Anonymized Focus Groups as a Research Tool for Health Professionals

An anonymized telephone-based focus group (AFoG) methodology was designed for studies examining family physicians' attitudes to social and sexual contact between family physicians and their patients. The method adapts the traditional focus group approach as a means of exploring a sensitive family practice topic while concealing participants' identities. Using this method, a safe environment can be created in which participants are able to freely discuss the issues. In the example given, the method resulted in a significant contribution to the research. Participants expressed positive comments about the experience.