AUTHOR=Poliandri Donatella , Perazzolo Monica , Pillera Giuseppe Carmelo , Giampietro Letizia 

TITLE=Dematerialized participation challenges: Methods and practices for online focus groups

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sociology

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2023.1145264

DOI=10.3389/fsoc.2023.1145264

ISSN=2297-7775

ABSTRACT=This contribution explores the limitations and benefits of different approaches to conducting online focus groups and illustrates an online focus group protocol used within the Valu.E for Schools project in Italy. According to the project evaluation design, 13 online focus groups were organized, with the participation of 101 teachers and 37 school principals. The protocol set up, incorporated and reorganized the indications expressed in the literature, facing the methodological and practical issues, like selection of participants and preliminary communication with them, web conference platform (Zoom Business), timing as well as the access times and mode, the roles of the researchers involved (moderator, co-host technical assistant, co-host-observer, co-host-animator) and their integration spaces, the technological support and animation tools. The recording and transcription tools and subsequent analysis of the textual corpus are presented. Finally, the authors discuss the validation and  reliability of online focus group protocol.