Conducting focus groups for health research among Asian communities: insights and experiences

An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken in Luton to examine the issues that may underlie the severe shortage of organ donors from the United Kingdom's (UK) Asian population. To date, this subject area had not been researched within this sub-population of the UK. Thus, focus groups were employed as the initial stage of research to pre-test the applicability and validity of questions used in empirical studies undertaken within other cultural groups, and to allow the opportunity for new and unexpected issues to emerge. These focus groups also allowed us to gauge the response of conducting research on a sensitive topic among the Asian communities in Luton. The processes involved in conducting focus group discussions among Asian communities, and in using the subsequent findings to inform a semi-structured questionnaire, are discussed.