ELECTRONIC FOCUS GROUPS - A FRAMEWORK FOR EXPLORATION

As computers and computer communication networks become an increasingl y common fixture of public and private lives, they open up new possibi lities for changing the nature of interpersonal communication. This pa per is concerned with a particular type of group meeting: a focused gr oup interview or focus group. While a review of the literature suggest s that focus group practitioners and researchers are aware of and begi nning to use technology to enhance their meetings, there has been very little research exploring electronic focus groups. Here we review the existing literature, suggest important dimensions in understanding th e impact of technology, and then apply some of the insights gained fro m Group Support Systems and computer-mediated communication research t o this specific type of meeting. Finally, we present a tool called Com puter Mediated Dialogue (CMD) which was developed to enable exploratio n of electronic focus groups.