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The Profession
Symposium: The Road Less Traveled: An Agenda for Mixed-Methods Research
The focus group is a long-standing data-collection method in political science. Although not used as often as other methods (Cyr 2016), focus groups nonetheless recently have been crucial in measuring and assessing identity (Posner 2005); determining a citizen's likelihood to express mistrust in private versus public (Paluck and Green 2009); and theorizing good government policies in the developing world (Sugiyama and Hunter 2013). Notably, in each work, focus groups were used in combination with other data-collection methods. This pattern of use is not accidental. Focus groups are often a valuable complement to other qualitative and quantitative methods.
This article underscores the unique utility of focus groups for mixed-methods research. I identify three distinctive, interrelated features of focus groups. I then argue that these characteristics make focus groups particularly well suited for certain mixed-methods research designs because they offset weaknesses of other methods. Finally, I briefly explain why a researcher might use focus groups in conjunction with interviews before discussing the mixing of focus groups with large-N observational studies. On this last point, I suggest that focus groups help with the construction of valid instruments. They also explain the attitudes and behaviors uncovered by large-N work.
THE UNIQUE FEATURES OF FOCUS GROUPS
A focus group is a data-collection method that brings together a small group of individuals (i.e., six to eight people) to discuss a series of open-ended questions. A moderator asks the questions and facilitates the ensuing discussion.1The goal is to understand how people talk about topics of interest. Data are generated through the conversations that unfold.
Focus groups are a unique method of data collection for three interrelated reasons. First, they are inherently social in nature. Data are generated through the conversations and interactions that take place among participants. As a part of this process, individuals can react to one another's comments. They may refine their ideas or build off of what others say. The social dynamic of focus groups provides a synergistic quality. It also enables the researcher to capture nuance and tensions surrounding potentially contested or highly contextualized subjects.
Second, focus groups generate emic data--that is, data that emerge with little interference or guidance from the researcher or...