This ppt discusses about What is Community based participatory research? Principles of Community based participatory research Advantages of Community based participatory research What is Focus Group Discussion? Why Focus Group Discussion? Steps in Focus Group Discussion Advantages and limitations of Focus Group Discussion Conclusion

1. Community based
Participatory Research
Dr Venkatesh Karthikeyan
Department of Community and Family Medicine
AIIMS Patna
www.drvenkateshkarthikeyan.com
t.me/drvkspm

2. Contents
• What is Community based participatory research?
• Principles of Community based participatory research
• Advantages of Community based participatory research
• What is Focus Group Discussion?
• Why Focus Group Discussion?
• Steps in Focus Group Discussion
• Advantages and limitations of Focus Group Discussion
• Conclusion
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3. What is Community based Participatory
Research?
• It is a collaborative process that equitably involves all partners in the
research process and recognizes the unique strengths that each brings.
• It begins with a research topic of importance to the community with
the aim of combining knowledge and action for social change to
improve community health and eliminate health disparities.
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4. • It focuses on social, structural, and physical environmental inequities
through active involvement of community members, organizational
representatives, and researchers in all aspects of the research process.
• Partners contribute their expertise to enhance understanding of a
given phenomenon and integrate the knowledge gained with action to
benefit the community involved
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5. Why should it be promoted?
• It is a process that helps in building healthy communities because of
its emphasis on building trust and genuine collaborative partnerships.
• The study findings can be used to help bring about changes in
programs, practices and policies that in turn can help improve health
outcomes.
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6. Principles
• Recognizes community as a unit of identity
• Builds on strengths and resources within the community
• Facilitates a collaborative, equitable partnership in all phases of
research, involving empowering and power – sharing process that
attends to social inequalities
• Fosters co-learning and capacity building among all partners.
• Integrates and achieves a balance between knowledge generation and
intervention for the mutual benefit of all partners
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7. • Focuses on the local relevance of public health problems and on
ecological perspectives that attend to the multiple determinants of
health.
• Involves system development using a cyclical and iterative process
• Disseminate results to all partners and involves them in the wider
dissemination of results.
• Involves a long term process and commitment to sustainability
• Openly addresses issues of race, ethnicity, racism and social class, and
embodies “cultural humility”
• Works to ensure research rigor and validity but also seeks to
“broaden the bandwidth of validity” with respect to research
relevance.
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8. Advantages
• Allows for the innovative adaptation of existing resources
• Explores local knowledge and perceptions
• Empowers people by considering them agents who can
investigate their own situations
• Community input – making the project credible
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9. • Brings together the research participants who have varied
skills, knowledge and expertise to address complex problems
in complex situations
• Provides resources for the involved communities
• Provides a forum that can bridge across cultural differences
among the participants
• Helps dismantle the lack of trust communities may exhibit in
relation to research
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10. Types of interviews
• Ethnographic interviews
• Key informant interviews
• In-depth interviews
• Cultural domain analysis
• Free list
• Pile sorts
• Surveys with questionnaire having close or open ended questions
• Focus group
• Group interviews
• Nominal group technique
• Delphi technique
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11. What is Focus Group Discussion?
• It is a research methodology in which a small group of participants
gather to discuss a specific topic/issue to generate data.
• The main characteristic of a focus group is the interaction between
the moderator and the group, as well between group members.
• The objective is to give the researcher an understanding of the
participant’s perspective on the topic in discussion.
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12. Why Focus Group Discussion?
• It can be used to obtain knowledge, perspective and attitudes of
people about issues and seek explanations for behavior in a way that
would be less accessible in responses to direct questions like one – to
– one interview.
• Many different forms of communication can be used (jokes,
anecdotes, teasing and arguments)
• It shows dimensions of understanding that often remain untapped or
inaccessible by other forms of data collection
• Exceptionally effective for study of sensitive issues as well as issues
that are difficult to access.
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13. Steps of conducting Focus Group Discussion
• Formulate research question
• Preparing Discussion guide
• Recruiting participants
• Determining size of the group
• Number of focus group sessions
• Group composition
• Group settings
• Role of moderator and note-taker
• Conduct discussion
• Analysing the data and reporting findings
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14. Formulate research questions
• Clear and specific purpose statement is needed to develop the right
question
• Focus groups are better used to explore specific/narrowly – focused
topics
• If not, data obtained will be diffused and data analysis would become
difficult.
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15. Discussion Guide
• It is to provide framework for the moderator to ask and probe questions
• It increases the comprehensiveness of data collection and makes data
collection more efficient
• It is not equivalent to survey instrument – not be followed in detail
• Guide should proceed logically and from general to specific
• Questions should be open ended, simple, unbiased and non-threatening.
• The guide should sallow the flexibility to pursue unanticipated issues that
are generated during discussion
• Pretesting should be done
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16. Recruiting participants
• Recruited based on their experience or involvement related to the
research topic.
• E.g. Caretaker who is familiar with the patient.
• Participants can be recruited by snowball sampling.
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17. Size of the group
• Ideal size : 6 to 12 people
• Small size:
• Easily dominated by one or two members
• Discussion may fall silent if too few people contribute
• Large size
• Discussion may lack cohesion
• Participants may become frustrated if they have to wait for their turn
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18. Number of focus group sessions
• Depends of purpose and scale of research
• Depends on heterogeneity of participants
• Diverse range of participants – need large number of sessions.
• Depends on reaching saturation point, where there is repetition of
themes and no new information is shared.
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19. Group composition
• Some diversity – enhances discussion
• Very heterogenous group – can be threatening to participants and can
inhibit disclosure
• Composition should be in such a way that that the group members
feel that everyone is in the same boat.
• They can talk freely and share experiences if they feel that way.
• Hence, point of balance between both extremes of homogeneity and
heterogeneity
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20. • When data is to be collected from different group, conduct series of
focus groups using homogenous participants.
• For example, if a study’s aim is to explore public’s view on HIV/AIDS,
one might conduct separate focus groups with healthy people, PLHIV
and family members of PLHIV.
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21. Setting
• Venue has to be comfortable and conducive to discussion
• It should be geographically convenient for the participants
• Discussion should be free from outside distractions – background
noise might affect quality of recording
• Participants should be arranged to sit around the table (to see and
hear one another)
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22. Role of moderator and note taker
• Moderator serve as discussion leaders
• They guide the participants through the discussion
• They look after group dynamics – to ensure equal participation by all
participants
• Note taker captures whatever is being said, tone of discussion and the
order in which participants spke
• Phrases , statements, non verbal expressions like facial expressions
should also be noted
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23. • Note taker should also sketch the seating arrangement
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24. Conduct discussion
• Introduce self
• Brief overview of topic of discussion and objectives of research
• Ground rules
• Explains how session is recorded
• Conveys the expectation that everyone should contribute
• Assure confidentially
• Asks for introduction of group members (pseudonym)
• Brief the participants
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25. • Summarize each time before moving from one topic to another
• Curb dominant participant
• Encourage silent participant
• Encourage in depth exploration
• Be unbiased, respectful and listen patiently
• Should not pass judgement
• Not to be too actively involved in discussion
• Summarize all important points at the end.
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26. Analyzing the data and reporting findings
• Produce verbatim transcript of entire discussion
• Translation (if applicable)
• Compare transcript with handwritten notes to fill the gap.
• Code the data in transcript
• Basic level of analysis – descriptive account of data
• Second level of analysis – interpretative – involves the comprehension
of themes, creating links between the themes, demonstrate how
those themes emerged and generated a theory grounded in the data
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27. Advantages of Focus Group Discussions
• Focus groups, unlike individual interviews, provide the added
dimension of the interactions among members.
• Participants are able to build upon other’s comments –
stimulate thinking and discussion – generate ideas
• Yields high quality data - participants can respond to
questions and probing for clarification is possible
• May aid in conceptualization and generation of hypothesis if
new area is being explored
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28. Limitations of Focus Group Discussions
• Data obtained is not necessarily representative of the general
population, unlike in a survey
• Susceptible to bias – opinions can be swayed by dominant
participants/moderator
• Control over group
• Time can be lost on irrelevant issues
• Difficult to assemble and response rate could be a problem
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29. Conclusion
• The interactive element makes focus groups ideally suited to explore
issues related to medical and health research.
• It provides high quality data.
* Although it requires careful and tedious planning, followed by
intricate analyses, focus groups remain an invaluable research tool in
health and medical perspective.
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30. References
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2774214/
• CBPR guide by school of public health, California
• CBPAR - A SHORT GUIDE TO COMMUNITY BASED PARTICIPATORY
ACTION RESEARCH
• Community-Campus Partnerships for Health - http://www.ccph.info/
• https://jprm.scholasticahq.com/article/13244-participatory-research-
methods-choice-points-in-the-research-process
• Singapore Medical Journal - http://www.smj.org.sg/article/focus-
group-discussion-tool-health-and-medical-research
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31. Thank you!
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