文章基本信息

标题：Optimizing the Epistemological Potential of Focus Groups in Research on a Contested Issue
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作者：Jan K. Coetzee ; P. Conrad Kotze
期刊名称：Qualitative Sociology Review
印刷版ISSN：1733-8077
电子版ISSN：1733-8077
出版年度：2014
卷号：X
期号：2
出版社：Lodz University
摘要：This article explores the potential of the focus group to generate analyzable social interaction. We investigate the ways in which group interaction may lead to new insights using examples from a 2011 study on transformation at a South African university campus. Certain aspects of sociable interaction, such as com municat ive i nteract ion, power and age ncy, conflict, as well as exchange are touched upon and their roles in the intersubjective construction of reality are emphasized. We also look at the role of the facilitator in setting up a successful focus group session and the ways i n wh ich a na tura list ic int eract ion al s etting m ay compen s ate for t he relat iv e un n at ural na ture of the group situation. O ur argument is for the realization of the potential of the focus group as a qualitative method of data collection that is inherently geared towards generating understand- ing of contested issues, as it allows for an exciti ng positioning of the researcher between that of interviewer and participant observer, readily able to experience interactional exchange first hand while subtly directing the group conversation into areas of special interest. We believe that the unique epistemological possibilities of the focus group merit a re-engagement with the method by any social scientist interested in the dynamics underlying the social construction of reality, as it offers a window into the ways in which unfolding reality is intersubjectively contested, debated, and finally agreed upon.
关键词：Communicative Interaction; Conflict; Conversational Exchange; Constructivism; Epistemolog y; ; Exchange; Interaction Ritual; Negotiated Knowledge; Power and Age ncy; Sociable Inte raction