Online Facebook Focus Group Research of Hard-to-Reach Participants

Abstract

Conducting discovery-oriented qualitative research about the life experiences of hard-to-reach individuals posed several challenges for recruiting participants and collecting rich textual data. In a study pertaining the experiences of Third Culture Kids (TCKs), we explored the benefits of the social media, such as Facebook as a platform to collect data. TCKs are individuals who define their sense of belonging to the third culture trailing their parents moving across borders during their developmental years. Adult TCKs live in many different countries, and accessing and interviewing respondents could be a difficult and costly endeavor. In this article, the authors share their experience conducting online, asynchronous focus groups using a Facebook platform. We reflect upon the process of setting up a secret Facebook focus group for research purposes, recruiting participants, rapport building between facilitator and participants, monitoring and keeping track of participants' responses, and the dynamics emerging within an online focus group. We also discuss the novelty, limitations, and benefits of the Facebook focus group as an emerging mode for collecting qualitative data from hard-to-reach participants.

Prospects for early childhood feeding interventions: An exploration of parent's concerns and acceptability towards social media intervention opportunities

“…Only 14% of participants in the present study, however, said they would share photos of themselves participating in intervention activities. The reluctance of participants in the present study to share photos of themselves may be related to concerns regarding privacy, as was a concern for 30% of participants in this survey and has been identified across the literature as a prime limitation of social media interventions . To somewhat overcome this limitation, the idea of an intervention ‘champion’ was proposed to participants, as a trained and supported participant, that takes the lead in intervention engagement and participation to maximise the potential for observational learning and peer reinforcement .…”

A novel research method for workshops and co-production of interventions: using a secret Facebook group

“…A further strength of this method was that, although potentially novel in its use, it remained evidence-based in the asynchronous remote community (ARC) literature. Previous research has suggested optimal methods of recruitment (online networks); content (a friendly and informal atmosphere, posting often, similar prompts to in-person focus groups); sample size (between 13 and 48 participants); facilitator role (to respond quickly to questions, post prompts at similar times daily) and analysis method (content analysis), which this study followed closely (5,10,12,13,25). Additionally, given that this method allowed for participants to take as much time as needed to consider and respond to a prompt -in contrast to the immediacy of in-person interviews and focus groups -another strength could be increased thoughtfulness of answers.…”

“…Anyone can see the existence of a closed Facebook group. However, a secret group is not viewable by anyone except those in the group -who are able to join only by direct invitation (10). It is private and hidden in searches; those who are not members of a secret Facebook group cannot see the existence or the content of the secret Facebook group (11).…”

“…However, this research is not concerned with who the participant actually is, but rather with each participant's opinions and perceptions on intervention ideas. It is possible that people may say they approve or disprove of something that they do not actually approve or disprove of (in real life) -thus harming the data collected -but this is a risk in any research with people (10).…”

Towards a Conceptualization of Young People’s Political Engagement: A Qualitative Focus Group Study

“…Group interviews conducted online were synchronous and were conducted using the chat tool available on Facebook. Due to the popularity, affordability, and ease of access of this particular online social platform, researchers are increasingly utilizing this approach to conduct studies in a variety of different areas of study (e.g., [71][72][73][74][75]). However, given the different nature of the focus groups conducted (i.e., offline and online), a few considerations were taken into account before implementing them.…”