Anyone have experience conduct focus group interview? any details info can share?

what kind of information? I did FGDs, it would be easy to answer if there is a specific question ! SS

FYI, i would like to know how to:
i) identify how many participant/respondent we need?
ii)is it possible to conduct via phone or email instead of face to face interview?

appreciate if you can share with me any details information (articles/journals).

tqvm

A group of 6 or seven patiticipants would be ideal. And at least two groups would be appropriate.

A face to face session seems the most ideal

Mamara,

tqvm. currently i have 4 respondents, however that's in the 1st group and another group still in invitation stage. 1st group is the R&D group, & 2nd group is technical group. so it seem i will have enough data. TQVM for your info.

I did 8 FGDs, participants ranged from 8-12 in a group - rural, urban and specialized groups. It was not easy handling different groups in different locations. Regular follow ups is very important. I started planning for FGDs 3 months ahead of the actual time and completed all 8 groups in 10 days as every single day I had one discussion in different locations - city, villages. It depends upon the type of research you are conducting. It is always better to try to get hold of a strong gatekeeper even though you know the participants individually. Topic guide, information sheets, questionnaire were made ready around 2 months ahead, sent invitation a month ahead and followed up and reminder sent continuously despite having strong gatekeepers for all 8 groups. The most challenging part in FGD is having all people in one place. I always feared that the participants won't turn up so sent invitations to around 15 people so that I had a balance of 8-12 as many did not turn up even though confirmed earlier. Having a good recorder is very important as transcribing FGDs are more problematic than interviews since many people talk at the same time in many instances. Hope it helps. Here are some of the useful references:

Cronin, A. (2008). Focus Groups. In N. Gilbert (Ed.), Researching Social Life (3rd ed., pp. 226-244). Los Angeles. London. New Delhi. Singapore: SAGE.


Macnaghten, P., & Myers, G. (2004). Focus Groups. In C. Seale, G. Gobo, J. F. Gubrium & D. Silverman (Eds.), Qualitative Research Practice (pp. 65-79). London.Thousand Oaks. New Delhi: SAGE.

Tonkiss, F. (2004). Using Focus Groups. In C. Seale (Ed.), Researching Society and Culture (2nd ed., pp. 193-206). London. Thousand Oaks. New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Bloor, M., Frankland, J., Thomas, M., & Robson, K. (2001). Focus Groups in Social Research. London. Thousand Oaks. New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Swetchha,

TQVM for your information. really helpful. (up);-)

FYI, I'm using Mixed Method Research Methodology (QUAN+QUA), so that is the reason why I need to do FGD. FGD will help to validate my previous Quantitative finding.

8-)