The purpose of this article is to examine focus groups as a qualitative research method. We describe and evaluate the use of focus groups based on three separate research projects: a study of teachers, parents, and children at two urban daycare centers; a study of the responses of second-generation Muslim Americans to the events of September 11; and a collaborative project on the experiences of children and youth following Hurricane Katrina. By examining three different projects, we are able to assess some of the strengths and challenges of the focus group as a research method. In addition, we analyze the design and implementation of focus groups, including information on participant recruitment, the most effective group size, group composition and issues of segmentation, how to carry out focus groups, and the ideal number of groups to conduct. We pay particular attention to the ways in which focus groups may serve a social support or empowerment function, and our research points to the strength of using this method with marginalized, stigmatized, or vulnerable individuals.
Agar, M.H. and MacDonald, J. (1995) `Focus Groups and Ethnography', Human Organization54: 78-86.
2.
Bloor, M., Frankland, J.Thomas, M. and Robson, K. (2001) Focus Groups in Social Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
3.
Blumer, H. (1969) Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
4.
Brannen, J. and Pattman, R. (2005) `Work-Family Matters in the Workplace: The Use of Focus Groups in a Study of UK Social Services Department', Qualitative Research5(4): 523-42.
5.
Bryman, A. (2006) `Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Research: How Is It Done?', Qualitative Research6(1): 97-113.
6.
Carey, M. (1994) `The Group Effect in Focus Groups: Planning, Implementing, and Interpreting Focus Group Research', in J.M. Morse (ed.) Critical Issues in Qualitative Research Methods , pp. 225-41. London: Sage.
7.
Charmaz, K. (2001) `Grounded Theory', in R.M. Emerson (ed.) Contemporary Field Research: Perspectives and Formulations (2nd Edition), pp. 335-52. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
8.
Crabtree, B.F., Yanoshik, M.K., Miller, W.L. and O'Connor, P.J. (1993) `Selecting Individual or Group Interviews', in D.L. Morgan (ed.) Successful Focus Groups: Advancing the State of the Art, pp. 137-49. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
9.
Darbyshire, P., MacDougal, C. and Schiller, W. (2005) `Multiple Methods in Qualitative Research with Children: More Insight or Just More?', Qualitative Research5(4): 417-36.
10.
Eder, D. and Fingerson, L. (2002) `Interviewing Children and Adolescents', in J.F. Gubrium and J.A. Hostein (eds) Handbook of Interview Research, pp. 181-201. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
11.
Elrod, J.M., Jr. (1981) `Improving Employee Relations with Focus Groups' , Business31(6): 36-8.
12.
Fallon, G. and Brown, R.B. (2002) `Focusing on Focus Groups: Lessons from a Research Project Involving a Bangladeshi Community', Qualitative Research2(2): 195-208.
13.
Fontana, A. and Frey, J.H. (1994) `Interviewing: The Art of Science', in N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln (eds) The Handbook of Qualitative Research, pp. 361-76. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
14.
Fothergill, A. (2002a) `Coping with Daycare: Strategies for Work-Family Balance', Paper presented at the Southern Sociological Society Meetings, Baltimore, MD.
15.
Fothergill, A. (2002b) `Daycare: The Voices of Working Mothers', Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Sociologists for Women in Society. Chicago, IL.
16.
Fothergill, A. (2004a) `Getting Along in the World of Daycare: How Parents, Administrators, and Teachers Construct Their Relationships', Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. San Francisco, CA.
17.
Fothergill, A. (2004b) Heads Above Water: Gender, Class, and Family in the Grand Forks Flood. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
18.
Fothergill, A. and Peek, L. (2006) `Surviving Catastrophe: A Study of Children in Hurricane Katrina', in Natural Hazards Center (ed.) Learning from Catastrophe: Quick Response Research in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, pp. 97-130. Boulder, CO: Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado.
19.
Frey, J.H. and Fontana, A. (1991) `The Group Interview in Social Research', The Social Science Journal28(2): 175-87.
20.
Gold, R.L. (1958) `Roles in Sociological Field Observations', Social Forces36(3): 217-23.
21.
Gubrium, J.F. and Holstein, J.A. (1997) The New Language of Qualitative Method. New York: Oxford University Press.
22.
Jarrett, R.L. (1993) `Focus Group Interviewing with Low-Income Minority Populations: A Research Experience', in D.L. Morgan (ed.) Successful Focus Groups: Advancing the State of the Art, pp. 184-201. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
23.
Johnson, A. (1996) `It's Good to Talk: The Focus Group and the Sociological Imagination', The Sociological Review44: 517-38.
24.
Jowett, M. and O'Toole, G. (2006) `Focusing Researchers' Minds: Contrasting Experiences of Using Focus Groups in Feminist Qualitative Research', Qualitative Research6(4): 453-72.
25.
Kidd, P.S. and Parshall, M.B. (2000) `Getting the Focus and the Group: Enhancing Analytical Rigor in Focus Group Research', Qualitative Health Research10(3): 293-308.
26.
Kieffer, E.C., Salabarria-Pena, Y., Odoms-Young, A.M., Willis, S.K., Baber, K.E. and Guzman, J.R. (2005) `The Application of Focus Group Methodologies to Community-Based Participatory Research', in B.A. Israel, E. Eng, A.J. Schulz, and E.A. Parker (eds) Methods in Community-Based Participatory Research for Health, pp. 146-66. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
27.
Kitzinger, J. (1994) `The Methodology of Focus Groups: The Importance of Interaction Between Research Participants', Sociology of Health and Illness16(1): 103-21.
28.
Knodel, J. (1993) `The Design and Analysis of Focus Group Studies: A Practical Approach', in D.L. Morgan (ed.) Successful Focus Groups: Advancing the State of the Art, pp. 35-50. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
29.
Krueger, R.A. (1988) Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research . Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
30.
Lofland, J. and Lofland, L.H. (1984) Analyzing Social Settings: A Guide to Qualitative Observation and Analysis. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
31.
McFarlane, A.C. (1987) `Family Functioning and Overprotection Following a Natural Disaster: The Longitudinal Effects of Post-Traumatic Morbidity' , Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry21: 210-18.
32.
Morgan, D. (1995) `Why Things (Sometimes) Go Wrong in Focus Groups' , Qualitative Health Research5(4): 516-23.
33.
Morgan, D. (1996) `Focus Groups', Annual Review of Sociology22: 129-52.
34.
Morgan, D. (1997) Focus Groups as Qualitative Research (2nd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
35.
Morgan, D.L. and Krueger, R.A. (1993) `When to Use Focus Groups and Why', in D.L. Morgan (ed.) Successful Focus Groups: Advancing the State of the Art, pp. 3-19. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
36.
Morgan, M., Gibbs, S., Maxwell, K. and Britten, N. (2002) `Hearing Children's Voices: Methodological Issues in Conducting Focus Groups with Children Aged 7-11 Years', Qualitative Research2(1): 5-20.
37.
Peek, L. (2003a) `Community Isolation and Group Solidarity: Examining the Muslim Student Experience After September 11, 2001', in J.L. Monday (ed.) Beyond September 11: An Account of Post-Disaster Research, pp. 333-54. Boulder, CO: Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado.
38.
Peek, L. (2003b) `Reactions and Response: Muslim Students' Experiences on New York City Campuses Post 9/11', Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs23(2): 273-85.
39.
Peek, L. (2005) `Becoming Muslim: The Development of a Religious Identity', Sociology of Religion66(3): 215-42.
40.
Peek, L. and Fothergill, A. (2006) `Reconstructing Childhood: An Exploratory Study of Children in Hurricane Katrina.' Quick Response Report #186. Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center, University of Colorado.
41.
Pugsley, L. (1996) `Focus Groups, Young People, and Sex Education' , in J. Pilcher and A. Coffeey (eds) Gender and Qualitative Research , pp. 114-30. Aldershot: Avebury.
42.
Schutt, R.K. (1996) Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
43.
Smithson, J. (2000) `Using and Analyzing Focus Groups: Limitations and Possibilities', International Journal of Social Research Methodology3(2): 103-19.
44.
Steinberg, T. (2006) Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America. New York: Oxford University Press.
45.
Stewart, D.W., Shamdasani, P.N. and Rook, D.W. (2007) Focus Groups: Theory and Practice (2nd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
46.
Stewart, K. and Williams, M. (2005) `Researching Online Populations: The Use of Online Focus Groups for Social Research', Qualitative Research5(4): 395-416.
47.
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
48.
Wibeck, V., Dahlgren, M.A. and Oberg, G. (2007) `Learning in Focus Groups: An Analytical Dimension for Enhancing Focus Group Research', Qualitative Research7(2): 249-67.
49.
Wilkinson, S. (1999) `How Useful Are Focus Groups in Feminist Research?' , in R. Barbour and J. Kitzinger (eds) Developing Focus Group Research: Politics, Theory and Practice, pp. 64-78. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
50.
Wolff, B., Knodel, J. and Sittitrai, W. (1993) `Focus Groups and Surveys as Complementary Research Methods', in D.L. Morgan (ed.) Successful Focus Groups: Advancing the State of the Art, pp. 118-36. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
51.
Zeller, R.A. (1993) `Focus Group Research on Sensitive Topics: Setting the Agenda without Setting the Agenda', in D.L. Morgan (ed.) Successful Focus Groups: Advancing the State of the Art, pp. 167-83. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
