A Research Information On A Target Population Through The Process Of Conducting Rapport Style Interview

This owes to their open ended and emergent nature (Berg, 1998; Morgan, 1998; Madriz, 2005). In order to study individual and social institutions that are unknown, specific, or have become conventional, qualitative description serves as a necessity (Rowles & Reinharz, 1988). Focus groups are characterized by the use of interactive groups to provide awareness that would be less attainable without the interactions prevalent in a group (Morgan, 1988). The cooperation in a focus group allows for brainstorming and communication among the participants. This as a result may lead to the discussion of a large number of issues, opinions, topics, as well as ideas (Berg, 1998). I chose the focus group method as the preferred method for this study as it serves as the key to socially constructed opinions, articulated views, attitudes and experiences of the participants. This will in turn assist me to understand how they elucidate fear appeals (Berg, 1998).

Flexible and inexpensive, focus groups consist of six to ten participants (Hartman, 2004, p. 408). Additionally, a moderator guides the discussion among its panel members that allows researchers to observe real-time verbal responses and nonverbal cues (Hartman, 2004, p. 402; Cooper & Schindler, 2014, p. 160). Focus groups moderators also have the ability to introduce new ideas to gain a greater understanding of concerns from respondents (Hartman, 2004, p. 402). However, a concern with focus group is the lack of anonymity due to the face-to-face participation.

In order to gather a lot of data, a focus group is recommended. According to Howitt D. (2013), an optimal focus group consists of six to ten participants (Howitt, 2013; Morgan, 1997). The fact that an experienced interviewer conducted the interview led to good control and desired data(Morgan, 1996). Furthermore, a thematic analysis provided a systematic overview of the results.

Bloor, Michael, Jane Frankland, Michelle Thomas, and Kate Robson. (2001). Focus Groups in Social Research.

Four main aspects Focus groups will be discussed. First, a personal experienced researched focus group conducted in a lecture. Following that, the

To my understanding the idea behind the focus group method is that group processes can help people to explore and clarify their views in ways that would be less easily accessible in a one to one interview. Group discussion is particularly appropriate when the interviewer has a series of open ended questions and wishes to encourage research participants to explore the issues of importance to them, in their own words, generating their own questions and pursuing their own priorities. When group dynamics work well the participants work next to the researcher, taking the research in new and often unexpected directions.

Within a focus group, participants often debate and question each other’s viewpoint – which is important for this research study as one will be able to see biases and whether specific factors drive viewpoints. While considering the advantages of a focus group, one must also take into account the disadvantages of a focus group, which include: the amount of time it takes to organize; the amount of time it takes to record and transcribe the session; the likelihood for participants to interrupt each other; the possibility of having a number of participants being more assertive and dominant than others; more potential of discomfort; and finally the cost of conducting a focus group (Bryman,

The semi-structured focus group interview is a qualitative study, which goes for discovering what other individuals feel and think about the marvel which is explored (Rubin and Babbie, 1993:12). It speaks to a purposive open discussion where the researcher makes inquiries on a particular point where every member makes remarks. The researcher presents the subject and afterwards manages the discourse by the method for addressing. The researcher records both verbal and non-verbal correspondence from the participants. The semi-structured focus group interviews help the researcher to identify that communication improves information quality, governing rules on each other and a straightforward appraisal of cooperative energy and/or contrasts between participants (McMillan and Schumacher, 1993:157).

The research method I chose for this study is qualitative semi-structured interview. Qualitative approaches are often used for exploratory and descriptive studies (Neuman, 2007), which suit the objective of this research. Semi-structured interviews compared to rigid structured interview, allows for a more focused, detailed and two-way communication. Detailed data is very helpful for the inductive nature of this study where data is gathered and examined prior to developing a theory(Seidel, 1998). Compared to focus group, it presented a challenge in terms of data recoding and organization, one-on-one interviews are easier to manage.

A focus group looks and feels informal, but it’s actually carefully planned and orchestrated. The format is designed to evoke rich information and insights that would be difficult to get through other data collection methods.

Also, the data collection instruments used in this research project was focus group format because it create a means for the researcher to observe the participant closely and it was less fearful for research participant because of the group settings, which created a collaborative understanding between members.

In order to understand how this method can be used in this study, then it first must be explained. According to the text, Making Sense of the Social World, focus groups are considered as, “a qualitative method that involves unstructured group interviews in which the focus group leader actively encourages discussion among participants on the topics of interest” (Chambliss & Schutt, 2016, p. 220). Often times young adults are more open when around others of their own age, this is the main reason I selected this method because an at-risk youth is going to be more comfortable answering questions and sharing their opinions when around a group that shares similar characteristics or life situations compared to just a one-on-one conversation between them and a researcher or amongst strangers. However, with this method there are also strengths and weaknesses when using this method. The major strengths to focus groups are: they can save time and money compared to other methods, they provide participants the opportunity to explain their viewpoints, it allows for participants to be more open and give clarification on their personal and group perceptions, and they provide for a broad range of information and data to be collected from the sample. The disadvantages to focus groups are: they are hard to manage among a large group, there can be disagreements or unnecessary conversations among participants that might take away from the main questions being asked, and not everyone might what to participate or feel intimidated. Not only are their strengths and weaknesses, but also there is also ethical concerns because it is an open group setting compared to other methods. Therefore, the main ethical concern with focus groups is that a researcher has disclosed participants’ identities to each other, which can be a concern particularly if there are sensitive topics being discussed among one

Qualitative research methodologies are designed to provide the researcher with the perspective of target audience members through immersion in a culture or situation and direct interaction with the people under study. Qualitative methods used include observations, in-depth interviews and focus groups. These methods are designed to help researchers understand the meaning people assign to social phenomena and to elucidate the mental processes underlying behaviours. Hypotheses are generated during data collection and analysis, and measurement tends to be subjective. In the qualitative paradigm, the researcher becomes the instrument of data collection, and results may vary greatly depending upon who conducts the research.

The use of focus groups as a qualitative and interpretive method of enquiry comprises of a number of strengths and weaknesses.

The focus group interview was conducted virtually using an online chat forum. The focus group took approximately an hour and fifteen minutes to