Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research

I received my item within the time indicated and the book was in great shape. If the transactions continued to go as smoothly as this one, I would definitely buy from this seller again! I'm satisfied with the product, price, and timeliness of receiving my product.

I purchased this book prior to taking a class on focus groups with the authors. I found the book was written in a manner that was both clear and informative. Information in the book provides the necessary background and detail to understand focus groups. The authors are experienced moderators with many jewels of wisdom to share which are found in this book. This one is a keeper!

As explained in the acknowledgements, this book grew out of research projects of the authors. It seeks to explain how one draws valid meaning from qualitative data. The focus of the book, as a consequence, is analysis. The authors see themselves as logical positivists. Three components of analysis are: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification.Like a large number of other scholars, they see compatibility between qualitative and quantitative research. They contend that "qualitative research can be outright 'confirmatory.'"This book covers the basics of doing a qualitataive study. It is a helpful reference to use for experienced researchers as well as an excellent introduction for beginners.

This book contains a great deal of information about conducting focus groups and is very easy to use; however, the format is far too simplistic. Focus groups are a research technique; this book takes the approach of "so easy even a child could do it." Although it is filled with information and guidelines about appropriate techniques and uses for data, the lighthearted format undermines the serious nature of data collection and analysis. The second edition was much better as a comprehensive guide to focus groups that maintained some research integrity.Incidentally, I suspect that Paladin Red actually reviewed the second edition. The third edition does not contain appendices after each chapter - another unfortunate loss from the earlier edition.

Krueger's book on focus groups has been by far the most useful guide in terms of the step-by-step approach used. Everything from concise budgeting techniques to handling those "difficult" participants are outlined neatly and in a straight-forward fashion. The appendices after each chapter are also really helpful especially for beginner researchers such as myself. I borrowed this book from the library for a summer marketing research job and it was all I needed for the focus group portion. Recommended to me by my marketing prof, I in turn highly recommend it!