Using focus groups to facilitate culturally anchored research

Abstract

Scholars have acknowledged the need to anchor scientific knowledge about social and psychological processes in the norms, values, and experiences of the partticular population under study. This article describes how focus groups can be incorporated into the planning stages of a research pogram to facilitate these goals. After a brief overview of teh central components of focus group research, and example from a program of research involving dual‐earner African American families is used to as an illustration. The article describes how (a) the identification of cultural knowledge and (b)access to the language participants use to think and talk about a topic can help researchers formulate a conceptual framework, identify important constructs, and develop appropriate instruments for assessing constructs. Some strengths and limitations of focus group research are discussed.

The Move to Middle School: Parents’ Expectations and Early Adolescents’ Adjustment in Rural Communities

“…When groups are assembled based on participant similarity that is relevant to the study, such as having a child preparing for, or currently experiencing the middle school transition, self-disclosure of perspectives and experiences is promoted. At the same time, the group format allows for disagreement in views that results in additional discussion of points for clarification and elaboration of views (Hughes & Dumont, 1993;Krueger, 1994). Researchers have demonstrated the appropriateness of focus group methodology for research on parents in rural communities (Farmer et al, 2006;Owens, Richerson, Murphy, Jageleweski, & Rossi, 2007).…”

What Parents Say and in Which Way They Convey Messages about Ethnicity to Children?

“…Roditelji ove poruke mogu prenositi izravno upozoravajući ili posredno kroz vlastiti oprez u svakodnevnom životu. Promicanje nepovjerenja ne mora nužno biti usmjereno prema većinskoj grupi, nego se konceptualno i empirijski mogu razlikovati promicanja nepovjerenja prema većinskoj i prema drugim manjinskim grupama uz koje se vežu negativni stereotipi (Hughes i DuMont, 1993;Waters, 1994).…”

“…Jedan dio roditelja aktivno promiče egalitarnost u svojim obiteljima naglašavajući vrijednost, marljivost i upornost te njihovu veću važnost za uspjeh u životu od same etničke pripadnosti (Hamm, 2001;Hughes i DuMont, 1993). Slične ciljeve neki roditelji pokušavaju postići i pasivnijim pristupom, odnosno potpuno izbjegavajući teme vezane uz etničku pripadnost (Thorton i sur., 1990).…”

The relationship between personal and collective identity: A narrative analysis of a campus ministry community

“…The transcripts from three focus group interviews (Hughes & DuMont, 1993;Morgan, 1988) served as one source for constructing the community narrative. The focus group interview method may reveal shared meaning within the community more clearly than when the researcher constructs this based on a number of separate individual interviews.…”