title: Interpretive focus groups: a participatory method for interpreting and extending secondary analysis of qualitative data.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Participatory approaches to qualitative research practice constantly change in response to evolving research environments. Researchers are increasingly encouraged to undertake secondary analysis of qualitative data, despite epistemological and ethical challenges. Interpretive focus groups can be described as a more participative method for groups to analyse qualitative data.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To facilitate interpretive focus groups with women in Papua New Guinea to extend analysis of existing qualitative data and co-create new primary data. The purpose of this was to inform a transformational grounded theory and subsequent health promoting action.
  
  
  METHODS
  A two-step approach was used in a grounded theory study about how women experience male circumcision in Papua New Guinea. Participants analysed portions or 'chunks' of existing qualitative data in story circles and built upon this analysis by using the visual research method of storyboarding.
  
  
  RESULTS
  New understandings of the data were evoked when women in interpretive focus groups analysed the data 'chunks'. Interpretive focus groups encouraged women to share their personal experiences about male circumcision. The visual method of storyboarding enabled women to draw pictures to represent their experiences. This provided an additional focus for whole-of-group discussions about the research topic.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interpretive focus groups offer opportunity to enhance trustworthiness of findings when researchers undertake secondary analysis of qualitative data. The co-analysis of existing data and co-generation of new data between research participants and researchers informed an emergent transformational grounded theory and subsequent health promoting action.
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia; michelle.maclaren@jcu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Redman-MacLaren
authors.affiliation: College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: School of Health Science, Pacific Adventist University, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tommbe
mesh_terms: D002944:Circumcision, Male; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010219:Papua New Guinea; D036301:Qualitative Research; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Papua New Guinea; decolonizing methodologies; interpretive focus groups; qualitative research; secondary analysis