Describes the use of a professional marketing and opinion research firm at Brown University Library to conduct focus group meetings with users and to provide data analysis. Highlights include a review of library literature on focus group use; focus group methodology; benefits of employing professionals; logistics of focus group preparation; and…

Interviews with four co-op students as well as parents, cooperating teachers, and workplace supervisors were analyzed as multiple-perspective cases, by stakeholder groups, and across cases. Focus groups provided additional data from seven co-op students. All stakeholders believed that co-op broadened the school curriculum. Adults were more…

This article describes a focus group interview conducted with a group of therapists in a large-scale, comprehensive family service agency in an Arab American community. The interview format was semistructured, and the results confirmed what little was already known about the population and supplemented that body of knowledge with updated…

Discussion of information literacy focuses on a study conducted by the Information School of the University of Washington that surveyed librarians in the state through mail, email, telephone, and focus groups, concerning their views on information literacy. Discusses implications for education and training needs of librarians. (Author/LRW)

Explains how to conduct an information audit for an established corporate library that will be useful to determine whether any changes are needed. Highlights include establishing goals; obtaining management support; deciding whether to hire consultants; and possible techniques, including interviews, focus groups, and surveys. (LRW)

Explores secondary school students' ideas and perceptions about learning, including how they learn best and what approaches and teaching strategies they find most conducive to learning. Results of interviews, questionnaires, and focus groups suggest students can engage in metacognitive activity, identify strengths and difficulties in learning, and…

The Children's Health Awareness Project is presented as a case study in using focus groups for gathering sensitive information from children. General focus group techniques and advantages and limitations of the method are described. Recommendations are offered for use of the technique with children when sensitive topics are addressed. (SLD)

Focus group discussions with 14 participants in the University of Pittsburgh's Semester at Sea (a global education and travel program) showed most students did not change dramatically on five dimensions of global perspective: fear/openness, same/different, naivete'/cross-cultural understanding, nationalism, and ethnocentrism/globalcentrism. Some…

Explores the interpretation of experiences and world views of young people in deprived inner-city neighborhoods. Findings from six focus groups made up of 44 adolescents suggest the combination of mainstream and ghetto-specific norms in the interpretations these young people give to their environment and the ways in which experiences shape their…

Presents data from a research project studying tobacco and alcohol use patterns in San Francisco's Chinese community (N=1,808). Results indicate that the prevalence of both tobacco and alcohol use is lower for San Francisco's Chinese population than for the general population. Those who smoke tended to be different from those who drink.…

Argues that the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) is useful for evaluating and guiding staff development within gifted education, explaining use of the CBAM to evaluate reform and professional development revolving around the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. Discusses use of CBAM procedures in conducting focus groups and conferences with teachers,…

Used focus groups and questionnaires involving parents and professionals in Northern Ireland to develop consensus regarding diagnostic and assessment services for children with autistic-spectrum disorders. Validated results through meetings and comments on draft documents produced by a selected reference group. Identified recommendations for…

Focus groups and an interpretive-interactionist methodology were used to evaluate the narratives that top-performing students offered to account for lack of participation in public affairs classrooms. Notes the disproportionate number of silent female students, and argues that teachers should consider issues of gender equity, peer behavior, and…

Focus groups with 128 mothers in 14 Appalachian counties in 10 states examined the women's attitudes toward their own and their children's smoking and use of smokeless tobacco, their willingness to act to protect their children's health, their ability to influence their children's behavior, and their reactions to various tobacco prevention…

Examines the effects of a focus group discussion on elderly worriers (N=21; at least 70 years old and self-designated as worriers). Results indicate that the percentage of the day that participants spent worrying was significantly reduced after the focus group. Subjects rated the experience as positive and beneficial. (RJM)