Conducting focus groups in Second Life on health-related topics

摘要

The "Mrs. A and Mr. B" research project uses focus groups conducted in the virtual world Second Life to collect qualitative data on healthcare equitability as experienced by persons with and without disabilities. Novel methodological adaptations to traditional focus group methods include avatar consent, text discussion, participant advance preparation and disability accommodation. In this project, focus group findings are used to enrich and clarify results obtained from the analysis of a quantitative administrative dataset derived from Medicare data. In this article, advantages and challenges of using virtual world focus groups are highlighted.