Comparing focus groups and individual interviews: findings from a randomized study

• Published in: International journal of social research methodology Vol. 20; no. 6; pp. 693 - 708
• Main Authors: Guest, Greg, Namey, Emily, Taylor, Jamilah, Eley, Natalie, McKenna, Kevin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 02.11.2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: African Americans; Brainstorming; Brainstorms; Comparative Analysis; comparison; Data Collection; Focus Groups; Group research; Health Behavior; Health care; Health services; Help Seeking; Interviews; Males; Men; Privacy; qualitative methods; Qualitative Research; Randomized Controlled Trials; Research Methodology; Researchers; Self Disclosure (Individuals); sensitive topics; systematic elicitation; North Carolina

Qualitative researchers often have to decide whether to collect data using focus groups or individual interviews. We systematically compare these two methods on their ability to generate two types of information: unique items in a brainstorming task and personally sensitive disclosures. Our study sa...