The methodology of Focus Groups: the importance of interaction between research participants

Kitzinger, Jenny

doi:10.1111/1467-9566.ep11347023

Cited by 2,756 publications

(2,282 citation statements)

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“…Menarche and menstruation constitute a private realm, difficult to access with conventional scientific methods, and hence a qualitative research approach was believed to be more appropriate for this sensitive topic. Focus groups were chosen over dyadic interviews, Women's Menarche Stories 10 because research has shown that in focus groups, people may be more, rather than less, likely to self-disclose or share personal experiences (Morgan & Krueger, 1993;Carey, 1994;Kitzinger, 1994a). Also, feminist critiques of one-to-one interviews (Oakley, 1981) anticipate the more recent finding that people can feel relatively empowered and supported in a group situation, surrounded by peers or friends (e.g., Fuller, Edwards, Vorakitphokatorn, & Sremsri, 1993).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women's menarche stories from a multicultural sample

Üskül

2004

Social Science & Medicine

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This paper reports on the findings of a focus group study that examines how women have experienced menarche at the personal level and in relation to the larger cultural, religious, and societal environment. Fifty-three women from 34 different countries were recruited in 13 focus groups. On the one hand, at the personal level, menarche stories shared in this study revealed salient themes concerning feelings experienced at the time of menarche, the importance of mother's reactions to their daughter's first menstruation, difficulties around understanding the meanings attached to menarche by others, managing menstrual products, as well as making sense of formal education related to menstruation, and finally the age of menarche. On the other hand, the discussions concerning how women experienced menarche in relation to the larger cultural, religious, and societal environment revealed secrecy to be a defining feature of many stories.Cultural expectations of learning and following the rules and regulations surrounding menstruation led to different reactions in women at the time of their menarche. Very few women mentioned a ritual or celebration at the time of their menarche. Findings are discussed in terms of similarities and differences in menarche stories of women from different cultural backgrounds.Limitations of the study are mentioned and suggestions for future research are provided.Key words: menarche, culture, focus groups Women's Menarche Stories 3 Women's Menarche Stories from a Multicultural SampleMenarche, the onset of the first menses, is a significant milestone in a woman's life and reproductive cycle. For the female adolescent, it is a sharply defined, sudden, and distinct biological event (Golub, 1992;Koff, Rierdan, & Silverstone, 1978). Menarche is also a sociocultural event that is shaped and constructed by cultural institutions such as religion, science, and media (e.g., Chandra & Chaturvedi, 1992;Laws, 1990;Paige & Paige, 1981).In psychology, menarche has attracted researchers' attention, especially during 1970's and 1980's. Current studies on menarche are sparse, but a few recent publications on this topic may indicate re-emerging interest in this topic (e.g., Beausang & Razor, 2000;Chrisler & Zittel, 1998;Kissling, 2002). Menarche studies in psychology were typically examined the experience among young female adolescents or college students in North America. Although a few studies have looked at cultural similarities or differences in women's menarche experiences, it is usually in the area of anthropology where we find cross-cultural studies. This particular study was designed to contribute to the slowly growing cross-cultural psychology literature on women's menarche experiences. The goal was to hear and record menarche stories of women from different cultural backgrounds, and thereby to explore salient themes that emerge in their menarche experiences. The study then draws upon these accounts to analyze the effects of the larger cultural, religious, and societal environment on personal exp...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women's menarche stories from a multicultural sample

Üskül

2004

Social Science & Medicine

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“…Practically, this snowball sampling afforded the recruitment of homebound participants who otherwise would have been difficult to recruit. Moreover, these relationships promoted naturalistic interactions between the two dyads who could relate to and share observations about each other’s experiences (Kitzinger, 1994). Conducting two single-session, extended-duration focus groups also had both advantages and disadvantages.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustaining care for a parent with dementia: an indefinite and intertwined process

Hwang

Rosenberg

Kontos

et al. 2017

International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well

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This study aimed to understand how adult children sustain caring for persons with dementia (PwDs) within their family and formal care contexts in Canada. Half-day focus groups were conducted with adult daughters and adult sons in Toronto, Canada. Using constructivist grounded theory, we examined both substantive concepts and group dynamics. Sustaining care was interpreted as an indefinite process with three intertwined themes: reproducing care demands and dependency, enacting and affirming values, and “flying blind” in how and how long to sustain caring (i.e., responding to immediate needs with limited foresight). Family values and relationships, mistrust toward the institutional and home care systems, and obscured care foresight influenced care decisions and challenged participants in balancing their parents’ needs with their own. Positive and negative aspects of care were found to influence one another. The implications of these findings for research and policy are discussed.

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“…sexuality, although focus groups may capture the delicacies of this sensitivity, and break the ice to allow shyer individual's to participate (Kitzinger, 1994).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There has been much support in the literature for the view that focus groups are an appropriate method of choice for health research into sensitive issues, and for investigating people's experiences of illness and in using the health services (Kitzinger, 1994(Kitzinger, , 2000Green & Thorogood, 2004). While group interviewing may be conducted using a variety of styles, our emphasis here is on analysing interviews where adolescents previously known to one another are brought together for the purposes of generating data about a topic -in this case sexual health -in an informal atmosphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%