ABSTRACT
Focus groups are a qualitative research technique to collect meaningful and profound information and have been widely used in social science. This chapter is intended to give readers a basic understanding of this widespread and promising research method. It concentrates on the application of focus groups and addresses focus groups from a social science practitioner's points of view. After exploring what focus groups are and why should we use them, it discusses techniques for conducting effective focus groups, the use of focus groups to determine environmental values, the new trend of virtual focus groups, and ethical issues associated with conducting focus groups.
