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Gr oup I ntervi ew:

Ten Text s on Gr oup I nt er vi ewsv / Car st en St er l und, Psykol ogi sk I nst i t ut

I nt r oduct i on:

I n t he f i el d of gr oup i nt er vi ewi ng i t i s possi bl e t o di st i ngui sh bet weent wo t r adi t i ons: On one hand, t he German "gr oup di scussi on" ; and on t heother hand, t he Angl osaxon f ocus group i nt er vi ew" .

Gr oup Di scussi on ( Gr uppendi skussi onsver f ahr en) :

Gr oup Di scussi on Resear ch or i gi nated wi t h Mangol d ( 1960 & 1973) &Pol l ock' s ( 1955) st udi es i n opi ni ons and at t i t udes f r om t he 1950' s at The

Frankf ur t I nst i t ut e of Soci al Sci ence. Thi s met hod of gr oup di scussi onwas based on a cr i t i ci sm of t he pr eval ent met hods of i nt er vi ewi ng. Thecent r al i dea i s: The i nt er act i ve st i mul at i on t hat i s f ound i n t hemovement of a di scuss i on i s t he common ground of t he di al ogue. Thi sar gument i s suppor t ed by the hi gher pr oxi mi t y of r eal i t y i n t he si t uat i onof a di scussi on and t he spont anei t y of t he expr essi on ( Fl i ck et al .1991: 186) .

Focus Gr oup I nt ervi ew:The f i r st st udi es of Focus Gr oup I nt er vi ews wer e done by Robert Mer t onand Pat r i ci a Kendal l s i n t hei r anal ysi s of pr opaganda and t hei r r esear chi n communi cat i on dur i ng 1940' s and 1950' s. Char act er i st i c of t hi si nt er vi ew met hod i s a f ocus on a def i ned t opi c. I t can be a f i l m, anewspaper ar t i cl e, or a soci al si t uat i on. I n a r el at i vel y open- endedi nt er vi ew t he r esear cher t r i es t o gener at e i nf or mat i on f r om t he r eact i onsand i nt erpret at i ons of t he gr oup. The use of t he Focus Gr oup I nt er vi ewcan speci al l y be f ound i n t he area of market i ng and adver t i si ng r esear ch.

Gr oup Di scussi on:

Dr eher , M. & Dr eher, E. ( 1982) . Gr uppendi skussi on. I n: G. L. Huber & H.Mandl ( Eds. ) . Ver bal Dat en: Ei ne Ei nfhrung in die Grundfagen undMet hoden der Erhebung und Auswer t ung. Wei nhei m: Bel t z Ver l ag ( pp. 141-164) .

The authors present t he met hod of group di scussi on as ani nst r ument of r esear ch and anal ysi s i n t he study of t he st r at egi es of t hei ndi vi dual : how t he subj ect pl ans, const r uct s, and l egi t i mat i zes i t spr act i ce and r eal i t y.

The ar t i cl e f ocuses on t he concept of di scussi on. Thear gument at i on, i nt er change, r easoni ng, and est i mat i on of a di scussi oncreat e cl ar i f i cat i on of a t opi c. The aut hor s ar gue t hat i t i s t he samepr ocedur e t hat t he subj ect " uses" i n i t s i nt er pr et at i on of r eal i t y.

Fl i ck, U. et al . ( 1990) . Handbuch Qual i t at i ve Soci al f orschung. Mnchen:Psychol ogi e Verl ags Uni on.

Thi s i s an i nt er di sci pl i nary handbook i n qual i t at i ve r esear chof more t han 500 pages. The handbook i s a most compr ehensi ve pr esent at i on

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of qual i t at i ve r esear ch i n t he soci al sci ences, and i t cover s bot h t heGer man and t he Angl osaxon l anguage domai ns.

I t has t wo chapt er s on t he hi st or y and t he theor et i caldevel opment of Gr oup I nt ervi ew. One of t hese chapt ers ( Dr eher & Dr eher ,kap. 6. 1. 3. , s. 186- 188) detai l s t he German Gr oup Di scussi on - and t he

ot her ( Hor f , C. , kap. 6. 1. 1. , s. 178- 179) det ai l s t he Angl osaxon FocusGr oup I nt er vi ewi ng ( Fokusi er t es I nt er vi ew) .

The l ast sect i on of t he book cont ai ns sampl es of var i ousappl i cat i ons of gr oup i nt er vi ewi ng: Anal yses of wor ki ng condi t i ons,or gani zat i onal r esear ch and di agnosi s, and yout h st udi es.

Kr ger , H. ( 1983) . Gr uppendi skussi onen: ber l egungen zur Rekonst r ukt i onsozi al er Wi r kl i chkei t aus der Si cht der Bet r of f enen. Sozi al e Wel t , 34,90- 109.

I n t hi s ar t i cl e t he aut hor debat es t he l egi t i mat i on of t hegr oup di scussi on method. Wi t hi n t he method of gr oup di scussi on, he ar guest hat i t i s possi bl e t o capt ur e t he compar at i ve exper i ence of t he

par t i ci pant s and t hei r shar ed i nt er est s. The subj ect can be anal ysi s ofgr oup members' l i f e wor l ds. As a method t he Gr oup Di scussi on cont i nues t obe unspeci f i c and of t en subordi nated, he concl udes.

Lamnek, S. ( 1988/ 1989) . Qual i t at i ve Sozi al f orschung. Band 1: Methodol ogi e( 1988) . Band 2: Met hoden und Techni ken ( 1989) . Mnchen: Psychol ogi eVer l ags Uni on.

I n t wo vol umes t he author makes a compl et e summar y of t hef i el d of qual i t at i ve soci al r esear ch. Vol ume 1 f ocuses on t he t heor et i cal( met hodol ogi cal ) basi s of qual i t at i ve r esear ch. I n vol ume 2, met hods,t echni ques, and pr act i cal uses of t he qual i t at i ve r esear ch ar e pr esent ed.

Vol ume 2 cont ai ns a t horough chapt er on gr oup di scussi on t hatgoes t hr ough t opi cs such as t he hi st or y of gr oup di scussi on, def i ni t i on

of t he concept , demar cat i on f r om ot her adj oi ni ng met hods, t he i dea ofgr oup di scussi on, and t he t echni cal basi s of t he method.

The book i s comprehensi bl e and desi gned f or use as an Amer i cant ext book.

Peukert , R. & Behnken ( 1984) . Gespr chsher meneut i k. Gr uppendi skussi on al sMethode zur Rekonst r ukt i on der Lebenswel t von Lehr l i ngen, Vol ume 1- 4.Frankf ur t h: Ext r abuch.

The f our vol umes ar e t he r esul t of a f i ve year s' r esear chwher e t he gr oup di scussi on method was used t o reconst r uct t he l i f e worl dof appr ent i ces. Vol umes 1 & 4 cover s t he t heor et i cal aspect s of gr oupdi scussi on. Vol umes 2 & 3 mai nl y cont ai n an eval uat i on of t he method of

r esear ch on t he l i f e wor l d of appr ent i ces.The r eader i s i nt r oduced t o t he met hod of di al ogi c hermeneut i c( Gesprchshermeneut i k) . The met hod i s used t o r econst r uct and i nt er pr ett he spoken l anguage that ar i ses f r om t he pr act i ce and i nt er act i vest r uct ur es of a gr oup. The t ext of t he di al ogue i s spl i t up i nt o si ngl eact s of di al ogue. The anal ysi s of t he di al ogue i s compar ed wi t h t heanal ysi s of t he conver sat i on, anal ysi s of t he nar r at i ve and anal ysi s oft he speech.

Focus Gr oup I nt ervi ew:

Adver t i si ng Resear ch Foundat i on ( 1985) . Focus Gr oups: I ssues and

Appr oaches. New Yor k: Aut hor .

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Thi s shor t document of 30 pages r evi ews many of t he pr act i calpr obl ems encount ered i n conduct i ng and eval uat i ng f ocus gr oup st udi es:I mpor t ant ar eas of sampl e si ze and composi t i on, r ecr ui t i ng, conduct i ngt he i nt er vi ews, and anal yzi ng and r epor t i ng t he resul t s.

Thi s gui de emphasi zes t he pract i cal aspect , and i t shows how

some common and ver y bot her some probl ems can be handl ed or avoi ded.

Gol dman, A. E. & McDonal d; S. S. ( 1987) . The Gr oup Dept h I ntervi ew:Pr i nci pl es and Pr act i ces. Engl ewood Cl i f f s, New YJ er sey: Pr ent i ce- Hal l .Gr eenbaum, T. L. ( 1987) . The Pr act i cal Handbook and Gui de t o Focus Gr oupResear ch. Lexi ngt on, MA: Lexi ngton Books.

As t he t i t l e i mpl i es t hi s book i s a pr act i cal gui de andhandbook t o f ocus gr oup r esearch. I t gi ves a br i ef r esear ch overvi ew andan i nt r oduct i on t o t he Focus Gr oup I nt ervi ew.

The mai n par t of t hi s book f ocuses on t he speci f i c proceduresof Focus Gr oup Research: pr epar i ng f or t he f ocus group sessi on; gr oupcomposi t i on; est i mat i ng t he cost el ement s; et hi cs of f ocus gr oup

r esear ch; and f ocus groups wi t h chi l dr en.Kr ueger , Ri char d A. ( 1988) . Focus Gr oups: A Pract i cal gui de f or Appl i edResear ch. Newbur y Park, CA: Sage.

Thi s i s a pract i cal gui de t hat i ncor porat es r esear ch f r om bothsoci al sci ences and market i ng r esear ch. The aut hor gi ves advi ce onconduct i ng f ocus gr oup i nt er vi ews, wi t h cl ear descr i pt i ons of t het echni cal aspect s of successf ul f ocus groups and many common- sensesuggest i ons f or appl i cat i on. Par t i cul ar at t ent i on i s pl aced on t he usesof f ocus gr oup i nt er vi ewi ng f or non- pr of i t or gani zat i ons.

An over vi ew hi ghl i ght s di st i nct i ons bet ween the f ocus gr ouppr ocedur e and ot her seemi ngl y si mi l ar r esear ch pr ocedur es, Kr uegeri nt r oduces t he concept s of pl anni ng, quest i onni ng, moder at i ng, and

anal yzi ng f ocus gr oup i nt er vi ews. He i ncl udes exampl es of f ocus gr oupquest i ons, l et t er s of i nvi t at i on, screeni ng quest i onnai r es, and anal ysi st i ps as wel l as act ual f ocus gr oup r epor t s.

The book i ncl udes an ext ensi ve l i st of r ef er ences.

Morgan, Davi d L. ( 1988) . Focus Gr oups as Qual i t at i ve Resear ch:Qual i t at i ve Research Methods Vol . 16. Newbur y Park, CA: Sage.

Thi s vol ume descr i bes a var i et y of appl i cat i ons f or FocusGr oups Resear ch i n t he soci al sci ences, poi nt i ng out i t s pot ent i al as asel f - cont ai ned means of col l ect i ng data and as a suppl ement t o ot herr esear ch met hods, bot h qual i t at i ve and quant i t at i ve.

The author compares t he f ocus group t o mor e common qual i t at i ve

t echni ques - such as i ndi vi dual i nt er vi ewi ng and par t i ci pant obser vat i on- st r essi ng the advant ages and weaknesses of each. He pr esent s a t hor ought r eatment of pr act i cal i ssues of pl anni ng and r unni ng a f ocus gr oup andsuggest s ways t hat r esear ch can be desi gned around t he t echni que. Thevol ume concl udes wi t h a l ook at t he pot ent i al cont r i but i ons of f ocusgr oups i n qual i t at i ve r esear ch.