The Focus Turns to Groups

 

The morning session showcased qualitative researchers at their best – imaginative, intellectual (Wittgenstein, Marx, Aristotle, Freud, Jung were quoted), occasionally profound, articulate and extremely witty. The subject of their collective concern was the current status of qualitative research, which always brings out much heartfelt soul-searching and breast-beating.

 

The theme that got the presenters going was the role, function, use and misuse of the key tool in the traditional qualitative researcher’s armoury - the ubiquitous focus group.  And that was precisely the point: is it just too ubiquitous these days?  Has it lost all credibility from the overuse by dodgy practitioners, or worse, non-practitioners? Can/should all problems be solved by focus groups?  What about all the other methodologies?  Indeed, what actually is a focus group?