjective Well-Being," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 10(2), pages 423-446, June.
    3. Piekkari, Rebecca & Welch, Denice Ellen & Welch, Lawrence Stephenson & Peltonen, Jukka-Pekka & Vesa, Tiina, 2013. "Translation behaviour: An exploratory study within a service multinational," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 771-783.
    4. Michaela Benson, 2014. "Trajectories of middle-class belonging: The dynamics of place attachment and classed identities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(14), pages 3097-3112, November.
    5. Jari Salo, 2015. "Mobile Game Advertising Recall in Pre- and Post-Game Experience," International Conference on Marketing and Business Development Journal, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 261-273, July.
    6. Elizabeth Benninger & Megan Schmidt-Sane & James C. Spilsbury, 2021. "Conceptualizing Social Determinants of Neighborhood Health through a Youth Lens," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(6), pages 2393-2416, December.
    7. Robinson, Jude & Kirkcaldy, Andrew J., 2007. "'You think that I'm smoking and they're not': Why mothers still smoke in the home," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 641-652, August.
    8. Bahia Abdallah & Heather Whitford & Caroline Bradbury‐Jones & Martyn Jones, 2021. "Perceptions and attitudes of parents and healthcare professionals about the option of using infant massage in neonatal intensive care units," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3-4), pages 499-507, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:20:y:2015:i:4:p:58-70. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.