Quality Is in the Eye of the Beholder—A Focus Group Study from the Perspective of Ambulance Clinicians, Physicians, and Managers

Quality within all areas of healthcare should be systemically monitored and ensured. However, the definition of quality is complex and diverse. In the ambulance service (AS), quality has traditionally been defined as response time, but this measurement eliminates the possibility of addressing other characteristics of quality, such as the care provided. This study aimed to explore what constitutes quality in the context of the ambulance service as experienced by ambulance clinicians, physicians, and managers. A focus group study was conducted with 18 participants. The three focus groups were analyzed with the focus group method developed by Kreuger and Casey. The participants highlighted patient involvement, information and care, as well as adherence to policies, regulations, and their own standards as representing quality in the AS. This study demonstrates that quality is in the eye of the beholder. As quality seems to be viewed similarly by patients and ambulance clinicians, physicians, and managers, stakeholders should aim for a paradigm shift where patients’ experience of the care is just as important as various time measures.

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STUDYING THE PROCEDURE COMPONENT OF LEARNING MOTIVES OF STUDENTS WITH DIFFERENT GPA

Main Issues Of Pedagogy And Psychology ◽

10.24234/miopap.v17i1.368 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 90-98

Author(s):

Mari KELOYAN

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Focus Group ◽

Text Comprehension ◽

Learning Motivation ◽

Group Method ◽

Focus Group Study ◽

Grade Point ◽

Academic Texts ◽

Procedural Components ◽

Focus Group Method

The article focuses on the study of the procedural component of students' learning motives from the faculties of humanities of ASPU. As an academic task has been taken reading comprehension, and reading comprehension actions have been considered as procedural components of learning motives. The focus group method was chosen as an effective method for studying the above-mentioned issue. The results of the focus group study, that's the variety of reading comprehension actions of students with different GPA (Grade Point Average) were revealed and grouped. The actions or strategies of medium and especially low GPA students are poor for ensuring deep comprehension of academic texts, which in its turn decreases learning motivation, while students with high-GPA mainly perform mental actions of different complexity levels for ensuring text comprehension which in turn increases intrinsic learning motivation.

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The focus group method and contemporary French sociology

Journal of Sociology ◽

10.1177/144078301128756382 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 341-353 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Jacques Hamel

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Group Method ◽

French Sociology ◽

Focus Group Method

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Using Symbols and Shapes for Analysis in Small Focus Group Research

The Qualitative Report ◽

10.46743/2160-3715/2016.2388 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Oladokun Omojola

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Prima Facie ◽

Group Method ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Focus Group Research ◽

Group Research ◽

Research Findings ◽

Small Focus ◽

Focus Group Method

Substantial literature exists to support the growing importance of focus group research, having been around for decades. Its ubiquity under the scholarship radar is not in doubt while the analyses of findings commonly seen are scholarly and significantly sophisticated. However, these analyses have been found to be limited in scope for fresh adopters of the focus group method, non-literate beneficiaries of research findings and business people who are critically averse to lengthy textual statements about outcomes. This article introduces the use of symbols as a means of analyzing responses from small focus group discussions. It attempts to demonstrate that using symbols can substantially assist in the prima facie determination of perceptions from a focus group membership, its patterns of agreement and disagreement, as well as the sequence of its discussions.

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Precincts and Prospects in the Use of Focus Groups in Social and Behavioral Science Research

The Qualitative Report ◽

10.46743/2160-3715/2012.1784 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Dominic Sagoe

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Behavioral Science ◽

Science Research ◽

Group Method ◽

Behavioural Science ◽

Behavioral Science Research ◽

Social And Behavioral Science ◽

Focus Group Method ◽

Practical Recommendations

Over the past few years, the focus group method has assumed a very important role as a method for collecting qualitative data in social and behavioural science research. This article elucidates theoretical and practical problems and prospects associated with the use of focus groups as a qualitative research method in social and behavioural science research. The core uses of focus groups in social and behavioural science research are discussed. In addition, the strengths and limitations of employing focus groups in social and behavioural science research are elucidated. Furthermore, the article discusses practical recommendations for strengthening the focus group method in social and behavioural science research.

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Using Focus Group Research in Exploring the Relationships between Youth, Risk and Social Position

Sociological Research Online ◽

10.5153/sro.2086 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 11-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Dave Merryweather

Keyword(s):

Young People ◽

Focus Group ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Social Position ◽

Group Method ◽

Conversational Interaction ◽

Focus Group Research ◽

Group Research ◽

Using Data ◽

Focus Group Method

This paper draws upon current research to consider the value of the focus group method for exploring the relationships between youth, risk and social position. Groups comprising young people occupying similar social positions were used to generate talk about aspects of everyday life regarded as risk. Through the processes of conversational interaction facilitated by the focus group method, participants co-produced detailed risk narratives, understood here in Bourdieu's terms as product and producer of the habitus related to social position. Using data from several of the focus groups I illustrate how the method was especially useful in generating narratives indicative of how risks were experienced and understood in different ways according to social positions of class, gender and ethnicity. Such risk narratives also reproduced distinctions between and within different social positions. Consideration is given to certain limitations of the focus group method in respect of this research. Ultimately, however, the ability of the method to generate collaborative narratives reflective of shared social position is viewed as an invaluable means for developing a rich and nuanced account of the relations between youth and risk.

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The Focus Group Method as an Empirical Tool in Software Engineering

Guide to Advanced Empirical Software Engineering ◽

10.1007/978-1-84800-044-5_4 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 93-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Jyrki Kontio ◽

Johanna Bragge ◽

Laura Lehtola

Keyword(s):

Software Engineering ◽

Focus Group ◽

Group Method ◽

Focus Group Method

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Analysing the ways of participating in interview settings: young people’s identity performances and social class in focus groups

Qualitative Research ◽

10.1177/1468794119891634 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (5) ◽

pp. 649-666

Author(s):

Anu Katainen ◽

Riie Heikkilä

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Vulnerable Groups ◽

Group Method ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Deprived Neighbourhoods ◽

Situated Identity ◽

The Social ◽

Study Setting ◽

Focus Group Method

Critical discussions on the focus group method have highlighted the importance of considering the forms of interaction generated in groups. In this empirical paper we argue that these forms of interaction are intimately linked to the ways participants interpret the study setting, and these interpretations are likely to differ significantly depending on participants’ social backgrounds. In the light of our data consisting of 18 focus groups with 15-year-old school pupils from both affluent and deprived neighbourhoods of Helsinki discussing film clips about young people drinking alcohol, we ask what kinds of modes of participation are mobilised in focus group discussions in order to mark the social position of participants. We further analyse these modes in relation to situated identity performances, arguing that contextual factors of the study setting become especially important to consider when researching vulnerable groups and heterogeneous populations. The analysis yields three modes of participation: these are active/engaged, resistant/passive and dominant/transformative. We argue that these modes can be viewed as actively taken positions that reveal what kinds of identities and competences participants are able and willing to mobilise in the study setting, and that recognising these modes is important in all interview settings.

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Patients’ Experience and Needs During Perioperative Care: A Focus Group Study

Patient Preference and Adherence ◽

10.2147/ppa.s252670 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol Volume 14 ◽

pp. 891-902

Author(s):

Milena Gobbo ◽

Roberto Saldaña ◽

Marcos Rodríguez ◽

Javier Jiménez ◽

María I García-Vega ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Perioperative Care ◽

Focus Group Study ◽

Patients Experience

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Editorial

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/eav40n4_ed ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 40 (4) ◽

pp. I

Author(s):

H M Burrow ◽

S G Coffey

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Policy Development ◽

Group Analysis ◽

Farming System ◽

Research Process ◽

Sustainability Indicators ◽

Group Method ◽

Sustainable Farming ◽

Focus Group Study ◽

Farmer Knowledge

In Australia, the work being carried out on sustainability indicators has become an industry on its own. This paper firstly provides an introduction that reviews the literature on indicator development and use, particularly in relation to agricultural production systems. A number of reasons for the limited use of indicators by farmers are mentioned. Secondly, a focus group study involving farmers from two dryland cropping areas in Queensland to investigate sustainability indicators and sustainable farming systems is presented. The indicators the participants identified during focus groups included indicators that reflect (i)farming system components, (ii) the management of these components, (iii) the management of all components and their interrelationships at the systems level, and (iv) the external factors that influence and interact with this systems level. Focus group analysis also showed that the participants perceived sustainability as an on-going process and a sustainable farming system as dynamic and emergent in nature. The implications of these findings are discussed. Three key issues were raised (i) the value of farmer knowledge with respect to the development of indicators has often been ignored; (ii) there are links between indicators developed through traditional science and those being used by farmers; and (iii) off-farm indicators used by farmers may be very useful in policy development at a variety of levels (e.g. catchment, regional, national, global). The focus group method involving farmers provided a useful way to gain insights about farmer perceptions and for farmers to learn from each other during the research process.

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