ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some methodological issues that arise when conducting focus group discussions in the majority world and describes one way of addressing them. While the method is widely used in the majority world, the methodological literature on how to moderate focus groups builds on accumulated experiences of how conversations work in the minority world. This chapter suggests a way to apply the method more rigorously in a majority world context, drawing on a trial-and-error innovation process spanning 40 discussions in Tanzania. Ensuring quality in data generation required thorough attention to issues of alterity, positionality, and power are common challenges to methodological rigour when researching across difference in the majority world. However, this chapter contends that, if used correctly and to its strengths, the focus group method can indeed address and solve these challenges. This also entails creating appropriate conditions for interaction among focus group participants.
