Learning in focus groups

The focus group is a research methodology in which a small group of participants gathers to discuss a specified issue under the guidance of a moderator. The discussions are tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed. Notably, the interaction between focus group participants has seldom been evaluated, analysed or discussed in empirical research. We argue that considering the focus group in light of current research into interaction in problem-based learning (PBL) tutorial groups would facilitate the deliberate exploitation of group processes in designing focus groups, staging data collection and analysing and interpreting data. When the analytical focus shifts from mere content analysis to an analysis of what the participants themselves are trying to learn, one can explore not only what the participants are talking about, but also how they are trying to understand and conceptualise the issue under discussion.

[1]  Esa Poikela,et al.  Understanding problem-based learning , 2006 .

[2]  Pia Bülow,et al.  Who's talking: drawing conclusions from focus groups—some methodological considerations , 2003 .

[3]  Michael Billig,et al.  Arguing and Thinking: A Rhetorical Approach to Social Psychology , 1987 .

[4]  G. Myers,et al.  Can focus groups be analysed as talk , 1999 .

[5]  Rosaline S. Barbour,et al.  Introduction: The Challenge and Promise of Focus Groups , 1999 .

[6]  Exploring focus groups : Analysing focus group data about genetically modified food , 2004 .

[7]  Gunilla Öberg,et al.  Communicative Aspects of Environmental Management by Objectives: Examples from the Swedish Context , 2006, Environmental management.

[8]  Maggi Savin-Baden,et al.  Facilitating problem-based learning: illuminating perspectives , 2003 .

[9]  Gunilla Öberg,et al.  Questioning to learn and learning to question: Structure and function of problem-based learning scenarios in environmental science education , 2001 .

[10]  Greg Myers,et al.  Displaying opinions: Topics and disagreement in focus groups , 1998, Language in Society.

[11]  M. Yoshihama.  Breaking the web of abuse and silence: voices of battered women in Japan. , 2002, Social work.

[12]  Vimla L. Patel,et al.  Explanatory Models in the Processing of Science Text: The Role of Prior Knowledge Activation Through Small-Group Discussion , 1989 .

[13]  M. Savin-Baden.  Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education: Untold Stories. , 2000 .

[14]  D. Margetson.  Understanding Problem-Based Learning1 , 1993 .

[15]  Janet Smithson,et al.  Using and analysing focus groups: Limitations and possibilities , 2000 .

[16]  P. Stevens.  Focus groups: collecting aggregate-level data to understand community health phenomena. , 1996, Public health nursing.

[17]  S. Wilkinson.  Focus group methodology: a review , 1998 .

[18]  Chris Beaumont,et al.  The Tutorial Process , 2006 .

[19]  C. Hmelo‐Silver.  Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn? , 2004 .

[20]  D H Dolmans,et al.  Solving problems with group work in problem‐based learning: hold on to the philosophy , 2001, Medical education.

[21]  D. Morgan.  Focus groups for qualitative research. , 1988, Hospital guest relations report.

[22]  Exploration of a method to analyze group interactions in problem-based learning , 2004, Medical teacher.

[23]  E. Goffman.  Encounters; Two Studies in the Sociology of Interaction , 1962 .

[24]  J. Kitzinger,et al.  Developing Focus Group Research: Politics, Theory and Practice , 1998 .

[25]  M. Agar,et al.  Focus Groups and Ethnography , 1995 .

[26]  C. V. D. van der Vleuten,et al.  Student perceptions about the occurrence of critical incidents in tutorial groups. , 2001, Medical teacher.

[27]  Robin L. Jarrett,et al.  Focus group interviewing with low-income minority populations: A research experience. , 1993 .

[28]  Richard A. Krueger,et al.  Developing Questions for Focus Groups , 1997 .

[29]  G R Norman,et al.  Issues in cognitive psychology: implications for professional education , 1996, Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

[30]  J. Kitzinger.  The methodology of focus groups: the importance of interaction between research participants , 1994 .

[31]  LuAnn Wilkerson.  Tutors and small groups in problem‐based learning: Lessons from the literature , 1996 .

[32]  J. Kitzinger,et al.  The analytical potential of 'sensitive moments' in focus group discussions , 1998 .

[33]  S. Wilkinson.  Focus Groups in Health Research , 1998, Journal of health psychology.

[34]  H. Schmidt.  Foundations of problem‐based learning: some explanatory notes , 1993, Medical education.