Developing Focus Group Research

Rosaline (Rose) S. Barbour is an Emerita Professor at the Open University, UK. A medical medial sociologist by discipline, she has carried out research on a variety of topics including reproductive/maternal health, HIV/AIDS, obesity, and cancer. Significantly, all of these projects are located at the intersection of the social and the clinical, thus affording a vantage point for developing and interrogating disciplinary and theoretical frameworks. Rose has published widely on qualitative research, particularly in relation to focus groups and the issue of rigour. Her most recent publications include Introducing Qualitative Research A Student’s Guide, 2nd ed. (SAGE, 2014); Doing Focus Groups, 2nd ed. (SAGE, 2018); and A New Era of Focus Group Research: Challenges, Innovation and Practice (coedited with David L. Morgan; Palgrave, 2017).

• Introduction - Jenny Kitzinger and Rosaline S BarbourThe Challenge and Promise of Focus GroupsThe Impact of Context on Data - Judith Green and Laura HartCombining Focus Groups and Interviews - Lynn MichellTelling How it Is; Telling How it FeelsAre Focus Groups Suitable for `Sensitive′ Topics? - Clare Farquhar with Rita DasHow Useful Are Focus Groups in Feminist Research? - Sue WilkinsonDo Focus Groups Facilitate Meaningful Participation in Social Research? - Rachel Baker and Rachel HintonHow Useful Are Focus Groups for Obtaining the Views of Minority Groups? - Lai-Fong Chui and Deborah KnightAre Focus Groups an Appropriate Tool for Studying Organizational Change? - Rosaline S BarbourCan Focus Groups Access Community Views? - Claire Waterton and Brian WynneSome Issues Arising in the Systematic Analysis of Focus Group Materials - Jane Frankland and Michael BloorThe Analytical Potential of `Sensitive Moments′ in Focus Group Discussions - Jenny Kitzinger and Clare FarquharCan Focus Groups Be Analyzed as Talk? - Greg Myers and Phil MacnaghtenTheorizing Subjects and Subject Matter in Focus Group Research - Sarah Cunningham-Burley, Anne Kerr and Stephen PavisAfterword - Rosaline S Barbour and Jenny Kitzinger

`If you are considering focus group methodology in your own research this will provide you with a good starting point taking you through the epistemological and political issues of such research in process′ - European Journal of Communication