11-24, 13:40–13:55 (Australia/Melbourne), Zoom Breakout Room 2
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, many qualitative researchers have pivoted to online data collection. Online qualitative methods have advantages and limitations compared to their face-to-face counterparts and are often considered to generate more, but less rich, qualitative data. In the case of online focus groups, a particular challenge for generating rich data is the difficulty in fostering participant-to-participant interactions and thereby eliciting unanticipated ideas. Our recent experiences running six asynchronous online focus groups across two research projects in 2020-2021, challenged many of the claims about the advantages and limitations of this method. The focus groups explored Australian and New Zealand community attitudes towards novel biotechnologies in food production and how these relate to underlying values. Our methodological reflections are twofold: firstly, asynchronous online focus groups can generate rich individual data, as might occur from one-on-one interviews. Second, it is possible to foster participant-to-participant interactions and elicit unanticipated ideas. Based on our experiences, we argue that the asynchronous online focus group is a promising data collection method, with advantages that can be furthered through careful recruitment and design, flexible online platforms, and responsive facilitation. These reflections have practical and methodological implications for qualitative researchers, particularly for studies that embrace an emergent design.
Recording link: https://acspri-org-au.zoom.us/rec/share/hgwslXAzf4qmRv8ipyQ8zMAGRA6ZC19EJzm11t5vL9ztJQFO7ZqqwZRhGSozzL4.GZreddTQcQGSpJ3u?startTime=1669257633000
Rebecca is a PhD student at the University of Adelaide where she is a member of the Food Values Research Group.