ABSTRACT

Focus groups provide opportunities for investigators to have direct contact with subjects at a level of interactive depth and candour that is otherwise difficult to achieve. It is generally agreed that focus group interviews, as a strategic interviewing method, first developed from work conducted at Columbia University in 1946. The main aim of focus groups is to provide rich, in-depth data about attitudes, ideas and perceptions in order to answer a specific research question. From those early days of gauging the effect of mass communication, the popularity of focus groups has increased to such an extent that they are sometimes ridiculed, especially when they are used for political expediency. A focus group interview is a deliberately selected cohort of individuals who are deemed to be similar and whose attitudes and feelings about a chosen subject area are explored by a trained 'moderator'.