Message-ID: <jhopkins.10.31B44E24@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu> Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 14:54:28 GMT From: Jeffrey Hopkins <mailto:jhopkins@POSTBOX.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU> Subject: focus group evaluations To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
I will soon be evaluating a rural adult education program in Guatemala for a US NGO. Anybody have any experience in using the focus group technique in a rural setting in Latin America? I'm wondering if this technique, which I have used many times in the U.S. to evaluate participatory environmental projects, is applicable. Basically, my concern is whether the focus group dynamic of equal sharing of conflicting opinions and ideas, where the idea is not to get everybody to agree, is likely to be pulled off in a tight-knit setting where consensus may be the objective of campesino groups. Other alternatives are the individual interview and the case study, but my experience is that the results of these are not as interesting as the focus group (but my experience is mainly U.S. based).Jeff Hopkins Ohio State University