A good quality multi-directional external microphone is recommended for the recording of focus groups, as internal microphones are rarely good enough to cope with the variation in volume of different speakers. This is, therefore, very obtrusive, which can affect the spontaneity of the group and in a focus group does not usually yield enough additional information that could not be captured by an observer to make videotaping worthwhile.
The systematic analysis of focus group transcripts is crucial. However, the transcription of focus groups is more complex and time consuming than in one-to-one interviews, and each hour of audio can take up to eight hours to transcribe and generate approximately pages of text.
Recordings should be transcribed verbatim and also speakers should be identified in a way that makes it possible to follow the contributions of each individual. Sometimes observational notes also need to be described in the transcripts in order for them to make sense.
The analysis of qualitative data is explored in the final paper of this series. However, it is important to note that the analysis of focus group data is different from other qualitative data because of their interactive nature, and this needs to be taken into consideration during analysis.
The importance of the context of other speakers is essential to the understanding of individual contributions. The analysis of focus group data must therefore take account of the group dynamics that have generated remarks.
Focus groups are used increasingly in dental research, on a diverse range of topics, 16 illuminating a number of areas relating to patients, dental services and the dental profession. Addressing a special needs population difficult to access and sample through quantitative measures, Robinson et al. Newton et al. Demonstrating the use of the method with professional groups as subjects in dental research, Gussy et al.
This mixed method study was very important as the qualitative element was able to explain why the clinical trial failed, and this understanding may help researchers improve on the quantitative aspect of future studies, as well as making a valuable academic contribution in its own right. The examples of dental studies that have employed these methods also help to demonstrate the range of research contexts to which interview and focus group research can make a useful contribution.
The continued employment of these methods can further strengthen many areas of dentally related work. Silverman D. Doing qualitative research. London: Sage Publications, Google Scholar. Britten N. Qualitative interviews in healthcare.
London: BMJ Books, In-depth interviews. In Ritchie J, Lewis J eds Qualitative research practice: a guide for social science students and researchers. May K M. Interview techniques in qualitative research: concerns and challenges.
In Morse J M ed Qualitative nursing research. Newbury Park: Sage Publications, Understanding about food among year olds in South Wales. Food Culture Society ; 9 : — Article Google Scholar. An exploratory qualitative study examining the social and psychological processes involved in regular dental attendance. J Public Health Dent ; 60 : 5— A qualitative investigation of factors governing dentists' treatment philosophies.
Br Dent J ; : — Pontin D. Oxford: Blackwell Science, Kvale S. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Hammersley M, Atkinson P. Ethnography: principles in practice. London: Routledge, Kitzinger J. The methodology of focus groups: the importance of interaction between research participants. Sociol Health Illn ; 16 : — Morgan D L. The focus group guide book. Book Google Scholar. Focus groups in social research. Focus groups. Theory and practice. Krueger R A. How experienced is the researcher in being able to even determine when she or he has actually reached saturation Charmaz, ?
An extremely large number of articles, book chapters, and books recommend guidance and suggest anywhere from 5 to 50 participants as adequate. Taking all of these perspectives into account, the Archives of Sexual Behavior is putting forward a policy for authors in order to have more clarity on what is expected in terms of sample size for studies drawing on grounded theory and in-depth interviews.
The policy of the Archives of Sexual Behavior will be that it adheres to the recommendation that 25—30 participants is the minimum sample size required to reach saturation and redundancy in grounded theory studies that use in-depth interviews.
This number is considered adequate for publications in journals because it 1 may allow for thorough examination of the characteristics that address the research questions and to distinguish conceptual categories of interest, 2 maximizes the possibility that enough data have been collected to clarify relationships between conceptual categories and identify variation in processes, and 3 maximizes the chances that negative cases and hypothetical negative cases have been explored in the data Charmaz, ; Morse, , The Journal does not want to paradoxically and rigidly quantify sample size when the endeavor at hand is qualitative in nature and the debates on this matter are complex.
However, we are providing this practical guidance. We want to ensure that more of our submissions have an adequate sample size so as to get closer to reaching the goal of saturation and redundancy across relevant characteristics and concepts.
The current recommendation that is being put forward does not include any comment on other qualitative methodologies, such as content and textual analysis, participant observation, focus groups, case studies, clinical cases or mixed quantitative—qualitative methods.
The current recommendation also does not apply to phenomenological studies or life history approaches. The current guidance is intended to offer one clear and consistent standard for research projects that use grounded theory and draw on in-depth interviews.
Dworkin is an Associate Editor of the Journal and is responsible for qualitative submissions. Baker, S. How many qualitative interviews is enough? National Center for Research Methods. Charmaz, K. Social Science and Medicine, 30 , — PubMed Article Google Scholar. Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage Publications.
Google Scholar. Hi Mia, great questions! As an aside from the sampling discussion, interviewer training really is key to generating good qualitative data — and not just training in terms of interviewing skill, but also in making sure that everyone has a common understanding of the research objectives.
Some people have a more natural affinity for interviewing than others, but if you can provide your interviewers with pretty immediate feedback e. May I ask if you were conducting surveys via email — what would be an acceptable number of completed surveys to aim for?
Thanks for this illuminating post. I have now collected data from 2 different states were I conducted 13 interviews and 3 FGDs in the first and 8 interviews and 1 FGD in the next. When I started collecting data from the second state, I reached data saturation much quicker and for the FGDs i was not getting much different data from the first state. I am now wondering if I have taken the right approach. Was the interviews and FGDs recommended per each round of data collection? Hi Abisola, Yes, it sounds like you interpreted the recommendations correctly — that those sample sizes are per sub-population of interest.
In your case, I would have considered the two states as two sub-populations, as you did. Emily and Greg, this is brilliant! Just what I needed today, and described in such simplistic and fun way.
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