Author's Keywords: Focus Groups, Data Collection, Qualitative Methods	Convention All Academic Convention makes running your annual conference simple and cost effective. It is your online solution for abstract management, peer review, and scheduling for your annual meeting or convention. Submission - Custom fields, multiple submission types, tracks, audio visual, multiple upload formats, automatic conversion to pdf. Review - Peer Review, Bulk reviewer assignment, bulk emails, ranking, z-score statistics, and multiple worksheets! Reports - Many standard and custom reports generated while you wait. Print programs with participant indexes, event grids, and more! Scheduling - Flexible and convenient grid scheduling within rooms and buildings. Conflict checking and advanced filtering. Communication - Bulk email tools to help your administrators send reminders and responses. Use form letters, a message center, and much more! Management - Search tools, duplicate people management, editing tools, submission transfers, many tools to manage a variety of conference management headaches! Click here for more information.
Association: Name: American Sociological Association URL: http://www.asanet.org
Citation: URL: http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p183125_index.html Direct Link: HTML Code:

Peek, Lori. and Fothergill, Alice. "Using Focus Groups for Qualitative Research" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, TBA, New York, New York City, Aug 11, 2007 <Not Available>. 2010-01-24 <http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p183125_index.html>

Peek, L. and Fothergill, A. , 2007-08-11 "Using Focus Groups for Qualitative Research" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, TBA, New York, New York City Online <APPLICATION/PDF>. 2010-01-24 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p183125_index.html

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine focus groups as a qualitative research method. We describe and evaluate the use of focus groups based on three separate research projects: a study of teachers, parents, and children at two urban daycare centers, a study of the responses of second-generation Muslim Americans to the events of September 11, and a collaborative project on the experiences of children and youth following Hurricane Katrina. By examining three diverse projects, we are able to illustrate some of the strengths and challenges of the focus group as a sociological research method. In addition, in this article we provide practical advice regarding the design and implementation of focus groups, including information on participant recruitment, the most effective group size, group composition and issues of segmentation, how to carry out focus groups, and the ideal number of groups to conduct.

Methodological Issues in the Study of Governance: Practitioner-Oriented Design, Qualitative Information, and User Confidence - Epistemological and Pragmatic Issues in Applied Research

Integrating Methods without Making Qualitative Approaches the Handmaidens of Quantitative Approaches: Using Focus Groups to Improve the Validity of Survey Research