Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research

This updated edition of Krueger and Casey’s bestselling, practical book walks readers step by step through the "how-tos" of conducting focus group research. Using an engaging, straightforward writing style, the authors draw on their many years of hands-on experience in the field to cut through theory and offer practical guidance on every facet of the focus group process, including tips for avoiding problems and pitfalls. The Fifth Edition reflects the most recent research and technological innovations and includes new coverage on planning with analysis in mind; creating conversational questions that have the potential for producing unique and valuable insights; the art of hosting a focus group; common sense thinking about reporting; more efficient strategies for planning the study; and emerging areas of focus group research, such as conducting cross-cultural, international, and Internet focus groups.

Table of Contents:
PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. Overview of Focus Groups 2. Planning The Focus Group Study 3. Developing a Questioning Route 4. Participants in a Focus Group 5. Moderating Skills 6. Analyzing Focus Group Results 7. Reporting 8. Focus Group Research 9. Focus Group Interviewing with Young People 10. International and Cross-Cultural Focus Group Interviewing 11. Telephone and Internet Focus Group Interviewing 12. Focus Group Interviewing Within the Organization 13. Modifications of Focus Groups 14. Answering Questions About the Quality of Focus Group Research

About the Author :
Richard Krueger is professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota. He is an internationally recognized authority on the use of focus group interviewing within the public environment. For 25 years he served as evaluation leader for the University of Minnesota Extension Service followed by 10 years teaching graduate courses in program evaluation and research methodology. He is a former president of the American Evaluation Association and a member of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.  In his spare time he repairs his motorcycle, swaps stories with friends, and shops for tools at the local hardware store. Maybe you’ve seen him there.  Mary Anne Casey is an evaluator, writer, and teacher. She has been an evaluation consultant at the international, national, state, and local levels on topics relating to health, public policy, community development, agriculture, and the environment. Mary Anne has had the privilege of asking questions and listening, and the challenge of providing useful, enlightening results to clients. She relishes analysis and finding just the right way to convey what people have shared. She weaves the lessons she has learned into her work, her writing on focus group interviewing, and her teaching at the University of Minnesota, University of South Florida, and University of Michigan. Mary Anne previously worked for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the state of Minnesota. She received her PhD from the University of Minnesota. She gets her best insights while in the shower or on long walks.

Review :
"Krueger and Casey's book does a magnificent job of incorporating both theoretical and practical approaches to the study of focus groups. It is the only hands-on book which explores the process of focus group research." -- Theresa Carilli, Purdue University Calumet "An excellent 'focused' book on focus groups - anyone who reads this book can pretty much kickstart their own focus group research." -- Aditya Simha, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater