Going virtual: adapting in-person interactive focus groups to the online environment

Abstract

Restrictions on social interaction and travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic have affected how researchers approach fieldwork and data collection. Whilst online focus groups have received attention since the 2000s as a method for qualitative data collection, relatively little of the relevant literature appears to have made use of now ubiquitous video calling software and synchronous, interactive discussion tools. Our own experiences in organising fieldwork aimed at understanding the impact of different ‘future-proofing’ strategies for the European agri-food system during this period resulted in several methodological changes being made at short notice. We present an approach to converting in-person focus group to a virtual methodology and provide a checklist for researchers planning their own online focus groups. Our findings suggest data are comparable to in-person focus groups and factors influencing data quality during online focus groups can be safeguarded. There are several key steps, both before and during the focus groups, which can be taken to ensure the smooth running of such events. We share our reflections on this approach and provide a resource for other researchers moving to online-only data collection.

Reflections on the Use of Synchronous Online Focus Groups in Social Care Research

“…Preliminary evidence on the use of Microsoft Teams for online focus groups demonstrates that it is an efficient method for online focus groups (Menary et al, 2021; Santhosh et al, 2021). The platform is also a safe and user-friendly tool to support group work in educational settings (Buchal & Songsore, 2019; Henderson et al, 2020) and to enhance the communication between inpatient and community teams in health care (Mohan et al, 2021).…”

“…The method had been selected as teleconferencing application for the current focus group study for several reasons. Firstly, it is only recently that researchers have started examining the usability of the teleconferencing application Microsoft Teams for conducting online focus groups (Menary et al, 2021; Santhosh et al, 2021), and our aim was to contribute to this growing evidence base with the present study. Secondly, user data demonstrates that Microsoft Teams has developed into of the most widely used online communication methods during the Covid-19 pandemic (Spataro, 2020), and it surpassed Zoom in terms of usage growth (Curry, 2021).…”

“…The literature on synchronous focus groups discussed above made use of Zoom (Daniels et al, 2019;Matthews et al, 2018), Blackboard Collaborate (Kite & Phongsavan, 2017) or a private online discussion board (Lally et al, 2018) to conduct real-time online discussions. Only very recently, researchers have started examining the usability of the teleconferencing application Microsoft Teams for conducting online focus groups (Menary et al, 2021;Santhosh et al, 2021), yielding positive preliminary findings. Additionally, recent evidence from educational settings shows that Microsoft Teams can be effectively used for collaborative knowledge building and discussion facilitation (Buchal & Songsore, 2019;Henderson et al, 2020), making it a promising method for online focus groups.…”

Crop improvements for future‐proofing European food systems: A focus‐group‐driven analysis of agricultural production stakeholder priorities and viewpoints

“…They were, thus, implemented in order to investigate a broad range of opinions on the various crop improvement options, their importance for future‐proofing the European food system and key issues that should be considered in development and deployment of these crop innovations. A detailed semi‐structured focus group protocol was created, pre‐tested and piloted in‐person in January 2020 and again after focus groups were adapted for online execution (see Menary et al, 2021) following COVID‐19 travel restrictions in spring 2020 (for the full protocol, see Supplementary 1). The primary questions were as follows: What are the biggest challenges for the European agri‐food sector over the next 30 years? Which cropboosting option is most important for each goal (Yield, Nutrition, Sustainability)? Which cropboosting option is least important for each goal (Yield, Nutrition, Sustainability)? What might the social, environmental or economic impacts of a particular option be? How do these options meet the challenges facing the European agri‐food sector? What other things should be included in the cropboosting options? …”

Online Teaching Preparedness and Stress Profile: A Comparative Study of Secondary and Higher Education Faculty Experiences in the Philippines

“…The interviews were conducted using Zoom meetings. The use of virtual meetings and online surveys is beneficial in conducting research; it saves time and money (Menary et al, 2021), and it also helps reduce the spread of COVID-19 by avoiding in-person dialogue and activities (Hanaei et al, 2022).…”