The <Emphasis Type="Italic">focus groups</Emphasis> in social research: advantages and disadvantages |
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Authors: | Ivana Acocella |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Stocking Hall, Room 106, 14853 Ithaca, USA;(2) Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California – Davis, 2003 RMI Sensory Building, Davis, 95616, CA, USA |
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Abstract: | The focus group (FG) technique has been recently rediscovered by social scientists. It has become the subject of important
methodological discussions and it is now considered a very innovative research method. However, such a widespread use of FG
seems to have become a fashionable research technique. The impression is that FG is often adopted without any prior consideration
of whether it really is the most suitable research technique for achieving the cognitive goals of the research. At the same
time, it seems that the FG is often adopted only because it is considered an easy-to-organise and inexpensive technique. The
goal of this paper is to evaluate the nature of the FG, analyse its advantages and disadvantages and identify the cognitive
problems that it helps to face. In order to discuss these two points, I will focus on the two main characteristics that differentiate
the FG from other techniques of information gathering in social research. Firstly, in FGs the informative source is a group.
Secondly, the heuristic value of this technique lies in the kind of interaction that emerges during the debate. Several researchers
have indicated these two aspects as the main characteristics of FG; but only few authors have translated these comments into
serious epistemological and methodological knowledge, thus allowing the FG to give its best results. |
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