The Focus Group Interview: A Method for Assessing Users' Evaluation of Library Service

Widdows, Richard; Hensler, Tia A.; Wyncott, Marlaya H.

doi:10.5860/crl_52_04_352

Cited by 33 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Bloor et al (2001, p. 42) note: "Group interviews are rarely to be preferred to individual interviews in academic social research as individual differences in viewpoint within the group will be blurred and underreported". In group interviews, it is important that the interviewer is able to work with different personalities, making sure that no one dominates the group interview and that everybody's views and opinions are expressed (Widdows et al, 1991). Both interviewers had experience in leading and moderating group conversations and ensured that everyone was able to express their opinions by specifically asking participants to elaborate when necessary.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reframing the Design Process: Integrating Goals, Methods and Manifestation into the Co-Evolution Model

Storm¹,

Maanen²,

Gonçalves³

2019

Proc. Int. Conf. Eng. Des.

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In their early years of education, design students may experience difficulties in reframing design problems. Since reframing is linked to creativity, this may be problematic. While there are some models available to describe the reframing process, it is yet unclear how they are supporting design students. This study concerned the development and test of a framing model based on co-evolution transitions, through a two-part study: interviews with expert designers and workshops followed by group interviews with novices. The resulting model offers a way of thinking and a way of working, based on the fluidity of the design process. This study yielded two major insights. Firstly, students tend to perceive the problem space to be fixed once they defined it, even if they discovered disparate information along the way. Secondly, the developed model provides students with guidance and confidence in dealing with complex problems. Our results have a considerable impact on design education, as it is important to reinforce to design students that both the problem and solution understanding are fluid, and this model provides initial steps to help designers structuring their process.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reframing the Design Process: Integrating Goals, Methods and Manifestation into the Co-Evolution Model

Storm¹,

Maanen²,

Gonçalves³

2019

Proc. Int. Conf. Eng. Des.

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“…We chose focus groups as our data collection method to bring together first semester transfer students in small groups to encourage interaction between the participants, with the intention that the students would share their stories and comment on each other's experiences (Glitz, 1997;Von Seggern & Young, 2003;Widdows, Hensler, & Wyncott, 1991). We conducted focus groups in both Fall and Spring semesters to capture any differences in the overall experiences transfer students had depending on which semester they entered the college.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Don’t Make Me Feel Dumb”: Transfer Students, the Library, and Acclimating to a New Campus

Harrick

Fullington

2019

EBLIP

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Objective -This qualitative study sought to delineate and understand the role of the library in addressing the barriers transfer students experience upon acclimating to their new campus.Methods -A screening survey was used to recruit transfer students in their first semester at Brooklyn College (BC) to participate in focus groups. The participants discussed the issues they encountered by answering open-ended questions about their experiences on campus, and with the library specifically.Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2019, 14.3 78 Results -Transfer students desired current information about campus procedures, services, and academic support. They often had to find this information on their own, wasting valuable time. Students felt confused and stressed by this process; however, strategic library involvement can help alleviate this stress.Conclusion -Involving the library more fully in orientations could ease students' confusion in their transitional semester. Students desired local knowledge, and the library is in a key position to disseminate this information.

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“…Notwithstanding numerous articles on the methodology of focus groups within a library environment (e.g. Widdows et al, 1991;Glitz, 1997;Glitz et al, 2001), and extensive coverage within the general research literature (e.g. MacDougall, 2001), the limitations of this method for evidence based practice should be recognised.…”

Section: Andrew Booth and Anne Bricementioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence‐based Practice for Information Professionals:A Handbook

2005

Journal of Documentation

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Librarians working in healthcare in the late 1990s had the considerable privilege, and indeed pleasure, of witnessing and participating in, a revolutionary paradigm which was to place information management, its associated skills and technologies in centre stage in the delivery of appropriate and effective care. That paradigm, variously identified as "evidence based medicine", "evidence based healthcare" or "evidence based practice" placed a premium on the retrieval of rigorous and reliable evidence to inform clinical decision making.Had this been the full impact of this new model for ongoing discovery and lifelong learning then you, the reader, likely working in an information sector outside healthcare, would have no need to even open this edited book on evidence based information practice. The fact that you have opened this book bears testimony to the migration of the "evidence based" model to other sectors including education, social work and management. It also attests to an increasing interest in the evidence base for our own practice. Although much of the trail has been blazed from within the healthcare sector, and is necessarily represented as such in this book, we contend (and many colleagues agree) that this model is equally valid for the sector within which you are working. What is required is the application of the tools and techniques to your specific area of practice, be it in libraries, museums or archives, and its sensitive adaptation to your local culture and environment.We, the editors, would like to invite you to examine this model with an open mind and attempt to identify its potential usefulness wthin your specific context. In doing so we would encourage you to challenge, to criticize and, even, to combat! "No stimulation without irritation" has long been a rallying cry from Muir Gray, one of the leading proponents of evidence based practice. In producing the light that only the generation of heat can occasion we believe that the cause of evidence based practice will be better advanced than through some uneasy and artificial consensus.We would like to take this opportunity to thank both our spouses and families for their patience, forbearance and encouragement as we oversaw the progress of this work from idea to realization.

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The Focus Group Interview: A Method for Assessing Users' Evaluation of Library Service

Cited by 33 publications

References 4 publications

Reframing the Design Process: Integrating Goals, Methods and Manifestation into the Co-Evolution Model

Reframing the Design Process: Integrating Goals, Methods and Manifestation into the Co-Evolution Model

“Don’t Make Me Feel Dumb”: Transfer Students, the Library, and Acclimating to a New Campus

Evidence‐based Practice for Information Professionals:A Handbook

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