Assignment: Analyzing Focus Group Findings

Imagine that two focus groups have been conducted in an Asian American and immigrant community in a large urban city. The rationale of conducting the qualitative study was because it has been noted that many Asian Americans and immigrants are reluctant to seek mental health services. To further understand this issue, service providers including social workers, counselors, doctors, and nurses were recruited to discuss the barriers in implementing mental health services targeted to Asian Americans and immigrants. After the focus groups were transcribed, two research assistants were hired to conduct a content analysis of the transcripts. Refer to the Week 5 Handout: Content Analysis of Focus Groups.

As the social worker, you have been asked to analyze the focus group data and are charged with working with an advisory board in the community to formulate social work practice recommendations using the ecological model.

To prepare for this Assignment, review Week 5 Handout: Content Analysis of Focus Groups.

By Day 7

Submit a 3-4-page report of the following:

1. Discuss the themes found in the Week 5 Handout: Content Analysis of Focus Groups. Based on this data, what is your analysis of the current barriers to services?
2. Create two social work recommendations to address a current barrier and explain how the recommendation proposed addresses the findings.
3. Discuss how you would collaborate with the research stakeholders (e.g. service providers and community members) to ensure that the data are interpreted accurately and that the practice recommendations made will be culturally appropriate.
4. Critically reflect on your own culture and explain how your cultural values and beliefs may have influenced how you interpreted the focus group data. What specific cultural knowledge do you think you need to obtain to conduct culturally sensitive research with this group?

Support the assignment with references using assigned readings and/or additional scholarly literature.

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Knight, K. R., Lopez, A. M., Comfort, M., Shumway, M., Cohen, J., & Riley, E. D. (2014). Single room occupancy (SRO) hotels as mental health risk environments among impoverished women: The intersection of policy, drug use, trauma, and urban space. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25(3), 556-561.

Document: Lee, M. Y, Wang, X., Cao, Y., Liu, C., & Zaharlick, A. (2016). Creating a culturally competent research agenda. In A. Carten, A. Siskind, & M. P. Greene (Eds.), Strategies for deconstructing racism in the health and human services (pp. 51-65). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. (PDF)
Copyright 2016 by Oxford University Press. Used with permission of Oxford University Press via the Copyright Clearance Center. 

Marsiglia, F.F. & Booth, J.M. (2015). Cultural adaptations of interventions in real practice settings. Research on Social Work Practice, 25(4), 423-432.

Vaismoradi, M., Turunen, H., & Bondas, T. (2013). Content analysis and thematic analysis: Implications for conducting a qualitative descriptive study. Nursing & Health Sciences, 15(3), 398-405.

Document: Week 5 Handout Content Analysis of Focus Groups (PDF)