Performing focus groups: Unsettling 'blueprints'

This paper will explore the use of focus groups from two theoretical perspectives: poststructuralism and critical realism. The authors will bring together their understandings of these frameworks in the context of performing the focus group as a research method. They seek in particular to unsettle the notion that there is a particular ‘blueprint’ for conducting this research, as is implied in the literature discussing focus group method. Rather, they aim to highlight the importance of thinking about this method in terms of the theoretical framework being applied, in other words, how the theoretical ideas inform the performance of the research.