Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction and Conceptual Framework -- 2. Group Composition, Individual Characteristics, and Cohesion. Cultural Value Orientation. Social Status. Age. Racial/Ethnic Differences in Cultural Value Orientation. Gender. Cultural Value Orientation and Personality Differences. The Big Five Factor Definitions. Personality Traits and Cultural Value Orientation. Complexity and Interactions Between Individual Characteristics -- 3. The Research Setting. Privacy. Factors Related to Personal Space. The Setting and Environmental Factors. Compensation Mechanisms. Artificial Settings and Environments. Computer-Aided Groups Compared With Face-to-Face Groups -- 4. The Focus Group Moderator. Desirable Background Characteristics of Moderators. Deciding Whether to Use Focus Group Moderators. Moderating Style. How Directive Should Moderators Be? Moderating Groups of Racial/Ethnic Minorities. Moderating Styles for Different Research Purposes. Qualitative Analysis of Focus Group Data.

Quantitative Summaries of Qualitative Sessions. Sources of Moderator Bias -- 5. Factors That Affect the Focus Group Discussion Process. The Focus Group Discussion Process. Self-Disclosure. Disclosure Reciprocity and Liking. Production Blocking. Social Influence. Free Riding. The Influence of Information. Persuasive Arguments and Attitude Polarization. Information Sharing -- 6. Methodological Issues in Focus Group Research: Representativeness, Independence, Degrees of Freedom, and Theory Confirmation. Representative Samples. The Generalizability of Focus Group Findings. Asking Questions and the Moderator's Guide. Independence, Degrees of Freedom, and the Unit of Analysis. Quantitative Data From Focus Groups. Interpretation of Focus Group Output. The Scientific Status of Focus Groups -- 7. Exploratory Tasks. Types of Information From Focus Groups. Focus Groups for Exploratory Effects Applications. Focus Groups for Exploratory Theory Applications. Group Composition.

Group Composition for Exploratory Tasks. Group Size and the Number of Groups. The Focus Group Setting for Exploratory Tasks. Computer-Mediated Groups for Exploratory Tasks. The Group Moderator for Exploratory Tasks. Group Process Factors and Brainstorming Tasks. Generalizability -- 8. Experiential Tasks. Types of Experiential Information. Focus Groups for Experiential Effect Applications. Focus Groups for Experiential Theory Applications. Group Composition. Group Composition for Experiential Tasks. The Research Setting for Experiential Tasks. Group Process Influences on Experiential Tasks. The Group Moderator in Experiential Research. Generalizability -- 9. Clinical Tasks. The Clinical Process. Focus Groups for Clinical Effect Applications. Focus Groups for Clinical Theory Applications. Group Composition. Group Size and the Number of Groups. The Research Setting for Clinical Tasks. The Group Moderator for Clinical Tasks. Group Process Influences on Clinical Tasks --

10. Planning and Reporting Future Focus Group Research. A Conceptual Framework for Planning Research on Focus Groups. Research Agenda for Focus Groups. Reporting Focus Group Research Results.