Focus Group Discussions

Focus groups are important in capturing interaction between individuals in an attempt to understand certain issues. The questions developed at this stage were based on the

responses of the women in the interview stage. The questions were designed in a way that a discussion could be held without requiring the participants to delve into personal experience. Focus groups are usually associated with market research where the opinions of individuals are explored about a given product in order to predict its success, shortcomings and possible changes. The focus group method has been criticized for not taking place within a natural environment in which social interaction occurs, however, it allows social scientists to observe human interaction (Madriz, 2003: 365). An advantage of using focus groups is that in

principle a focus groups is not intrinsically non-hierarchical, it depends on how it is organised. The balance of power is shifted from the researcher to the participants allowing them to control the discussion (Wilkinson, 1999: 65). However, this method can have a negative side as the researcher may lose control of the discussion which could (and did in my research) stray on irrelevant topics. At the same time, it can reveal certain issues which may not have been otherwise considered by the researcher (1999: 70). Another advantage of focus groups is that the discussions within may lead to self-disclosure where the participants in the focus groups can express how they feel and think especially in a comfortable environment that is non-judgmental (Krueger and Casey, 2009: 5). It can, however, also be problematic if there are individuals dominating the discussion and the researcher is unable to control it.

In this project, focus groups were adopted as a space for the Kenyan and Nigerian women to discuss aspects of their migration decision-making experience and to tease out women’s role in the process. The focus group would also provide a platform for women to possibly explore sociocultural perceptions of women in their respective families and

the women to question each other’s views about the migration experience and/or culture. Focus groups provide a space for the women to grapple with their experiences in a group. Focus groups may also produce different results from interviews about the same issue as the participants’ opinions and ideas may be modified according to the social situation (May, 1997: 114). Thus, focus groups can help to identify consensus between the two groups and/or alternative ideas that may not have been raised in the interview process or considered prior to data collection. From a feminist perspective, focus groups can help to substantiate the

experiences of marginalized women. They allow for the construction of the words and thoughts of the women participating in the focus group (Madriz, 1998: 116-117). The next three sections discuss the development, design and implementation of the focus groups.

a. Scope and Approach

As the sole researcher, it was important to plan the number of groups to be used in the focus group and the number of participants that would make up each group. The choice of the number of groups and its participants depended on the topic of research; as recommended by Bryman (2004), smaller groups are better for controversial and sensitive issues. Where my research is concerned, I was aware of women whose migration may have been a result of difficult or sensitive situations they faced in their country of origin. These women might not have felt comfortable discussing their migration history with a group of strangers. In such cases, the women were not invited to the focus group due to the sensitive nature of their migration, but had been considered for the semi-structured in depth interview if they had agreed to participate.

The initial decision was to run three focus groups with 6 – 10 participants each: Group A would comprise of Kenyan women, Group B contained Nigerian women and Group C included both. The scope of the groups gave women of the same nationality the opportunity to discuss their migration experiences and at the same time allowed women from different

nationalities to make comparisons and comments in the mixed group discussion. The small number of participants made it easier to moderate in terms of knowing who the participants were especially during the interpretation and analysis stage and in controlling the direction of the topic (Bryman, 2004: 352). I assumed that the challenge would be more to do with

identifying Kenyan and Nigerian for the joint focus group discussion as there was a high chance that these women did not known each other. The next step, elaborated in the next section, was the design and recruitment of participants for the focus group discussion which took into consideration the three sections discussed in the individual interview. Strategies of recruitment needed to be put in place and the questions to be explored during the focus group needed to be designed.

b. Design and Recruitment

The design of the focus group was not decided until some of the interviews were conducted. An assessment was made of the most discussed issues amongst the women in relation to the research topic. A list of possible questions was considered for the focus group discussions. For instance, from the interviews, it was clear that information received from networks was important for migration decision-making. As a result, in the focus group, the question of the importance of networks and the information they impart was raised.

Assuming that the women would not be willing to discuss personal experiences, the questions were designed in such a way that revealing personal experiences was optional. Nevertheless, once the focus groups were underway, some new questions which were not considered originally were discussed and included for the next planned focus group discussions. The focus group participants were issued with a consent form, similar to those used in the semi- structured interview, to confirm their participation in the focus group but also to accept established rules relating to the focus group structure and data protection rules. During the course of designing the focus group, I also established ways of recruiting women.

In the initial proposal, the plan was to recruit some of the participants who took part in the interviews and a statement was included in the interview information sheet on the possibility of being invited to a group discussion if they agreed. In addition, snowballing was a strategy I used for recruitment with associations, societies, churches and hair salons that I had been contacting during the interview stage. After further consideration, I opted to ask each interviewee, whether they were willing to participate in one of the focus groups I was planning. It was pointed out by one of the Kenyan women interviewed that this strategy may not work because of women’s different commitments and lifestyles. She suggested that it was best to target women who were members of the same organisation.

Once in the field, as many of the interviewees declined to participate in the focus groups, I began to contact churches, organisations, university societies as well as lecturers to enlist their assistance in establishing contact with potential participants. These were

suggested by the participants who stated that churches, for instance, had organisations with large female congregations that were worth targeting, especially with Nigerian women. It was difficult to identify Kenyan women in churches as there were fewer churches with a large Kenyan female congregation. In addition to exploring the above option, I attended a number of community events such as Jamhuri Day to recruit potential focus group participants although, as explained below, they did not always guarantee successful recruitment.

c. Implementation

Putting into action the above plans proved more challenging than expected. I initially searched all possible organisations, churches or societies to approach in order to invite their members to take part in the group discussion. One organisation stood out as a possibility for recruiting Nigerian women, but did not yield results as its director asked to be paid for setting up the focus group. Other organisations approached to recruit Nigerian women were the Muslim Association of Nigeria (MAN) and a number of churches in south and east London

suggested by gate keepers and participants in the interviews, including one with a Nigerian only congregation. The members of the church and mosque were identified as ideal

candidates for the focus group as I hoped to discuss the issue of migration from women who belonged to two different religious groups – Muslim and Christian. However, it was

impossible to constitute a focus group through MAN as access was compromised by the gate keeper. While I managed to get access to the group, to propose my research, when I attended the mosque, I found they had been misinformed about the subject of my research and some were unwilling to participate. Nevertheless, I managed to get two women to participate in face-to-face interviews. Thus, I embarked on constituting a focus group with a church that had mostly a Nigerian congregation but welcomed other nationalities. However, the social event I was invited to made it difficult for me to interact with the women as they were busy with their children. With the assistance of a male member of the congregation, I was

introduced to some of the women. As an academic himself, he was familiar with the process of recruiting or networking in general. By the end of the event, I had managed to meet the leader of the women’s division and present my research to her. In addition, I established relations with another member of the congregation who took a keen interest in my research. It was agreed that I should contact the women’s representative to plan the focus group.

Subsequently, I was invited tentatively to a baby shower gathering that I imagined would be a suitable opportunity to conduct a focus group. However, as I received a late confirmation of the invitation and that the focus group could go ahead, I was unable to get a note-taker in time to support the focus group discussion and decided to go ahead with the arrangement without one. I planned to act as moderator and an observer making it impossible to take notes during the discussion. Notes were made retrospectively and documented in my research journal after the focus group discussion ended. Although the focus group discussion was lively and animated, it was difficult to moderate especially whenever some women were

talking to one another rather than offering their own views to the group. At the same time, there were some women who chose to comment only briefly. Others did not participate in the discussion despite being invited to do so. The group was also big as nine chose to take part. However, the position I sat in made it easier for me to view the majority of the women who sat in a circle. A disadvantage of the focus group experience was that it was time constrained. I was given a small amount of time to conduct the focus group because some of the women had other commitments. However, the group discussion revealed some interesting findings which are discussed in chapter three, four and five.

The Kenyan only focus group was much easier to organise as I received support from a Kenyan woman I met in a focus group in which we both participated. She managed to recruit the women for the group discussion as well as arrange a convenient location, whereas I was left to prepare the material and refreshments for the event. With a note-taker present, she was able to capture some of the body language of some of the women while the

discussion was taking place. The conversation occasionally went off tangent but I carefully brought it back to the points being discussed. It appeared that the women enjoyed the

interaction and reflection as it allowed them to review their experience. In this focus group, I believe there was a power balance. Even though I had pre-prepared questions to explore, the women were given the freedom to discuss the topic and I only stepped in when it went off topic. Using the challenges faced in organising and implementing the Nigerian focus group, I was able to ensure the same problems did not recur in this focus group which was much smaller than planned (five participants) but easier to moderate.

Finally, the mixed focus group presented the biggest challenge to organise as attempts to bring the two groups together fell through on several occasions. Individual participants from previous interviews and focus groups were successfully recruited but a convenient location and time were difficult to arrange as many were working at different times and

travelling from different parts of London. As an alternative strategy, I contacted university lecturers in London with a research interest in African women, migration and culture and hoped that I would be able to enlist their support to help recruit the women, in particular Nigerian women. One lecturer contacted agreed to recruit the Nigerian women, on the basis that I would recruit the Kenyan women and provide refreshments for the focus group. She suggested that the focus group could take place in one of the empty classrooms at the university after hours.

However, organisational difficulties persisted resulting in further postponements. Therefore, a decision was made (with the lecturer in question) to postpone the date further (by a month and a half) in order to provide enough time for the participants to confirm their attendance for the planned day. When the group interview finally took place, the challenges raised by the previous focus groups were dealt with better although I was constrained with time. The focus group discussion was easier to moderate because the group was small (six people), with one dropping out at the last minute because of child care commitments, only to be replaced by another invited participant. There was, however, an imbalance between Kenyan (two) and Nigerian (four) women as the plan was to have three on each side. As before, the questions outlined did not require the women to refer to their personal

experiences, but as in the previous focus group discussions, many of the women volunteered the information without being prompted. All the focus group discussions were voice recorded as none of the invited participants objected.

In conclusion, the focus groups proved to be the most challenging as well as revealing part of the data collection. It was revealing because it helped me to identify the various strategies that could be adopted when organising any future focus group discussions. Recruitment, venue and location proved to be problematic because of the low budget available to me, but I was fortunate enough to find people who were willing to provide a

venue that would consider the needs of myself and my participants. It was suggested that I could host the focus group at my house, but I did not believe many of the participants would be willing to do that because it did not represent a neutral space. My aim was to find a location and venue in which we all felt most comfortable.