This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Underhill, C. Articles by Olmsted, M. G. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

An Experimental Comparison of Computer-Mediated and Face-to-Face Focus Groups

Navy Personnel Research, Studies and Technology Department of the Navy Personnel Command, christina.underhill{at}persnet.navy.mil

Murrey G. Olmsted

Navy Personnel Research, Studies and Technology Department of the Navy Personnel Command, murrey.olmsted{at}navy.mil

Conducting focus groups via computers is becoming an increasingly popular method for collecting data. The main benefits of Internet-based focus groups include lower cost, no travel expenses, automatic capture of the discussion data, and the ability to reach remote populations for participation. Although Internet-based focus groups are popular, little research has been done to compare the quantity and quality of the information obtained from traditional face-to-face focus groups and computer-based focus groups. This study compared the quantity and quality of information gained from face-to-face and two computer-based focus group conditions. Results indicated conducting focus groups using a computer produces similar amounts of information. Most important, the quality of the information obtained from computer-based focus groups is not significantly different from information obtained from face-to-face groups. Varying the levels of social interaction to cause different levels of perceived social presence did not produce differences in the quality or quantity of information.

Key Words: computer-mediated communication • focus groups • online focus groups • face-to-face focus groups • social presence

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Tremayne, Xin Chen, N. Figur, and J. Sonia Huang Perceived Authority and Communication Channel: Experiments with Instant Messaging Social Science Computer Review, May 1, 2008; 26(2): 178 - 189. [Abstract] [PDF]