Gunhild Marie Roald, Sandra Schruijer, Gunn-Berit Neergård
{"title":"The Researcher’s Facilitating Role in Stimulating a Constructive Group Climate in Online Focus-Group Interviews","authors":"Gunhild Marie Roald, Sandra Schruijer, Gunn-Berit Neergård","doi":"10.1177/10778004241260656","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this article is to examine the role of the researcher in stimulating a constructive group climate in online focus-group interviews. It is argued that a climate of psychological safety enhances the likelihood of people expressing their true opinions and thoughts regarding the topic at hand, which is a crucial quality of focus-group research. However, these aspects are more difficult to develop in online encounters than face-to-face. We therefore look into how the researcher can work to acquire focus-group data of adequate quality from online focus-group interviews. Based on an analysis of the research literature on focus-group interviews, as well as group development theory and person-centered theory, we propose three main strategies for researchers who conduct online focus-group interviews: (a) creating conditions before the interview; (b) creating conditions at the beginning of the interview; and (c) active interventions during, and at the end of, the interview.","PeriodicalId":48395,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Inquiry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Qualitative Inquiry","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004241260656","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to examine the role of the researcher in stimulating a constructive group climate in online focus-group interviews. It is argued that a climate of psychological safety enhances the likelihood of people expressing their true opinions and thoughts regarding the topic at hand, which is a crucial quality of focus-group research. However, these aspects are more difficult to develop in online encounters than face-to-face. We therefore look into how the researcher can work to acquire focus-group data of adequate quality from online focus-group interviews. Based on an analysis of the research literature on focus-group interviews, as well as group development theory and person-centered theory, we propose three main strategies for researchers who conduct online focus-group interviews: (a) creating conditions before the interview; (b) creating conditions at the beginning of the interview; and (c) active interventions during, and at the end of, the interview.
期刊介绍:
Qualitative Inquiry provides an interdisciplinary forum for qualitative methodology and related issues in the human sciences. With Qualitative Inquiry you have access to lively dialogues, current research and the latest developments in qualitative methodology.