Natural Interactions in Artificial Situations: Focus Groups as an Active Social Experiment

Demant, Jakob

doi:10.5772/34659

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…This allowed us to benefit from the already established sense stemming from the social bonds between participants and, thus, to help make them feel more at ease (Grogan and Richards, 2002). While recognising this does not reflect 'real life' talk among participants (Demant, 2012), the focus group discussions shed light on how participants express and co-construct their understandings of acceptable social norms around sexting (Halkier, 2017: 395) as well as the broader cultural understandings that the focus groups tap into.…”

Section: Methods and Datamentioning

confidence: 98%

Towards a Sociological Understanding of Sexting as a Social Practice: A Case Study of University Undergraduate Men

Roberts

Ravn

2019

Sociology

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This article makes the case for understanding young people’s engagement with ‘sexting’ as a social practice. Moving away from the dominant focus on teenagers and (sexual) risk and instead approaching sexting as an ‘everyday’ practice sheds light on how sexting is perceived and situated as a normalised part of contemporary youth culture. Drawing on 10 focus groups with 37 undergraduate men in Melbourne, Australia, our data reveal young men’s significant emphasis on consent, mutuality and respect, marking out ‘appropriate sexting’ practices as distinct from harassment or image-based abuse. Nonetheless, the centrality of a transactional approach to sexting questions those seemingly positive dispositions. Social practice theory permits sophisticated understanding of these nuances, seeing them as bound up and produced in correspondence with the broader meanings, embodied skills and material artefacts that are associated with sexting.

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Section: Methods and Datamentioning

confidence: 98%

Towards a Sociological Understanding of Sexting as a Social Practice: A Case Study of University Undergraduate Men

Roberts

Ravn

2019

Sociology

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“…The individual interviews focused more on life histories and individual experiences of these activities. In focus group research, the use of stimuli materials (pictures, video, written statements, physical objects such as food items) is a common way of generating discussion on a topic decided by the researcher beforehand (Barbour 2007;Demant 2012;Halkier 2010;Törrönen 2002). In this study, photo elicitation, i.e.…”

Section: Methods and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Steroids, it’s so much an identity thing!’ perceptions of steroid use, risk and masculine body image

Ravn

Coffey

2015

Journal of Youth Studies

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This paper explores how taste and distaste, body image and masculinity play into young people's perceptions of risk related to steroid use. Data are drawn from a qualitative study on risk-taking among 52 Danish youths enrolled in high school or vocational training. A number of 'risky' practices such as drug use, fights, speeding, etc. were discussed. In contrast to these practices, which were primarily described in relation to 'physical risks', steroid use was understood as part of an 'identity' or 'lifestyle' in a way these other risks were not. Few interviewees had used steroids, and the large majority distanced themselves from the practice. Reasons for not wanting to use steroids were related to (1) perceiving the drug to be part of a broader lifestyle and identity that they are not interested in committing to or embodying and (2) finding the body image, physicality and associations with steroid use 'fake', 'gross' and distasteful. We draw on recent developments in feminist sociological theory related to the gendered body as both a performance and process to understand steroid use as a practice through which the body and self is produced. More than a one-dimensional 'risky' practice, we argue that gendered and embodied identities are crucial to understanding the dynamics of steroid use. IntroductionThis paper explores how notions of taste and distaste, body image and normative masculinities play into young people's perceptions of risk related to steroid use. Drawing on data from a qualitative study about youth risk-taking and risk perceptions, we investigate the meanings associated with one specific practice, namely steroid use. The discussions around steroid use in the interviews differed significantly from discussions of other risk-taking practices such as recreational drug use, street level fighting or speeding. These practices were mainly discussed in relation to risks specific to participating in the activity (such as being injured in fights or car crashes, getting sick from poor-quality ecstasy pills or becoming addicted to specific drugs). In contrast, the risks associated with steroids were perceived to extend beyond the 'physical' risks of use, and were understood in a broader context of associations between masculinities, bodily appearances and identities.Importantly, only one of the participants had used steroids themselves, meaning that in contrast to other studies describing steroid-users' own perspectives (Monaghan 2001b;

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“…Focus groups were used to emphasize dominant cultural schemas over personal experiences, and to avoid using discourse ‘naturally occurring’ in specific contexts, such as magazines or online forums, where the author has a certain audience and goal in mind. Focus groups allow for some control over the context (Demant, 2012), which is important since schemas are context-dependent (D’Andrade, 1992; DiMaggio, 1997; Oyserman, 2015). Because focus groups take interaction out of its natural context, it is possible to generate discourse on marriage without promoting any particular purpose or personal motives of the participants.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Marriage Rates Despite High Individualization: Understanding the Role of Internal Reference in Swedish Marriage Discourse

Strandell

2017

Cultural Sociology

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Individualization remains the most prominent theoretical explanation for the shifts in European demographic trends since the 1960s, including decreasing marriage and fertility rates and increasing divorce rates. Demographic theorists suggest that a shift from traditional to individualized values, such as autonomy and self-realization, has been driving these trends. However, conceptualizing individualization as a set of values cannot account for why Swedish marriage rates have increased since 1998, despite highly individualized values. This article suggests re-thinking individualization as a form of internally referring attributions in causal and moral reasoning about human behavior, emphasizing agency and internal causes over structure or context. As such, individualization shapes peoples’ perceptions and understandings of the world, including their expectations of marriage and close relationships. Data from focus groups support this conceptualization and show how participants individualize risks, while perceiving marriage itself as inconsequential. In line with previous research, individualized reasoning obfuscated assumptions that were less individualized and implicit.

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Natural Interactions in Artificial Situations: Focus Groups as an Active Social Experiment

Cited by 14 publications

References 40 publications

Towards a Sociological Understanding of Sexting as a Social Practice: A Case Study of University Undergraduate Men

Towards a Sociological Understanding of Sexting as a Social Practice: A Case Study of University Undergraduate Men

‘Steroids, it’s so much an identity thing!’ perceptions of steroid use, risk and masculine body image

Increasing Marriage Rates Despite High Individualization: Understanding the Role of Internal Reference in Swedish Marriage Discourse

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