A Review of the Use and Potential of Focus Groups in Social Work Research

Abstract

Over the last 15 years, social scientists increasingly have used focus groups as a method for collecting qualitative data. With focus groups, a moderator uses the group process with a small number of participants to stimulate discussion and obtain information on the beliefs, attitudes, or motivations of participants on a specific topic. Based upon a review of a sample of social work articles, researchers used focus groups to study a wide range of topics, with diverse and vulnerable populations, and in combination with other qualitative or quantitative methods. Although focus groups have limitations, they have the potential to be an important qualitative data collection method to capture information about the variety of issues and populations dealt with by the social work profession. In addition, social work researchers have the potential to further develop focus groups as a qualitative research method.

Outside Looking In: The Community Impacts of Anti-Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Hate Crime

“…Moreover, the interaction that takes place between participants stimulates thought and allows group members to build on one another's responses (Merton et al, 1957;Warr, 2005). Focus groups furthermore give participants the opportunity to clarify their responses, provide evidence for their opinions, and highlight the reasons why they may disagree with other participants (Linhorst, 2002;Warr, 2005). As a result, participants' responses have a sort of ecological validity not typical of survey research (Stewart, Shamdasani, & Rook, 1990).…”

Enhancing Empowerment and Leadership Among Homeless Youth in Agency and Community Settings: A Grounded Theory Approach

“…This strand of constructivism also emphasizes an interactional view of human behavior, which assumes that individuals are intricately connected to their social environments and that relational, social and psychological factors are interrelated (Berger and Luckmann 1966;Witkin 1999). Recognizing the influence of the social environment and of interpersonal interactions, we elected to use focus groups to obtain in-depth knowledge about the beliefs, attitudes and perceptions of homeless young people with respect to agency and community leadership opportunities (Linhorst 2002).…”

Terrorism, distress and coping: High versus low impact regions and direct versus indirect civilian exposure

“…In order to attain maximum pairing between stress experiences and types of coping, we prudently attempted to adjust the measurement of coping to the specific context of the AlAqsa Intifada by developing an instrument that was more pertinent to the specific circumstances of the situation. The items comprising the CTS were based on the outcome of focus groups (Krueger, 1994;Linhorst, 2002;Spradely, 1979) facilitated by the first author with 16 Israeli citizens residing in one of the terror-afflicted cities, concerning their particular ways of coping with the threat of terrorist attacks. Focus groups are usually composed of 6 to 12 participants (Morgan, 1988;Stewart & Shamdasani, 1990).…”