TY - JOUR
T1 - Serial Focus Groups
T2 - A Longitudinal Design for Studying Interactive Discourse
AU - Baden, Christian
AU - Pasitselska, Olga
AU - Aharoni, Tali
AU - Tenenboim-Weinblatt, Keren
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - Focus group methods specialize in the analysis of interactive discourse, but are only rarely employed as a stand-alone method to study such phenomena, owing to inherent limitations concerning the comparability and generalizability of findings. In this paper, we argue that focus groups undergo three kinds of transformations, involving changes in participants’ cognitive states, social ties, and discursive behavior, which raise both analytic challenges and valuable opportunities for the study of shared meanings and interactive negotiation processes in society. Introducing Serial Focus Groups, we extend familiar focus group designs as a method for studying interactive discourse in a longitudinal perspective, capitalizing on the analytic potentials raised by these transformations. Reviewing the methodological literature and drawing upon two large-scale focus group studies of socially interactive sense-making, we argue that serial focus groups can help overcome some of the limitations of cross-sectional focus groups and offer valuable new opportunities for analysis and validation.
AB - Focus group methods specialize in the analysis of interactive discourse, but are only rarely employed as a stand-alone method to study such phenomena, owing to inherent limitations concerning the comparability and generalizability of findings. In this paper, we argue that focus groups undergo three kinds of transformations, involving changes in participants’ cognitive states, social ties, and discursive behavior, which raise both analytic challenges and valuable opportunities for the study of shared meanings and interactive negotiation processes in society. Introducing Serial Focus Groups, we extend familiar focus group designs as a method for studying interactive discourse in a longitudinal perspective, capitalizing on the analytic potentials raised by these transformations. Reviewing the methodological literature and drawing upon two large-scale focus group studies of socially interactive sense-making, we argue that serial focus groups can help overcome some of the limitations of cross-sectional focus groups and offer valuable new opportunities for analysis and validation.
KW - focus groups
KW - mixed methods
KW - narrative
KW - philosophy of science
KW - qualitative meta-analysis/synthesis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139018001&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221118766
DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221118766
M3 - مقالة
SN - 1609-4069
VL - 21
JO - The International Journal of Qualitative Methods
JF - The International Journal of Qualitative Methods
ER -