Research Methods & Encyclopedias in Social Sciences

Basic and Advanced Focus Groups illustrates both the different types of focus groups and how to decide among those options in order to produce the most effective focus groups possible. A variety of approaches to doing research with focus groups gives readers the tools to develop and examine their research designs, starting with the basics. Advanced coverage in each chapter takes an in-depth look at topics such as moderating focus groups, using mixed methods, and working with different sizes of groups.

Doing Focus Groups provides a concise, practical introduction to planning and organizing successful focus groups. Barbour discusses the advantages and limitations of using group discussion and demonstrates effective methods for collecting and analyzing data.

Focus Group Discussions addresses the challenges associated with conducting and writing focus group research. It provides detailed guidance on the practical and theoretical considerations in conducting focus group discussions including: designing the discussion guide, recruiting participants, training a field team, moderating techniques and ethical considerations.

Focus Group Methodology is an introductory text which leads readers through the entire process of designing a focus group study, from conducting interviews and analyzing data to presenting the findings.

What is a focus group? Why do we use them? When should we use them? When should we not? Focus Groups for the Social Science Researcher provides a step-by-step guide to undertaking focus groups, whether as a stand-alone method or alongside other qualitative or quantitative methods. It recognizes the challenges that focus groups encounter and provides tips to address them. The book highlights three unique, inter-related characteristics of focus groups. First, they are inherently social in form. Second, the data emerge organically through conversation; they are emic in nature. Finally, focus groups generate data at three levels of analysis: the individual, group, and interactive level. The book builds from these three characteristics to explain when focus groups can usefully be employed in different research designs. This is an essential text for students and researchers looking for a concise and accessible introduction to this important approach to data collection.

This book shows researchers how to plan for and conduct interviews and focus groups, and how to use them in various qualitative research designs. It also explains how to code, analyze, and report the data once it's been gathered.

Drawing on the authors thirty years of combined experience in the field, this authoritative, step-by-step guide to conducting focus groups features dedicated chapters on all aspects of the research process.