Advancing qualitative rare disease research methodology: a comparison of virtual and in-person focus group formats

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Virtual FGs yielded similar numbers of coded excerpts compared to traditional in-person FGs. Virtual FGs appear to support the relative anonymity of participants, resulting in richer discussion of highly sensitive, intimate topics. Findings support the validity and methodologic rigor of using web-enabled technologies for conducting FGs in rare diseases.