TY - JOUR

T1 - Online focus groups as a tool to study policy professionals

AU - Berkhout, Joost

AU - Crepaz, Michele

AU - Hanegraaff, Marcel

AU - Junk, Wiebke Marie

N1 - Funding Information: The research team thanks Ellis Aizenberg for her cooperation on the InterCov project, as well as Mikko Damgaard Sørensen and Joshua Meijer for valuable research support. The authors are also grateful to the Public Administration and Public Policy Group at the University of Copenhagen and to the anonymous reviewers for excellent comments. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the External funding was received from the Danish Society for Education and Business (DSEB) supporting the execution of this research (Tietgenprisen 2020; awarded to Wiebke Marie Junk). Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the External funding was received from the Danish Society for Education and Business (DSEB) supporting the execution of this research (Tietgenprisen 2020; awarded to Wiebke Marie Junk). Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Scholars interested in political elites and policy professionals only sporadically rely on focus group methods. In this article, we argue why this is a missed opportunity. Based on our own recent research experience, we suggest three innovations to the focus group method that should make it appealing for political scientists who study professionals active in the policy process. First, focus groups allow for the study of the interactions between political elites in ways other methods cannot. Second, the method can be used for hypothesis testing when focus groups are designed accordingly. Third, the option to conduct focus groups online has major advantages in terms of participant costs, ease of recruitment, and, potentially, research equity. We hope that our suggestions are useful for researchers wanting to build on any one—or all—of these innovations.

AB - Scholars interested in political elites and policy professionals only sporadically rely on focus group methods. In this article, we argue why this is a missed opportunity. Based on our own recent research experience, we suggest three innovations to the focus group method that should make it appealing for political scientists who study professionals active in the policy process. First, focus groups allow for the study of the interactions between political elites in ways other methods cannot. Second, the method can be used for hypothesis testing when focus groups are designed accordingly. Third, the option to conduct focus groups online has major advantages in terms of participant costs, ease of recruitment, and, potentially, research equity. We hope that our suggestions are useful for researchers wanting to build on any one—or all—of these innovations.

KW - focus groups

KW - interview methods

KW - lobbyists

KW - policymakers

KW - political elites

U2 - 10.1177/20531680231211398

DO - 10.1177/20531680231211398

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85176425860

VL - 10

JO - Research and Politics

JF - Research and Politics

SN - 2053-1680

IS - 4

ER -