Focused Group Empirical Articles

Focus group empirical articles
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Focus group empirical articles
Introduction
Focus group in research study entails using the dynamic of a group to obtain shared experiences of individuals with similar characteristics. It is a group of carefully selected respondents, whose purpose is to engage in discussion towards a certain piece of research. It is usually expected that this carefully selected group is an actual representation of a larger group and hence the feedback given by them represents that which would still have been provided by the larger group. The group usually looks at new products or ideas that are under research, and offer their views in depth about the same. A focus group is usually an element of qualitative research. It differs from an interview study as the latter often focuses on individuals. It is a technique used when the researcher seeks to get a breadth of understanding of a particular group's experiences, perspectives, and thoughts. The benefits of using a focused group emanate from the fact that the group dynamics may promote sharing of ideas, discussions, and debate. Additionally, it also eliminates any sort of bias since each member of the group contributes his or her opinion freely, in a discussion setup. The moderator is therefore able to take note of every opinion raised from each member. They offer a breadth of shared thoughts, perspectives and experiences from individuals with the same characteristics.
The critical appraisal of research articles by Kong, Sui-Ting, Sik-Ying Ho, Petula and Jackson, Stevi (2020) and Wiseman, Phillippa, and Jo Ferrie. (2020) are integral to reiterating the issues illuminated above. For instance, the critical appraisal of the article titled ‘Doing being observed: Experimenting with collaborative focus group analysis in post-Umbrella Movement Hong Kong. Sociological Research Online 2021, Vol. 26(3) 485–504’ by Kong, Sui-Ting, Sik-Ying Ho, Petula and Jackson, Stevi (2020) entails evaluating different aspects of the study such as research methods, research designs, results, and conclusions. The study employed the methodology of collaborative focus group analysis (CFGA) to collect information based on differing political views from respondents. The collaborative focus group analysis (CFGA) was utilized so as to make the respondents feel and become more like co-researchers rather than just points of feedback. In other terms, the methodology helped eliminate hierarchical dialogues in the study.
As for the article titled ‘Reproductive (In) Justice and Inequality in the Lives of Women with Intellectual Disabilities in Scotland. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 22(1): 318–329’ by Wiseman, Phillippa, and Jo Ferrie (2020), it also involves evaluating its strengths and weaknesses for the assessment of validity, generalizability, and reliability of its research findings. This was through analyzing the sexual and reproductive rights of women with intellectual disabilities in Scotland. The study focused on the experiences that these women shared on various ontologies, while taking their word for it. It helped analyze the inequalities that existed in terms of sexual and reproductive health in the country, and how this would eventually reflect in matters such as mortality rates. The study involved in focus groups that had 12 women taking part, with ages ranging from 18 to 78 years. The participants were picked from a wide social basket, and included mothers, women in relationships, single women who were sexually active, as well as single and independent women. The women opted for the in focus groups since it helped them embrace a collectivist approach to addressing and sharing their opinions within an active group setup. The women were given topics and they decided on the topics that they wanted to discuss. This therefore, helped to provide an avenue for an open forum for both the participants and the moderators.
Research design
The research design for both studies is similar. Focus group research design entails using the focus group to bring together a small group of individuals to answer research questions in a moderate setting. The predefined features or characteristics of the group determine the type of focus group chosen while the questions' design help shed light on the topic's interest (Hennink, Kaiser & Weber, 2019).
The research design of the journal article by Kong et.al. (2020) is qualitative research that uses focus group analysis to comprehend the perspectives and experiences of individuals in post-Umbrella Movement Hong Kong. As a focus group analysis method, collecting in-depth and rich data on the research topic is ...