ABSTRACT
The following chapter offers a critical examination of focus groups and their use and application in research with vulnerable children in the area of sport and physical activity. It aims to problematise the uncritical use of focus groups with vulnerable children before suggesting an innovative technique, incorporated into focus groups, which draws on the use of puppets. Through the analysis of a short illustrative case, this chapter demonstrates how puppets can be used to help generate discussion with a specific group of vulnerable children, namely, those living in care. More specifically, it will explore how puppets have been employed within focus groups to help give voice to an otherwise ‘hidden’ group of vulnerable children. The chapter considers focus groups in relation to the empowerment of marginalised communities, researchers’ positionality and issues of intersectionality within the methodological process, before concluding with a set of guidelines for conducting focus groups with vulnerable children.
