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Insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service

Background Online focus groups have been increasing in use over the last 2 decades, including in biomedical and health-related research. However, most of this research has made use of text-based services such as email, discussion boards, and chat rooms, which do not replicate the experience of face-...

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Autores principales: Kite, James, Phongsavan, Philayrath
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: F1000Research 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5527981/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28781752
http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10427.1
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author Kite, James
Phongsavan, Philayrath
author_facet Kite, James
Phongsavan, Philayrath
author_sort Kite, James
collection PubMed
description Background Online focus groups have been increasing in use over the last 2 decades, including in biomedical and health-related research. However, most of this research has made use of text-based services such as email, discussion boards, and chat rooms, which do not replicate the experience of face-to-face focus groups. Web conferencing services have the potential to more closely match the face-to-face focus group experience, including important visual and aural cues. This paper provides critical reflections on using a web conferencing service to conduct online focus groups. Methods As part of a broader study, we conducted both online and face-to-face focus groups with participants. The online groups were conducted in real-time using the web conferencing service, Blackboard Collaborate (TM). We used reflective practice to assess how the conduct and content of the groups were similar and how they differed across the two platforms. Results We found that further research using such services is warranted, particularly when working with hard-to-reach or geographically dispersed populations. The level of discussion and the quality of the data obtained was similar to that found in face-to-face groups. However, some issues remain, particularly in relation to managing technical issues experienced by participants and ensuring adequate recording quality to facilitate transcription and analysis. Conclusions Our experience with using web conferencing for online focus groups suggests that they have the potential to offer a realistic and comparable alternative to face-to-face focus groups, especially for geographically dispersed populations such as rural and remote health practitioners. Further testing of these services is warranted but researchers should carefully consider the service they use to minimise the impact of technical difficulties.
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spelling pubmed-55279812017-08-04 Insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service Kite, James Phongsavan, Philayrath F1000Res Research Note Background Online focus groups have been increasing in use over the last 2 decades, including in biomedical and health-related research. However, most of this research has made use of text-based services such as email, discussion boards, and chat rooms, which do not replicate the experience of face-to-face focus groups. Web conferencing services have the potential to more closely match the face-to-face focus group experience, including important visual and aural cues. This paper provides critical reflections on using a web conferencing service to conduct online focus groups. Methods As part of a broader study, we conducted both online and face-to-face focus groups with participants. The online groups were conducted in real-time using the web conferencing service, Blackboard Collaborate (TM). We used reflective practice to assess how the conduct and content of the groups were similar and how they differed across the two platforms. Results We found that further research using such services is warranted, particularly when working with hard-to-reach or geographically dispersed populations. The level of discussion and the quality of the data obtained was similar to that found in face-to-face groups. However, some issues remain, particularly in relation to managing technical issues experienced by participants and ensuring adequate recording quality to facilitate transcription and analysis. Conclusions Our experience with using web conferencing for online focus groups suggests that they have the potential to offer a realistic and comparable alternative to face-to-face focus groups, especially for geographically dispersed populations such as rural and remote health practitioners. Further testing of these services is warranted but researchers should carefully consider the service they use to minimise the impact of technical difficulties. F1000Research 2017-02-09 /pmc/articles/PMC5527981/ /pubmed/28781752 http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10427.1 Text en Copyright: © 2017 Kite J and Phongsavan P http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Note
Kite, James
Phongsavan, Philayrath
Insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service
title Insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service
title_full Insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service
title_fullStr Insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service
title_full_unstemmed Insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service
title_short Insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service
title_sort insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service
topic Research Note
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5527981/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28781752
http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10427.1
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