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Topic · Sociology and Political Science

Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods

Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 5.1k research works in it since 1953. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on qualitative data collection and analysis methods, including the use of focus groups, qualitative interviewing techniques (such as telephone, face-to-face, and online interviews), ethical considerations in internet research, and methodological reflections on virtual ethnography. The papers also discuss the advantages and limitations of different data collection approaches and provide insights into conducting research in sensitive or hard-to-reach populations.

  • Focus Group
  • Qualitative Interviewing
  • Data Collection
  • Ethical Issues
  • Internet Research
  • Online Interviews
  • Methodological Reflections
  • Virtual Ethnography
  • Telephone Interviews
  • Research Methodology
Research works
5.1k
fractional, since 1953
In the world top 10%
514
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+22%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
37% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods

Which countries lead Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (343 and 164 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 343 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 164 works
  3. 3 Germany 115 works
  4. 4 Australia 76 works
  5. 5 Canada 75 works
  6. 6 South Africa 37 works
  7. 7 Netherlands 30 works
  8. 8 Denmark 30 works
  9. 9 Brazil 30 works
  10. 10 China 28 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 37.0%United Kingdom: 17.7%Germany: 12.4%Australia: 8.2%6 others listed: 24.7%37%largest
United States343 · 37.0%United Kingdom164 · 17.7%Germany115 · 12.4%Australia76 · 8.2%6 others listed229 · 24.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill publishes the most Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods research, followed by University of Toronto and Leibniz Association.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 11 works
  2. 2 University of TorontoCanada 9 works
  3. 3 Leibniz AssociationGermany 9 works
  4. 4 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 8 works
  5. 5 University of MichiganUnited States 8 works
  6. 6 University of NottinghamUnited Kingdom 6 works
  7. 7 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 6 works
  8. 8 The University of SydneyAustralia 6 works
  9. 9 Aalborg UniversityDenmark 6 works
  10. 10 Erasmus University RotterdamNetherlands 5 works

Who are the leading researchers in Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods include David Moher, Ali H. Mokdad and Elie A. Akl.

  1. 1 David Moher Canada 898k citations
  2. 2 Ali H. Mokdad United States 429k citations
  3. 3 Elie A. Akl Canada 313k citations
  4. 4 Virginia Braun New Zealand 286k citations
  5. 5 Victoria Clarke United Kingdom 285k citations
  6. 6 Jeremy Grimshaw Canada 281k citations
  7. 7 Andrea C. Tricco Canada 258k citations
  8. 8 James Thomas United Kingdom 242k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods?

The most cited paper in Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods is "Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups" (Allison Tong, Peter Sainsbury, Jonathan C. Craig, 2007), with 43,999 citations. Next come "Sample Size in Qualitative Interview Studies" (12,448) and "Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews" (9,345).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups Allison Tong, Peter Sainsbury, Jonathan C. Craig · International Journal for Quality in Health Care Open access 14 Sep 2007 43,999
2 Sample Size in Qualitative Interview Studies Kirsti Malterud, Volkert Siersma, Ann Dorrit Guassora · Qualitative Health Research 27 Nov 2015 12,448
3 Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews James Thomas, Angela Harden · BMC Medical Research Methodology ReviewOpen access 10 Jul 2008 9,345
4 Qualitative Research: Introducing focus groups Jenny V. Kitzinger · BMJ Open access 29 Jul 1995 7,006
5 Improving the Quality of Web Surveys: The Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES) Günther Eysenbach · Journal of Medical Internet Research Open access 29 Sep 2004 6,688
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods research done?

The largest centres of Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Melbourne (Australia), Sydney (Australia) and Toronto (Canada).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 37 works
  2. 2 MelbourneAustralia 17 works
  3. 3 SydneyAustralia 15 works
  4. 4 TorontoCanada 14 works
  5. 5 New YorkUnited States 14 works
  6. 6 Chapel HillUnited States 11 works
  7. 7 BerlinGermany 11 works
  8. 8 Washington D.C.United States 10 works
  9. 9 JohannesburgSouth Africa 10 works
  10. 10 MannheimGermany 9 works
See Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods on the map

Where is the best place to study Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Toronto and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of TorontoCanada 60.09.2%3.9×9 +40.1%
2University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 50.03.4%5.2×11 +84.3%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods, country by country

Is Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 22% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0049% in 2024.

still counting0.0020%0.0040%0.0060%Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods0.0057% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods10.3% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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