Serial Focus Groups: A Longitudinal Design for Studying Interactive Discourse
Focus group methods specialize in the analysis of interactive discourse, but are only rarely employed as a stand-alone method to study such phenomena, owing to inherent limitations concerning the comparability and generalizability of findings. In this paper, we argue that focus groups undergo three...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2022-08-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Qualitative Methods |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221118766 |
| _version_ | 1798037186341240832 |
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| author | Christian Baden Olga Pasitselska Tali Aharoni Keren Tenenboim-Weinblatt |
| author_facet | Christian Baden Olga Pasitselska Tali Aharoni Keren Tenenboim-Weinblatt |
| author_sort | Christian Baden |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Focus group methods specialize in the analysis of interactive discourse, but are only rarely employed as a stand-alone method to study such phenomena, owing to inherent limitations concerning the comparability and generalizability of findings. In this paper, we argue that focus groups undergo three kinds of transformations, involving changes in participants’ cognitive states, social ties, and discursive behavior, which raise both analytic challenges and valuable opportunities for the study of shared meanings and interactive negotiation processes in society. Introducing Serial Focus Groups, we extend familiar focus group designs as a method for studying interactive discourse in a longitudinal perspective, capitalizing on the analytic potentials raised by these transformations. Reviewing the methodological literature and drawing upon two large-scale focus group studies of socially interactive sense-making, we argue that serial focus groups can help overcome some of the limitations of cross-sectional focus groups and offer valuable new opportunities for analysis and validation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T21:23:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8e9d732aec3c4b36ab051c184f4309e8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1609-4069 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T21:23:09Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Qualitative Methods |
| spelling | doaj.art-8e9d732aec3c4b36ab051c184f4309e82022-12-22T04:02:33ZengSAGE PublishingInternational Journal of Qualitative Methods1609-40692022-08-012110.1177/16094069221118766Serial Focus Groups: A Longitudinal Design for Studying Interactive DiscourseChristian BadenOlga PasitselskaTali AharoniKeren Tenenboim-WeinblattFocus group methods specialize in the analysis of interactive discourse, but are only rarely employed as a stand-alone method to study such phenomena, owing to inherent limitations concerning the comparability and generalizability of findings. In this paper, we argue that focus groups undergo three kinds of transformations, involving changes in participants’ cognitive states, social ties, and discursive behavior, which raise both analytic challenges and valuable opportunities for the study of shared meanings and interactive negotiation processes in society. Introducing Serial Focus Groups, we extend familiar focus group designs as a method for studying interactive discourse in a longitudinal perspective, capitalizing on the analytic potentials raised by these transformations. Reviewing the methodological literature and drawing upon two large-scale focus group studies of socially interactive sense-making, we argue that serial focus groups can help overcome some of the limitations of cross-sectional focus groups and offer valuable new opportunities for analysis and validation.https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221118766 |
| spellingShingle | Christian Baden Olga Pasitselska Tali Aharoni Keren Tenenboim-Weinblatt Serial Focus Groups: A Longitudinal Design for Studying Interactive Discourse International Journal of Qualitative Methods |
| title | Serial Focus Groups: A Longitudinal Design for Studying Interactive Discourse |
| title_full | Serial Focus Groups: A Longitudinal Design for Studying Interactive Discourse |
| title_fullStr | Serial Focus Groups: A Longitudinal Design for Studying Interactive Discourse |
| title_full_unstemmed | Serial Focus Groups: A Longitudinal Design for Studying Interactive Discourse |
| title_short | Serial Focus Groups: A Longitudinal Design for Studying Interactive Discourse |
| title_sort | serial focus groups a longitudinal design for studying interactive discourse |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221118766 |
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