DATA

Focus Group Interviews in Social Science Research

A focus group, also called a group interview or group discussion, is in essence ‘a discussion among a number of participants on a certain topic predetermined by a moderator …, which serves to collect information’ (Lamnek 1989, p. 121). Whereas this method has not been widely used in social science, group interviews are common in market research to investigate consumer motivation and behaviour. In the German-speaking countries, this method was occasionally employed by the Frankfurt Institute of Social Research in the 1950s, and in Austria it has recently been used in the reception analysis of tabloid print media by Bruck and Stocker (1996).

In the following paragraphs this method will be outlined as far as it is relevant for the purpose of our study (for more information on the subject see, for example, Bruck and Stocker 1996, Morgan 1993, Lamnek 1989, Greenbaum 1988, Morgan 1988, Friedrichs 1985).

The focus group method, according to Bruck and Stocker, entails interviewing a group of, ideally, five to twelve persons selected according to certain theoretically predetermined criteria (‘theoretical sampling’) on a particular subject, using a guided discussion technique. The discussion is conducted by a moderator, who structures, summarises and attempts to ensure balanced participation, raises specific topics in an informal way, and above all encourages the participants to contribute to the discussion (Bruck and Stocker 1996, p. 46).