ABSTRACT
One of the tools for primary care educational research is interviewing, either one-on-one or more than one person at a time, in focus groups. While it is often said that sensitive topics should mainly be researched via one-on-one interviews, a study from North Carolina found that several types of sensitive and personal disclosures were more likely in a focus group setting, and that some sensitive themes only occurred in the focus group context. No sensitive themes emerged exclusively, or more often in, an individual interview context. Focus groups typically consist of 6–10 participants plus the interviewer. The main characteristic of a focus group is the interaction between the moderator and the group, as well as between group members. In general, results of focus groups show cover breadth of the topic more than one-on-one interviews, where single answers are more in-depth. For both interview types, the role of the interviewer is key.
