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The methodological potential of focus groups in population geography
Author(s) -
Skop Emily
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
population, space and place
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.398
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1544-8452
pISSN - 1544-8444
DOI - 10.1002/psp.402
Subject(s) - focus group , population , essentialism , sociology , focus (optics) , empowerment , qualitative research , human geography , work (physics) , social science , geography , public relations , epistemology , political science , gender studies , anthropology , demography , engineering , mechanical engineering , philosophy , physics , law , optics
Within population geography, the last decade has seen an explosion in qualitative work in terms of the types of work, the topics addressed, and the potential theoretical consequences. Yet focus groups have received less attention as an alternative method. This paper highlights the particular promises, challenges, and practicality of doing focus group research in population geography. I begin by addressing how this research method answers ongoing pleas within the subdiscipline for non‐essentialist ways of thinking about taken‐for‐granted social categories and labels. I then outline two other promising outcomes of this method, including the potential for unique and spontaneous group interactions, and the potential for the empowerment of participants. I use the rest of the paper to provide a review of some of the methodological details of focus group research, with the idea of encouraging more population geographers to engage with this method. Throughout, I contend that focus groups have the capability to further our understanding of population processes, and to connect population geography research to ongoing debates within the broader discipline. Observations stem from an extensive review of existing focus group research, along with my own focus group research conducted with residents living in multiracial suburban communities. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.