Reception analyses of science news: evaluating focus groups as a method

This paper critically evaluates methodological issues relevant to using focus groups in media reception analyses. Focus groups have become a popular research method in recent years for social researchers (Morgan, 1993), and, more recently, for politicians and political parties (Kitzinger and Barbour, 1999). However, they have been used as far back as the 1920s for market research, and Robert Merton used them for sociological research in the 1940s and 1950s (Kitzinger, 1994; Hansen et al., 1998). More recently, media researchers have used focus groups in reception analyses of a range of topics, including biomedical and scientific issues (e.g. Reilly, 1999; Durant et al., 1996; Hornig Priest, 1994; Kitzinger, 1990). Through consideration of the literature on focus groups and qualitative data analysis, this paper addresses the following questions: What are the benefits and drawbacks of using focus groups in media reception analyses? What are the challenges in recruiting and sampling pre-existing groups? What factors influence the structure of focus groups investigating media reception? What issues face moderators when conducting focus groups? How do you produce and analyse data generated during focus groups? What strategies can focus group researchers employ to demonstrate validity and reliability? In addressing these questions this paper draws on the experiences of conducting and analysing 32 focus groups that investigated audience reception of media coverage of newly-published scientific and biomedical issues, including