Using focus groups in healthcare research

Focus groups, or focus group interviews, are typically used in marketing and social sciences In these context they have been found to be a flexible way to easily gather quantitative information on a topic researchers are exploring Focus groups are conversations between the focus group moderator and participants, within which all have the opportunity to make statements, ask questions, clarify questions, and explore the details around the participants' utterance There are some limitations to focus groups, especially in health care research An example that would be extremely timely is a focus group on possible ways to react to the coronavirus pandemic that is at present hitting the world It is likely that with such an important and deadly topic in which many different types of people are impacted in different ways, several focus groups may be convened These focus groups could be comprised of: medical professionals' economists;local, national, and international law makers/politicians;drug manufacturers;families of people who have had the virus;individuals who have recovered from having the virus;and the list goes on (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)