Focused Group Interviews as an Innovative Quanti-qualitative Methodology (QQM): Integrating Quantitative Elements into a Qualitative Methodology

Abstract

There is a sharp divide between quantitative and qualitative methodologies in the social sciences. We investigate an innovative way to bridge this gap that incorporates quantitative techniques into a qualitative method, the “quanti-qualitative method” (QQM). Specifically, our research utilized small survey questionnaires and experiment-like activities as part of the question route in a series of five focused group interviews on nutrition education. We show how these quantitative-type activities fit naturally with our question route and contributed to testing the hypotheses within the context of the five important characteristics of focused group interviews. The innovative use of QQM in focused group interviews makes data analysis easier and more transparent and permits collection of richer, more multifaceted data in a cost-effective fashion. Key Words: Focus Groups, Qualitative-Quantitative Methodology, QQM, and Qualitative Hypothesis Testing.