Focus Groups

The ground-breaking fourth edition of Stewart and Shamdasani’s highly acclaimed and widely cited guide to focus group research has arrived—fully updated for today’s digital research landscape. This essential new edition delivers cutting-edge guidance on conducting online focus groups, leveraging digital tools for participant recruitment and engagement, analyzing qualitative data in virtual environments, and integrating artificial intelligence into modern focus group research practices. Renowned for its strong foundation in social science theory and practical application, this definitive resource equips researchers, academics, and practitioners with actionable strategies for designing, conducting, and interpreting focus group studies with confidence and rigor. Covering a broad spectrum of real-world applications, the book demonstrates how focus group research drives discovery and insight across diverse fields including marketing, healthcare and medicine, public policy, political science, law, and beyond. The fourth edition also continues its distinguished coverage of international focus group research, helping readers navigate cross-cultural contexts and global research challenges with expertise. Whether you are a seasoned researcher or new to qualitative methods, this indispensable volume is your authoritative guide to the evolving future of focus group research.