Sociology 302 Social Research Methods Prof. J. Badagliacco

Writing Assignment: Focus Group Interview

This assignment is worth 60 points toward your overall grade, and is due in class on Thursday, November 1. Be prepared to discuss your results in class on November 1. Your paper should be a minimum of 5 double-spaced pages, be word processed with normal font and 1-inch margins, and numbered. Remember that the quality of written expression is very important to research, and how you say something as well as what you say is important. Reminder: hand in your complete folder which includes all previous assignments.

For this assignment, you will conduct a focus group interview as part of your research project. A focus group interview is a group interview and conversation with several subjects wherein the researcher attempts to elicit information about her or his research topic without specifically questioning the subjects directly on that topic.

1. Your focus group should have in it 5 to 7 persons. The minimum number is 5 participants. If you desire to, and if this is possible for you, you may want to tape record the interview. However, it not required that you do so. The interview should last approximately 30 minutes.

2. Choose your participants carefully via simple random sampling (we will do this in class). Do NOT include persons enrolled in this course, or anyone you know in your focus group. Only UK undergraduate student may be part of the focus group.

3. You MUST take notes during the interview and HAND IN those notes as an appendix to your paper. If you tape record the interview, hand in a transcription of the major portions of the interview.

4. Remember that you are the facilitator, the researcher. Practice how to be in control of the process using the techniques we discussed and demonstrated in class.

5. Remember that participants need not know what you are specifically researching. Do not ask direct questions about your research topic, but also do not allow the group to go off on a tangent.

6. Write up the results of your focus group interview, covering the following:

a) Describe the research setting and environment, and demographically describe the participants

b) Discuss your findings in detail (include also: what kind of issues arose, how the issues evolved, etc.). This is most of your paper. Important: report on the group, NOT individuals.

c) Discuss the dynamics of the group (how successful was the interview? What problems did you encounter and how did you handle them? )

d) What did you learn about your research project from having done the interview? (e.g., did your participants conceptualize your study question in the same way you did? Should you include additional dimensions to your study based on what you found? How will your focus group interview inform your survey research?)