This booklet offers strategies for leading small groups as they investigate the status of school reform. The tools described were used in the collection of information from focus groups in New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Some of the groups were comprised of school practitioners, while others were made up of providers of support to schools,…

Most, if not all research on communication apprehension (CA) in Japan has been theory driven. While a theory driven approach may be useful to help understand certain aspects of CA in Japan, a ground-up approach offers the opportunity to understand in depth, the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of those who suffer from CA. This paper reports the…

This paper discusses three examples of the use of student voices to inform external-partner activities in Chicago's public schools. The text is based on a collaborative effort directed at diagnosing the needs of the Chicago schools. The article focuses on the perceptions of the probation process as reported by student-focus groups. Some of the…

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) undergraduates are a population at-risk of noncompletion of their degrees, but they are almost entirely overlooked in the career-development literature. The Mentoring Web model described in this paper uses resources within the LGB community at a large Southwestern university to provide one-on-one mentoring, focus…

Focus groups were conducted to inform and support the development of faculty, teaching assistant, and administrator training materials and strategies as part of the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology (DO-IT) Prof project at the University of Washington, Seattle. Focus groups were conducted at the 23 postsecondary…

Researchers at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock conducted a study of faculty attitudes about the use of technology in the college classroom using electronic focus group sessions. This paper examines the electronic focus group data collection procedure. The electronic sessions were conducted in a decision-support center on campus with 13…

Insights from focus groups from nine rural and urban areas served by the Mid-Hudson Library System (New York State) show that nobody dislikes libraries, but many people have almost forgotten that they exist. By drawing on perspectives of different social groups, libraries can develop new approaches to building their audiences. (SLD)

Outlines current ideas about the use of focus groups in library and information science and considers advantages and disadvantages of different types of focus group discussions. Discusses reasons for choosing this research method. (AEF)

Describes how focus-group research can guide administrator communications with parents about state and federal standards-based reform legislation. (PKP)

Used focus groups and an exit survey to assess the attitudes of undergraduate students (n=26) toward communicating with their international teaching assistants (ITAs). Results show that lack of willingness on the part of students to communicate with ITAs may be problematic for both students and ITAs. (SLD)

Recommends focus groups as a useful research methodology for supplementing other, more commonly used measures of qualitative and quantitative assessment. Explains how focus groups can be used to examine teacher and practitioner perspectives of effective technical writing. Provides suggestions on how focus groups can also be used for evaluating…

Describes the redesign of the Web site at the virtual library of the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Discusses usability problems with the original site, including navigation difficulties; focus groups to determine user needs; usability testing for the new Web site; and the importance of customer input. (LRW)

Discusses international students on campuses in the United States and examines cultural differences with a focus on communication processes and styles, and recommends ways to accommodate cross-cultural differences in information services in academic libraries. Includes a survey of relevant literature and draws on the results of focus groups.…

Provides a brief overview of focus groups; discusses the use of undergraduate focus groups on two campuses of the University of California library system; describes methodologies used, including interviews and questionnaires; and describes new directions the libraries were led as a result of student input. (Author/LRW)

Summarizes a study applying a focus interviewing technique to assist stakeholders with evaluating a 3-day staff-development training with monthly follow up sessions. Contrasts use of surveys and focus-group interviews as assessment tools. New information gained from focus groups helped the principal identify weaknesses in the staff-development…