Conducting Focus Groups Cross-Culturally: Experiences with Pacific Northwest Indian People

Many disciplines have used focus groups in research and the use has increased in the past 15 years ( Smith, 1995). Procedural concerns have been explored, such as the selection of the participants, the location, and the size of the group, but little attention has been given to the consideration of c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public health Nursing 1999-06, Vol.16 (3), p.190-197
Main Author: Strickland, C. June
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Communication
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Female
Focus Groups - methods
Humans
Indians, North American - psychology
Male
Medical sciences
Northwestern United States
Nursing
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Research Design
Techniques and methods
Vaginal Smears - psychology
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Summary:Many disciplines have used focus groups in research and the use has increased in the past 15 years ( Smith, 1995). Procedural concerns have been explored, such as the selection of the participants, the location, and the size of the group, but little attention has been given to the consideration of cultural influences. The purpose of this paper is to focus attention on the impact of culture in conducting focus groups. Experiences from 15 focus groups conducted in two qualitative research studies with two Washington state Indian tribes over a 5 year period are presented and illustrate the importance of culture in conducting focus groups. Communication patterns, roles, relationships, and traditions were found to be important elements that must be considered in conducting focus groups cross‐culturally. While some strategies discovered were found to be helpful, additional research is needed.
ISSN:0737-1209
1525-1446
DOI:10.1046/j.1525-1446.1999.00190.x