0761966900.

Publisher description

`I read this book in a single sitting. It is written in an enthusiastic, helpful and clear style that held my attention, and made me want to read what came next. I shall read it again in a single sitting - probably more than once. For it offers common-sense advice about planning and running focus groups which I will want to revisit′ - British Journal of Education Technology The Third Edition of the `standard′ for learning how to conduct a focus group contains: a new chapter comparing and contrasting market research, academic, nonprofit and participatory approaches to focus group research; expanded descriptions on how to plan focus group studies and do the analysis, including step-by-step procedures; examples of questions that ask participants to do more than just discuss, and suggestions on how to answer questions about your focus group research.

This book critically examines the potential of, and suggests ways forward in, harnessing a versatile and powerful method of research - focus groups. The book challenges some of the emerging orthodoxies and presents accessible, insightful and reflective discussions about the issues around focus group work. The contributors, an impressive group of experienced researchers from a range of disciplines and traditions, discuss different ways of designing, conducting and analyzing focus group research. They examine sampling strategies; the implications of combining focus groups with other methods; accessing views of `minority' groups; their contribution to participatory or feminist research; use of software packages; discourse anal

A friendly introduction to the basics of focus group methods with an international feel and an ethical sensibility.

There is an increasing divergence of focus group practice between social researchers and commercial market researchers. This book addresses the key issues and practical requirements of the social researcher, namely: the kinds of social research issues for which focus groups are most and least suitable; optimum group size and composition; and the designing of focusing exercises, facilitation and appropriate analysis. The authors use examples, drawn from their own focus groups research experience, and provide exercises for further study. They address the three main components of composition, conduct and analysis in focus group research and also acknowledge the increasing impact the Internet has had on social research by cover

This volume provides a critical approach to using focus groups, examining how focus groups have been utilized to research a diverse set of research questions covering a broad spectrum of substantive fields. The collection acknowledges the tensions between different research traditions, disciplinary emphases, funding climates, cultural, political, and ethical contexts, and the ever-changing policy backdrop. Contributors to this book encourage researchers to question and surmount disciplinary and terminological labels and disputes in order to capitalize on the full potential of focus groups, to illuminate the complex collaborative processes involved in forming, debating, contesting, and revising opinions; making decisions; and forging identities. The four sections that comprise this collection address, respectively, using focus groups in novel contexts; employing focus groups in mixed methods research designs; innovations in generating focus group data; and new theoretical developments. A New Era in Focus Group Research will be of interest to students and scholars across disciplines as well as focus group practitioners outside of academia.