Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

FIELD RESEARCH AND FOCUS GROUP RESEARCH

that involve marginal groups (e.g., those who are
addicts, prostitutes, crack users) may not be pos-
sible because we must always respect member
privacy. On the other hand, censorship or self-
censorship can be a danger. A compromise position
is to reveal truthful but unflattering material only if
it is essential to a larger argument or to present an
accurate total picture.^62

FOCUS GROUP RESEARCH

The focus groupis a special qualitative research
technique in which people are informally “inter-
viewed” in a group discussion setting.^63 Focus group
research has rapidly grown in the past 20 years. The
procedure is that a researcher gathers together six to
twelve people in a room with a moderator to discuss
issues, generally for about 90 minutes. The moder-
ator is trained to be nondirective and to facilitate free,
open discussion by all group members (i.e., not let
one person dominate the discussion). Group mem-
bers should be homogeneous but not include close
friends or relatives. A typical study uses four to six
separate groups. Focus group topics might include
public attitudes (e.g., race relations, workplace

equality), personal behaviors (e.g., dealing with

AIDS), a new product (e.g., breakfast cereal), or a

political candidate (see Example Box 3, Focus

Group on Father Loss and Manhood). We often com-

bine focus groups with quantitative research, and the

combination has its own specific strengths and

weaknesses (see Expansion Box 8, Advantages and

Limitations of Focus Groups).

Providing very clear instructions and carefully

selecting participants for focus groups can greatly

shape their outcome. As Wibeck, Dahlgren, and

Öberg (2007:262) observed, “Since the interpreta-

tive frames and the previous experience of the par-

ticipants may differ, it is crucial to ensure that the

preconditions for focus group participation are

clear to all participants before the discussion

starts.” Although participants should be moderately

homogeneous, this does not always ensure an open-

ness and a willingness to share beliefs and opinions

candidly. For example, to discuss gender-sensitive

EXAMPLE BOX 3

Focus Group on Father Loss and Manhood

Hunter et al. (2006) conducted focus group research
with young African American men about what it
is like to grow up without a father. Because fewer
than 40 percent of African Americans grow up in
two-parent households, the researchers were inter-
ested in how adolescent boys and young men
acquire their sense of manhood. The authors held
two focus groups at a local community recreation
center where the youth and their families received
social services and where many of the youth played
basketball. Each session was 75 to 90 minutes long
and was audiotaped and later transcribed. The
groups had twenty African American men aged 15 to

22. The authors recruited participants through coun-
    selors and other connections to the center. Most
    participants (92%) had less than a high school edu-
    cation and were currently in school. Most (91%) grew
    up in households without a father. All had a low

income or were from a low working class situation.

The primary question to the focus groups was what

participants thought “being a man” meant, and what

type of man they wanted to become. In their analy-

sis of the transcripts, the authors learned that father

loss was central to the young men’s perspectives

about becoming a man. This information came out

in two ways: general perspectives about fatherhood

and manhood and specific autobiographical reflec-

tions about fathers who had influenced the partici-

pants as young men. Father loss was a recurrent issue

linking general perspectives and autobiography. The

authors found several themes expressed in the nar-

ratives of the young men, including the following

four: (1) some things only a daddy can teach you; (2)

if daddy could have taught you anything, he would

still be here; (3) momma’s both my momma and my

daddy; and (4) I will be the man, my father was not.

Focus group A group of people informally “inter-

viewed” in a discussion setting that is participating in

a qualitative research technique.