CONCERNS IN THE ANALYSIS OF FOCUS GROUP DATA - COMMENT

The most frequent concern in qualitative research is an inadequate des cription of the analysis process, and the consequent limitation on cre dibility and usefulness of the results. Of all the aspects of using th e focus group technique-advantages and limitations, logistics, impleme ntation, and interpreting and reporting of results-the process of anal ysis is the least agreed on and the least well developed. There is lit tle guidance for researchers, journal editors and reviewers, graduate students and their advisors. A frequent question is ''how to do'' anal ysis of focus group data, especially analysis worthy of federal-level funding or acceptable at the level of an academic dissertation. Defini tive, mutually agreed on technique does not exist. Decisions in analys is depend on many factors, and this article will discuss consideration s in planning and implementing analyses of focus group data.