TOPIC
 

We have been conducting focus group interviews for over 20 years and during that time we have had opportunity to listen to a wide range of people, from different educational levels, occupations, backgrounds, cultures and life experiences. We’ve used focus groups to evaluate products, programs and policies, to augment academic research, to develop social marketing campaigns, and to help agencies and organizations make decisions on critical issues.

During that time we’ve learned about what works and what doesn’t. We’ve seen focus groups succeed and we’ve seen them fail. We’ve had opportunity to teach aspiring moderators throughout the world. In this session we will provide a brief overview of the focus group interview, discuss the critical steps of recruiting, developing questions, moderating, and analyzing the results. Participants will have an opportunity to experience a focus group and to practice some of the most important tasks of conducting a focus group study. We will conclude with a review of the best practices for conducting research and evaluation using focus group interviewing.

AUDIENCE

This short course is intended for graduate students, faculty and researchers in the social and behavioral science, public health, medicine, epidemiology, mass communications and other fields.

INSTRUCTORS

Dr. Richard A. Krueger is professor emeritus and senior fellow at the University of Minnesota. He spent the first 12 years of his career working in communities and observing first hand how small groups function and operate. His specialty is program evaluation and is past president of the American Evaluation Association. In his spare time he repairs his motorcycle, even if it isn’t broken.

Dr. Mary Anne Casey, is currently an evaluation consultant working with nonprofit and public organizations. She has had opportunity to serve as a professor at the University of Minnesota, worked as an evaluator for the Minnesota Dept. of Trade and Economic Development, and an evaluator for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  In her spare time she is an active gardener.

READINGS
Krueger, Richard A. and Mary Anne Casey  (2000). Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research, 3rd edition.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Pages 1 - 20 are Required

Pages 21 - 156 are Recommended

Pages 157 - 209 are Optional

Suggested readings:

Byseth, Jean, et al.  (2003)  Moderating to the Max.  Ithaca, NY: Paramount Market Publishing.

Krueger, Richard A.  (September / October 2006),  “Analyzing focus group interviews.”  Journal of Wound Ostomy and Contience Nursing Society.  pp 478 -  481.

Morgan, David and Richard Krueger (1998)  The Focus Group Kit. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Including:

The focus group guidebook. (Volume 1)

Planning focus groups. (Volume 2)

Developing questions for focus groups. (Volume 3

Moderating focus groups. (Volume 4)

Involving community members in focus groups. (Volume 5).

Analyzing and reporting focus group results. (Volume 6)

To register
This short course is open free of charge to faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students at Columbia University as well as faculty and postdoctoral fellows at other sites of the Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars (H&SS) Program. Enrollment is limited to 30; H&SS affiliates will have priority.  Attendees must RSVP to Claire Espey cte2105@columbia.edu.

The Health & Society Scholars Program at Columbia University is a postdoctoral program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It is a joint initiative of the Mailman School of Public Health and the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP) at Columbia, and is co-directed by Bruce Link and Peter Bearman. For more information call 212-854-3694 or email chssp@columbia.edu