| Session Title: Extending the Focus Group Method |
| Skill-Building Workshop 358 to be held in Pacific B on Thursday, Nov 3, 1:35 PM to 2:20 PM |
| Sponsored by the Qualitative Methods TIG |
| Presenter(s): |
| Katherine Ryan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, k-ryan6@illinois.edu |
| Peter Muhati, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, mmuhati2@illinois.edu |
| Tysza Gandha, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, tgandha2@illinois.edu |
| Abstract: Focus groups are fundamentally group interviews or collective conversations about a limited set of topics (Bloor, Frankland, Thomas, & Robson, 2001; Kamberelis & Dimitriadis, 2005; Morgan, 2002). While this method encompasses several approaches, this workshop will specifically compare two focus group types: 1) the more common 'theory-building' focus group, and 2) the 'narrative' focus group which evaluators might be less familiar with. By (re)introducing attendees to multiple focus group approaches, we hope to expand the possibilities for evaluators to use focus groups to gather rich and meaningful data. In this interactive session, brief protocol and data analysis examples will be shared to illustrate each focus group type. Attendees will have the opportunity to practice writing questions/probes for the narrative focus group and to participate in analyzing a taped excerpt from a narrative focus group. References to additional information and tools will be provided for further study. |