title: Viewing Focus Groups Through a Critical Incident Lens.
abstract: Scholars often do not describe in detail the complex process of conducting focus groups, including what happens when they take unexpected turns. A critical incident lens provides a framework for better analyzing and understanding what actually happens during focus group sessions. Using a critical incident approach, we examine our experiences of carrying out focus groups about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine with vaccine-eligible adolescent girls and parents/caregivers of vaccine-eligible adolescent girls in New Mexico. The critical incident lens allowed us to productively explore the context and interactional dynamics of our focus groups and ultimately pushed us to talk through the challenges of conducting and analyzing them. We hope this serves as a call to qualitative researchers to be attentive to the critical incidents in your own research to enrich your analysis and contribute to a broader discussion of the realities of focus group conduct.
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Getrich
authors.affiliation: W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
authors.forename: Anzia M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.affiliation: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA asussman@salud.unm.edu.
authors.forename: Andrew L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Sussman
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Department, Bernalillo County, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
authors.forename: Angélica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Solares
authors.affiliation: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Helitzer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009516:New Mexico; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D036301:Qualitative Research
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines
keywords: cancer, screening and prevention; critical incident technique; focus groups; reflexivity
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