InThinking Revision Sites

INTHINKING REVISION SITES

Own your learning

Why not also try our independent learning self-study & revision websites for students?

We currenly offer the following DP Sites: Biology, Chemistry, English A Lang & Lit, Maths A&A, Maths A&I, Physics, Spanish B

"The site is great for revising the basic understandings of each topic quickly. Especially since you are able to test yourself at the end of each page and easily see where yo need to improve."

"It is life saving... I am passing IB because of this site!"

Basic (limited access) subscriptions are FREE. Check them out at:

www.StudyIB.net

Focus group: You're from Brixton?

  • /
  • Student resources/
  • Practicing Paper 3/
  • Focus group: You're from Brixton?

The following is a sample Paper 3 that looks at focus groups. Below you will first find the stimulus piece, followed by the static questions.

A copy of the mock paper is included to give students as an in-class assessment.

Potential answers are included in the hidden boxes below.

Student copy

Stimulus Piece

In order to study how outsiders’ prejudices about one’s in-group affect one’s self-esteem and identity, Howarth (2002) conducted a series of focus group interviews with adolescents from Brixton. On the one hand, Brixton is a multi-cultural neighbourhood with a vibrant community.  On the other hand, this London neighbourhood has high levels of violent and drug-related crime. The media portrays the neighbourhood and the people who live there as threatening, aggressive and criminal.  Howarth wanted to investigate whether young people felt proud or ashamed of their association with Brixton.

The purposive sample was taken from the three secondary schools in Brixton. The 44 participants all lived in Brixton and were friends with others in the study. The researcher selected girls and boys of different ages (12 – 16), from diverse backgrounds (African, African-Caribbean, Asian, British and European – with many having multicultural heritage) with the goal of representing a range of personal experiences in the community. In the study, the names of the participants and their schools were changed to protect their anonymity.

The researcher ran a series of eight focus group sessions, each with an average of five participants in each group. The focus groups were organized into friendship groups to allow the participants to feel more comfortable in their discussions.

The researcher began by asking, “Tell me about Brixton – what it is like for you to live here and how people outside Brixton think about Brixton.”  The researcher then used an interview agenda with specific topics that were to be discussed, including community, inclusion, exclusion, identity, ethnicity, the media, the school, prejudice and racism.  All focus groups were recorded and the researcher carried out an inductive content analysis to interpret the data.

To triangulate the data, five interviews were also conducted with head teachers of Brixton secondary schools. Interviews with the head teachers were conducted so that the researcher could gain some insight into students from Brixton.

In the final report, the researcher carried out reflexivity.  She writes, “As a white female researcher, with an expatriate past and a middle-class accent, my own social position impacts the research relationship. Recognising the differences between us, highlighting my ignorance and asking participants to share their stories with me proved to be rewarding.”

The researcher drew several conclusions from the focus groups.

Both students and teachers felt the effects of prejudice from people outside of Brixton.  This was particularly true in work-experience where many students felt that if they disclosed where they were from, they would not be hired or trusted. This was especially true of young males.

A common response to the prejudice and discrimination that they experience is anger and depression. As angry and aggressive behaviour is part of the stigma of being from Brixton, it is difficult for students from the area not to conform to prejudiced expectations.

The school and the family play a critical role in the development of a positive sense of identity.  In order to overcome the effects of prejudice children need secure social relationships.

Howarth (2002). ‘So, you're from Brixton?' The struggle for recognition and esteem in a stigmatized community.

Questions

1a. Identify the method used and outline two characteristics of the method.

The study is a focus group.  A focus group is a group interview. The researcher uses an interview agenda in order to guide the discussion.  Focus groups are usually made up of 5 - 8 participants.  Often focus groups use purposive samples.  In addition, focus groups are used in order to get rich data, where the contributions of participants help prompt deeper discussion by all participants.

1b. Describe the sampling method used in the study.

The sample was a purposive sample drawn from three local schools in Brixton - in other words, it was a purposive sample taken from an opportunity sample.  In order to be in the study, the students had to be friends and be representative of the multicultural nature of the community. All students had to be living in Brixton in order to take part in the study.

1c. Suggest an alternative or additional research method giving one reason for your choice.

Unstructured one-on-one interviews could be used.  This would eliminate the potential for conformity effects which can be problematic in focus groups. Questionnaires could also be used. This would allow for a larger sample size and a more efficient collection of data.  The study could also be done as a case study, following a number of these students over time to see if their attitudes change as they become older and financially independent.  This would allow the researchers to see how attitudes change over time, as well as the long-term effects of the prejudice that they experience.

2. Describe the ethical considerations that were applied in the study and explain if further ethical considerations could be applied.

As these students are under the age of 18, it is important that the researcher not only gain consent from the students, but from their parents or guardians. It is also important that the students understand what will happen with the information that they are giving the researcher and are guaranteed that their information will be anonymized.  This means that their names and the names of their schools will not be used in the final report - and that the recordings of the focus groups will not be made public so that they cannot be personally linked with comments quoted in the report. At any point in the study, the students have the right to withdraw.  This means that their data would also not be used in the final report. There was no deception in the carrying out of the study.  The researcher shared the aim with the participants.  There was also no undue stress or harm.  Although it may have been a bit uncomfortable sharing personal feelings of low self worth or experiences of prejudice and discrimination, the researcher organized the focus groups by friendship groups in order to make the students as comfortable as possible.  The researcher would also be required to debrief the students. In the debriefing, she would have to share her interpretations and findings based on the interviews and remind the students of their rights.  If the students disagreed with her conclusions or felt that they were in any misrepresented, they would have the right to withdraw their data from the study.

3. Discuss how the researcher could ensure that the results of the study are credible.

The researcher could use several approaches to ensure that the results of the study are credible.  First, the researcher does use triangulation of data.  In this way, she is trying to confirm the results of the student focus groups by getting information from interviews with heads of school.  She could also increase credibility by using method triangulation.  Giving the students a questionnaire or one-on-one interviews, in addition to the focus group, would allow her to see if the results of her study are credible, or are they the result of choosing to use a focus group method.  Getting similar results from different methods is a key way of determining credibility.

Another way to establish credibility is to share the findings with the students to see if they argue with the researcher's conclusions.  In this way, we know that the data does not misrepresent the intentions or beliefs of the participants. In addition, if the study confirms what has been found in other research and is based on grounded theory, the results have higher credibility.

The researcher has also used reflexivity as a way to increase credibility. She acknowledges that the fact she is a member of their out-group may have an effect on their behaviour in the focus groups.  This is also why the steps described above are important in establishing credibility.