Conducting the Focus Group of Novice Nurse Qualitative Researchers: A Literature Review
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This study aims to provide a guideline description of how to conduct an effective focus group for This study aims to provide a guideline description of how to conduct an effective focus group for the novice nurse researchers. The qualitative research is increasingly popular in health care. The focus group is one of the main methods used for data collection in this research type. However, conducting the focus group can be complicated and challenging for the novice nurse researchers as how to obtain substantial, meaningful data for further understanding of the topic. This study uses literature review of previous studies to draw on significant recurring themes. Relatedjournal articles that appeared during 2007-2016, relevant grey literature included, were investigated using three health-related databases namely CINAHL, Science Direct, and PsycINFO. The searches, which yielded 142 articles, were the results of using the following keywords of “pioneer qualitative researcher” or “novice nurse qualitative researcher”, “moderator” or “facilitator”, and “focus group”. Titles and abstracts were also incorporated into the searches based on the predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of thirty five full articles were obtained for subsequent thorough reviews which resulted in ten main focusedarticles. The final review, conducted on the ten main focused articles, involves six published studies fromrelated literature and four official papers obtained from searching grey literature related to the topic. Twothemes were identified including the planning and preparation for the focus group and the characteristics ofan effective moderator in the focus group. It is necessary that the novice nurse researchers have essentialcharacteristics of a competent moderator in conducting the focus group. It is suggested that a successful focus group moderator undergo prior trainings and adequate practices, have good teamwork, and closely adhere to the instructional advice of their mentors.
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References
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