Education

political science

public health

specific product, issue, or topic

Social sciences

Marketing

Usability engineering

Qualitative research relies on data obtained by the researcher from first-hand observation, interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, participant-observation, recordings made in natural settings, documents, and artifacts. The data are generally nonnumerical. 

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualitative_research

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. 

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink

social-desirability bias is a type of response bias that is the tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. This bias interferes with the interpretation of average tendencies as well as individual differences.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social-desirability_bias

2-Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members.

3-Focus groups use group interaction to explore and clarify the beliefs, opinions and views of the focus group members.

4-During this process, the researcher either takes notes or records the vital points he or she is getting from the group.

Rating – participants have a list of items which must be rated on a scale, typically using numbers or adjectives

Ranking – participants can either receive a list of items to rank according to a specified dimension or participants can combine items in pairs to compare elements in the pairs

 Pile sorting – participants sort cards representing elements of a domain into piles according to their similarities and differences

Picture sort – Participants are distributed selected pictures from magazines or photographs to sort through, finding matches of a definite characteristic or that best represent a certain category

Magic tools and fantasy – the moderator can literally or symbolically pass around a "magical" tool to each participant as he or she shares a fantasy, dream, or idea

Storytelling – participants create a narrative around the topic of interest to make others think about a solution to a problem, gauge reactions to a situation, and observe attitudes towards the topic under study

Role-playing – participants demonstrate through action how they would behave or act in a situation, how they would solve a problem, or deal with a difficulty

Sentence completion – participants are given printed out partial sentences on a topic to complete and share within a group

Collage – a moderator assigns a theme and then distributes print materials to participants (who are divided into small groups), so they can use these materials, drawings, and their own words to create a relevant collage.

Dual moderator focus group - one moderator ensures the session progresses smoothly, while another ensures that all the topics are covered

Dueling moderator focus group (fencing-moderator) - two moderators deliberately take opposite sides on the issue under discussion

Respondent moderator focus group - one and only one of the respondents is asked to act as the moderator temporarily

Client participant focus groups - one or more client representatives participate in the discussion, either covertly or overtly

Mini focus groups - groups are composed of four or five members rather than 6 to 12

 Teleconference focus groups - telephone network is used

 Band obsessive group

Online focus groups - computers connected via the internet are used

Phone/ web focus groups - live group conducted over the phone and online with 6 to 8 participants.

1-   Do not discriminate against people who cannot read or write 

2-   Can encourage participation from those who are reluctant to be interviewed on their own (such as those intimidated by the formality and isolation of a one to one interview) 

3-    Can encourage contributions from people who feel they have nothing to say or who are deemed "unresponsive patients" (but engage in the discussion generated by other group members)
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1-The results obtained are influenced by the researcher or his or her reading of the group's discussion, raising questions of validity. Other common (and related) criticism involve groupthink and social desirability bias.

 

2-Another issue is with the setting itself. If the focus groups are held in a laboratory setting with a moderator who is a professor and the recording instrument is obtrusive, the participants may either hold back on their responses and/or try to answer the moderator's questions with answers the participants feel that the moderator wants to hear. 

 

3- Another issue with the focus group setting is the lack of anonymity. With all of the other participants, there can not be any guarantee of confidentiality.

By getting feedback in advance from people representative of those you hope to target with a survey, you can better word your questions and design clearer explanations of your concepts.
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Edmunds, H. (2000) The Focus Group Research Handbook .New York City: McGraw-Hill Education. 

Focus groups do not provide quantitative results.

People are not really comfortable discussing personal topics in a group situation.

Again, these results are not quantitative in nature hence it is not advisable to make final pricing decisions based on small group responses.

Focus groups are not a replacement for a survey. If what you really need are statistically valid results, consider a shorter survey or slightly reduced sample size, but do not rely on qualitative to give you the detail you require.

If you will not be able to incorporate the results of the focus groups into product development, advertising design, etc., then there is no sense in conducting the groups in the first place.
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Edmunds, H. (2000) The Focus Group Research Handbook .New York City: McGraw-Hill Education. 

1-  Consent同意

Consent is a central ethical concern in research using human participants. Its specific importance in focus group research is suggested by Green and Hart’s view of this method as one in which participants have a particular vulnerability, as they ‘are not only persuaded by skilled facilitators to disclose intimate views, but also to do this in front of peers’ (Green and Hart 1999: p. 31).

 

2-  Confidentiality and Anonymity保密和匿名

Confidentiality and anonymity are potentially problematic because of the researcher’s limited control over what participants may subsequently communicate outside the group.

Confidentiality and anonymity are often treated more or less synonymously. There are, however, important distinctions that can be drawn between these two concepts, and the related notion of privacy. 

Confidentiality relates to what is done with information once it is in the researcher’s possession, and specifically the extent to which it is disclosed to others. Anonymity, in contrast, is concerned with the attribution of information.

3-   Risk of Harm伤害风险

Although in some respects focus groups offer a supportive environment to participants, the group context may also create a sense of public vulnerability:

In individual interviews, respondents are protected by the relative intimacy and privacy of the interview situation. In a focus group session, in contrast, respondents are under pressure to perform (and possibly to conform) under the scrutiny of fellow participants. (Ransome 2013: p. 41)

This form of vulnerability may expose participants to various forms of harm. Thus, social or psychological harm may arise through a breach of confidentiality and/or anonymity. Information that is disclosed may lead to embarrassment, shame, stigmatization, discrimination, disruption of existing social relationships, or adverse employment consequences, and in some cases, participants may face legal action as a result of information that is made public (Warwick 1982).

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To effectively collect user behavior information.

To find out what users really want.

This should not be the only way to judge.

Greenbaum, T. L.(1998). The handbook for focus group research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A.(2000). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Morgan, D. L.(1988). Focus groups as qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Google Groups has become one of the major online discussion groups, with a wide range of worldwide frequent users.
Features include:

Facebook groups simplify processes and protect the privacy of users when they interact with people. Users can create a group and delegate admins. Group admins are able to make a range of adjustments to the group page, such as changing its cover photo, moderating posts and comments, and pinning posts so that the permanently appear at the top of the group page. Admins can also create group events, news updates and manage group members. By default, groups are public, and anyone can join them at the discretion of that group's admins. However, groups may be marked as private — a user may only join such a group if an existing member sends them an invitation. A single user is capable of joining a maximum of 6000 groups.

WhatsApp is a mobile messaging app with group discussion features. Users can create group chats to facilitate group discussions. By default, all group members are admins of that group, but this may be changed at the discretion of any existing admin. Admins have the ability to rename the group, add and remove members, and delete messages that have been sent to the group.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discussion_group

-Comparing to focus group, discussion group might have a larger scale in the number of members thank the Internet. 

-Via searching machine and other online tools like google translator, members can communicate more effectively and informative.

-In a discussion group, participants are more likely to be informed, which means the conversation might be easier to get progress.

Disadvantage

-Due to the homology of the topics or interests, it’s unlikely to get many different perspectives in a discussion group.

-Ethical problems might occur frequently.