ABSTRACT

The observations in this paper follow online focus group research involving mothers who play video games as a leisure pursuit. The study utilised an online focus group method within a custom online forum which split the forum into small virtual rooms, replicating small face-to-face focus groups in an online environment. The primary objective of this paper is to offer insights that can support other researchers in utilising the online forum based focus group methodology, by reflecting on the research process and detailing the lessons learned. Furthermore, the article contributes to methodological debate on the use of online alternatives, by reflecting on the potential pitfalls of using an online forum as a focus group and presenting the benefits of using the online forum format.

摘要

本文中的观察结果遵循在线焦点小组研究，涉及将玩电子游戏作为休闲活动的母亲。该研究在自定义在线论坛中使用了在线焦点​​小组方法，该方法将论坛分成小型虚拟房间，在在线环境中复制小型面对面焦点小组。本文的主要目的是通过反思研究过程和详细说明所吸取的教训，提供可以支持其他研究人员利用基于在线论坛的焦点小组方法的见解。此外，本文通过反思使用在线论坛作为焦点小组的潜在缺陷并介绍使用在线论坛形式的好处，有助于关于使用在线替代方案的方法论辩论。