Thank you so much for your feedback. I agree that the action of my observing participants can be intimidating. I am hoping to build a rapport with participants during the first phase of my study when I administer the PainCQ-33 (Beck et al., 2010) to all the participants. But I will consider what you have suggested in my IRB proposal; since there is a chance my presence as an observer may cause intimidation among participants. Thank you again Canan!

Thanks Sera. One of my dissertation committee members has experience in leading focus groups, but I never considered if she would mentor me in running the first of my three focus group discussions. I mention that when I meet with my committee later this month, thanks.

Thank you Dr. ram!. I will look for that article in our Health Science Library. I have read a few articles by Morgan and Krueger, and both have been great resources.

Focus group facilitation skills are learned. There are a number of publications and grey literature that tells how to go about with focus groups. The role of moderator/faciltator is a demanding and challenging one, and a good moderator need to possess among other qualities, good interpersonal skills and personal qualities, being good listener, non-judgemental and adaptable. I suggest that you get hold of a very useful book by Susan Dawson, Lenore Manderson and Veronica L. Tallo titled: 'A Manual for the Use of Focus Groups.' published by International Nutrition Foundation for Developing Countries (INFDC) Boston, MA, USA 1993. ISBN no. 0-9635522-2-8. Goodluck.

I haven't come across Susan Dawson before. I will look for that resource. I have been reading mostly from Morgan and Krueger as suggested by my dissertation committee. My past experience with conducting focus groups has been with Glaser and Charmaz (Grounded Theory), and Fetterman (ethnographic interviews/participant observation and content analysis). Thank you Dr. Mwanga for your suggestion!

Dear Dr. O'Connor:

If you do not have experience in FG, I feel you should take Dr. Murugiah's suggestions seriously. Let me suggest you the following two books (Mack et al. and Ullin et al.), which have proven to be (at least for me) a very useful guidelines in respect to practical issues in conducting FG. Additionally, they are specifically oriented to carry out research in the field of health. The both are freely downloadable from the internet, but I am sening you here.

Good luck.

Dear Dr. O'Connor:

It seems to be that I had problems in sending you the materials by attachment. I am sending you the titles. Correction: Only the book of Mack et al. is freely downloadable (I have included the link).

Good luck!!!

Mack, Natasha et al. (2005). Qualitative research methods: A data collector’s field guide. Research Triangle Park, North Carolina: Family Health International.

http://www.fhi360.org/nr/rdonlyres/emgox4xpcoyrysqspsgy5ww6mq7v4e44etd6toiejyxalhbmk5sdnef7fqlr3q6hlwa2ttj5524xbn/datacollectorguideenrh.pdf

Ulin, Priscilla; Robinson, Elizabeth and Tolley Elizabeth (2005). Qualitative methods in public health: A field guide for applied research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Thank you Dr. Donoso-Maluf! I will review those sources as well as the others suggested in this post. Classes resume at our university next week, and I am waiting to hear back from my dissertation committee about my proposal. I am hoping to defend my proposal in February. The resources you and the other researchers have suggested will certainly help shape the qualitative piece of my study. Maybe I will feel differently about it after reading the suggested material, but until now I planned to be the second researcher in each of my three planned focus groups. I would take field notes while a facilitator led the group discussion. If I end up moderating the focus group I want to be sure that the second researcher is proficient in taking field notes and making participant observations. One of my three dissertation committee members is an expert in leading/analyzing focus groups, but her time is divided between her coursework and her own research. There are other researchers at the University at Buffalo who have vast experience in focus group methodology, but up until now I have not explored that option. Responses to my post have enlightened me to the possibility of exploring outside the School of Nursing for consultation (i.e. School of Social Work, Psychology, and Anthropology). Thank you all so much for your valuable feedback!

Dear Timothy, how did the FGD go? please share with us.

There is a free video resource on facilitating a focus group here:

http://www.keele.ac.uk/csg/downloads/otherdownloads/

It seems so long ago when I posted this. So much has happened since then. First, I did not defend my proposal until June of 2013. I started data collection for the first phase of my study in October, 2013. I was hoping for between 83 - 94 nursing home residents to fill out the Beck et al. (2010) Pain Care Quality (PainCQ-33) survey at T0 (baseline) and T1 (14-days later). I ended up with a sample of 65 from 4 nursing homes within the same organization. I had planned on running 3 focuses groups, but decided to have only 2. Originally, I was going to have 7-10 residents in each FG, but ended up with 6 in one, and 4 in the other (2 had declined on the day of the FG discussion). I went with an experienced PhD student as the moderator. Both FG discussions went well. We ended up with 2 1/2 hours of audio, which has since been transcribed, and is now being open-coded with deductive content analysis. I have finished most of the statistical analysis on the PainCQ-33. My hope is to defend my final dissertation in June. Once I have reviewed my data with my committee I will make it available. A great experience, but looking forward moving.