Multiple choice questions
Question 1
What is the main difference between a focus group and a group interview?
a) Group interviews involve fewer participants
b) Focus groups are used to study the way people discuss a specific topic
c) There is no moderator present in a focus group
d) Focus groups save more time and money
Question 2
How have focus groups been used in media and cultural studies?
a) To plan champagne receptions
b) To investigate birth and conception
c) To explore audience reception
d) To measure TV reception
Question 3
Why is it particularly difficult to get an accurate record and transcript of a focus group session?
a) Because the researcher often forgets to take notes
b) Because focus groups are transcribed several years after they are conducted
c) Because you cannot use a tape recorder in a focus group
d) Because there are so many different voices to follow
Question 4
When might it be useful to conduct a relatively large number of focus groups?
a) When participants' views are likely to be affected by socio-demographic factors
b) When you want to capture as much diversity in perspectives as possible
c) When there are lots of willing volunteers who meet the relevant criteria
d) All of the above
Question 5
What is the role of the moderator in a focus group?
a) To stimulate discussion and keep the conversation on track
b) To ask leading questions and dominate the discussion
c) To sit away from the group and observe their behaviour
d) To evaluate the group's performance on a particular task
Question 6
What are "natural groups" in the context of focus group research?
a) Groups of strangers selected from a particular location
b) Random samples of participants from the general population
c) Groups of participants who already know each other
d) Groups of non-human animals studied in their natural environment
Question 7
What should the moderator say in their introductory remarks?
a) Thank you to the participants for coming
b) Who they are and what the research is about
c) How the focus group will proceed
d) All of the above
Question 8
What are the two main forms of group interaction that Kitzinger identifies in focus group sessions?
a) Altruistic and aggressive
b) Complementary and argumentative
c) Conventional and alternative
d) Passive and assertive
Question 9
Why have feminists argued that focus groups successfully avoid "decontextualizing" their participants?
a) Because they study the individual as part of a social context
b) Because they tend to be carried out by female researchers
c) Because moderating a focus group demands great technical knowledge
d) Because the data tends to be analysed using post-structuralist theories
Question 10
Which of the following is not a limitation of the focus group method?
a) The researcher has little control over how the discussion proceeds
b) It reveals the way social meanings are jointly constructed
c) It produces a large volume of data that can be difficult to analyse
d) People in groups tend to agree and express socially desirable views