CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE FOCUS GROUPS IN THE CONTEXT OF DIVERSITY - THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Demographic trends reveal that the socially and culturally relevant di versity of patients, caregivers, and managers in health care organizat ions will continue to increase. In addition, social attitudes are movi ng from a goal of assimilation or homogenization to one of differentia tion and maintenance of subgroup identify. These shifts in demographic s and social attitudes require the associated development of theory an d practice guidelines for focus groups conducted in the context of div ersity. Diversity has a profound impact on factors ranging from study design to the selection and training of facilitators and the analysis of results. Racial identity development theory, models of communicatio n style differences, ethnographic studies of cultural archetypes or et hnic markers, and the author's experiences in facilitating focus group s that explore the sensitive topic of race/ethnicity provide insights for researchers and practitioners who want to ensure that focus groups conducted in the con text of diversity produce valid results.