The Researcher’s Facilitating Role in Stimulating a Constructive Group Climate in Online Focus-Group Interviews

The purpose of this article is to examine the role of the researcher in stimulating a constructive group climate in online focus-group interviews. It is argued that a climate of psychological safety enhances the likelihood of people expressing their true opinions and thoughts regarding the topic at hand, which is a crucial quality of focus-group research. However, these aspects are more difficult to develop in online encounters than face-to-face. We therefore look into how the researcher can work to acquire focus-group data of adequate quality from online focus-group interviews. Based on an analysis of the research literature on focus-group interviews, as well as group development theory and person-centered theory, we propose three main strategies for researchers who conduct online focus-group interviews: (a) creating conditions before the interview; (b) creating conditions at the beginning of the interview; and (c) active interventions during, and at the end of, the interview.