by
Andrea Meier
Clinical Assistant Professor
School of Social Work
University of North Carolina CB#3550
Chapel Hill NC 27599-3550 USA
Chat group research, Focus group research, Colon cancer, Research feasibility, Research ethics
Health behavior researchers are turning to online chat focus groups to collect data on perceived health risks and risk reduction strategies. Findings from chat focus groups with colon cancer survivors will be used to illustrate research feasibility and ethics issues in Internet-mediated health and human services research.
Health behavior researchers often use face-to-face (F2F) focus groups to explore how people who live with an illness perceive the risks and risk minimization strategies associated with their condition, and how they cope with their illness. The findings from such studies are often applied to the design, implementation, marketing and management of direct health care and related support services (Basch, 1987; Krueger & Casey, 2000). Despite the usefulness of F2F focus groups, recruiting participants for them can be difficult. People in populations targeted by health behavior studies may be confronted with logistical and emotional obstacles that make them unable or unwilling to participate in focus groups (Campbell et al., in press).
There has been a proliferation of research projects using the Internet to collect health and human services data. One of these emergent Internet-mediated (IM) data collection strategies is the growing use of online “chat” group communication” for focus groups. Such groups can simulate the immediacy and spontaneity of face-to-face groups while eliminating some barriers to participation. However, the use of the Internet to collect sensitive data also raises new questions about research feasibility and ethics (Frankel & Siang, 1999). Drawing findings from a recent, qualitative study of colorectal cancer survivors (n=19) in five, IM-chat focus groups, this presentation provides an overview of feasibility and ethical issues in IM health behavior research (Campbell et al., in press). It describes how the technical infrastructure needed to conduct the study was developed iteratively along with the more conventional preparations for recruitment and data collection (Meier, Campbell, ! Carr, James, & Bo, under review). It also describes how interview protocols and group facilitation techniques were adapted to the characteristics of “chat” communication. The presentation also describes how researchers resolved ethical concerns related to the use of IM communication that arose at each stage of project implementation.
Researchers and practitioners who use focus groups for social marketing or intervention research. It would be helpful, but not essential, for participants to have had experience using Internet “chat.”
I have considerable experience using F2F and IM groups for research on health and human services issues. My dissertation on was a multi-method feasibility evaluation of a listserv-based, job stress support group for social workers. I served as a consultant to the CRC chat focus group project on protocol design, and implementation, and as the group leader for all five chat groups. Currently, I also serve as qualitative research specialist for the NIH funded Core for Health Applications and Interventions in the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. I am responsible for consulting with faculty researchers and students on the design, implementation, and data analysis of F2F and IM focus groups on health behavior issues, and for conducting workshops on these issues
Basch, C. (1987). Focus group interview: An underutilized research technique for improving theory and practice in health education. Health Education Quarterly, 14, 411-448.
Campbell, M. K., Meier, A., Carr, C., Enga, Z., James, A., Reedy, J., & Zheng, B. (in press). Health behavior changes after colon cancer: A comparison of findings from face-to-face and online focus groups. Journal of Health Education Research.
Frankel, M. S., & Siang, S. (1999). Ethical and legal aspects of human subjects research on the Internet. Report of a Workshop: June 10-11, 1999. Washington, D.C. Association for the Advancement of Science. Available: http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/sfrl/projects/intres/main.htm [2000, November 12].
Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A. (2000). Focus Groups. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Meier, A., Campbell, M. K., Carr, C., James, A., & Bo, Z. (under review). Using online chat-based focus groups in health behavior research: Research ethics and feasibility issues in chat focus groups for colon cancer survivors (submitted to Health Education Research).