Applied Writing Three: Focus Groups-SOC 3910 Qualitative Research and Writing
For this Applied Writing, you will be planning and conducting a focus group.
Step One:
Assign teams and roles (each team member will have a primary and secondary role). Arrange your desks for effective group work and display your name and roles on your desk.
Step Two:
As a team, choose a research question to investigate:
“What significance do traditions have for Americans?”
“How does the use of social media affect relationships?”
“What are the most effective coping strategies for dealing with stress during one’s early college years?”
“How and why do individuals’ goals change over time?”
“What value do games have in a person’s life?”
“In what ways is one’s connection to nature impacted by one’s connection to technology?”
“Who are the most important people in a person’s life?”
As a team, discuss the meaning of the question you’ve chosen and conceptualize the underlined term in the question your team chose.
Step Three:
As a team, construct 5-8 closed-ended, staging questions.
As a team, construct 12-15 open-ended questions that are likely to provoke answers that will provide insight into your research question.
As a team, edit questions for clarity and effectiveness (avoid bias, slang, double-barreled, etc.)
Step Four:
As a team, choose 3-4 closed-ended questions and 8-10 open-ended questions to include in your focus group script.
As a team, add probe/clarification questions to open-ended questions in your script.
As a team, plan the order of the questions (remember, you may not get to the last few questions! Your focus group will only last 20 minutes.)
Step Five:
Ensure all team members understand their roles and are prepared to conduct your focus group next time.
Step Six:
CONDUCT YOUR FOCUS GROUPS!
All team members should bring a printed or electronic version of the focus group script on 10/31 and arrive on time!
Step Seven:
Write and submit your individual Applied Writing #3
This Applied Writing will be a reflective essay applying class concepts to your experience. Your essay will include three sections:
Describe your focus group process: (What roles did you take on in your team? How well do you feel you fulfilled the responsibilities of those roles (provide examples)? What research question did you investigate? How did you conceptualize the main term? What were your focus group questions?)
Describe the data you collected: (What themes, patterns and/or variation did you notice that might be important if we were to continue to study this topic (be explicit!)? What surprised you about the answers participants provided?)
Explain and demonstrate what you learned: (How effective was your focus group at investigating the research question you chose? Do you feel as if your script was effective (wording of questions, question order, delivery of questions, probing, etc.)? Why(not)? How do you think your team could have been more effective? What would you do differently if you were to do this activity a second time in preparation for building a research project surrounding this topic?)
Successful essays will range in length, but each should answer all questions fully and incorporate critical thinking; explicit reference to scripted questions and focus group experience; insightful discussion of themes, patterns, and/or variation seen within the data; and explicit demonstration of learning.
