Focus Groups Online: Practical Guidance for Higher Education Researchers in the Pandemic and Beyond Based on an Autoethnographic Reflection

A well-established method of qualitative investigation is the focus group; a form of data collection involving multiple participants. Unlike interviews, focus groups enable participants to offer their opinion in a way that may be guided, inspired, or refuted by others, which enables a rich collection of perspectives to be gathered for research purposes. While traditionally focus groups have been conducted in the face-to-face setting, the COVID-19 pandemic led many researchers to adapt their practice, conducting online focus groups from their home. This paper describes some practical guidance for researchers who wish to conduct focus groups online. This guidance was derived using an autoethnographic approach, drawing on the experience of a researcher working on a large educational development project, reflecting on what was learned from running several focus group sessions. It is envisaged this work will act as an informative guide for researchers who wish to conduct research from home, or use an online medium to conduct focus groups, beyond the pandemic.