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Open research questions in Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods

57 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 727 Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Although studies have assessed when saturation has been achieved, there is no agreement on the minimum number of interviews needed to achieve saturation.

    Determining an Appropriate Sample Size for Qualitative Interviews to Achieve True and Near Code Saturation: Secondary Analysis of Data · 2024 · DOI

  • The advantages and disadvantages of video interviews as a research tool have not been widely reported. There is a need for further debate and refinement of methods for using video interviews in qualitative research. The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature on the use of video interviews in qualitative research.

    Video Interviews as a Tool in Qualitative Research: Researcher Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic · 2026 · DOI

  • The assumption that information literacy reduces susceptibility to misinformation is not supported by the study's findings. There is a need to reconsider the role of information literacy in mitigating misinformation belief.

    Critical thinking, disillusion, and dissent · 2026 · DOI

  • The need to create reciprocal value for stakeholders. The risk of the network becoming too broad and losing direction. The potential for loss of momentum.

    Building NEMA: A Focus Group Consultation Report on Developing the Network for Ethnicity, Migration and Ageing · 2026 · DOI

  • The development of a shared platform or directory. The creation of a community of practice. The support of community organisations to lead their own projects.

    Building NEMA: A Focus Group Consultation Report on Developing the Network for Ethnicity, Migration and Ageing · 2026 · DOI

  • The tension between standardised data collection approaches and the need for culturally responsive design. The difficulty of respecting cultural values whilst adhering to ethical research standards. The challenge of addressing language and cultural differences in digital mental health tools.

    Culturally sensitive approaches in digital mental health research: lessons learned from co-developing the core mental health dataset · 2026 · DOI

  • Exploring how culturally sensitive approaches can be embedded at scale. Developing culturally sensitive research methods and tools. Investigating the impact of cultural sensitivity on patient outcomes and healthcare provider skills.

    Culturally sensitive approaches in digital mental health research: lessons learned from co-developing the core mental health dataset · 2026 · DOI

  • The impostor phenomenon is a complex and multifaceted issue, requiring a nuanced and contextualised understanding. The paper identifies the need to challenge dominant discourses that individualise systemic constraints and marginalise nursing expertise. The authors highlight the importance of fostering visibility, authority, and knowledge production to disrupt the dynamics that intensify impostor subjectivities.

    Constructing the Impostor and Navigating Identity: A Critical Discursive Exploration of the Impostor Phenomenon and Nursing Doctoral Candidates · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should explore concrete discourse-based interventions capable of reshaping doctoral education and dismantling the social production of impostor subjectivities.

    Constructing the Impostor and Navigating Identity: A Critical Discursive Exploration of the Impostor Phenomenon and Nursing Doctoral Candidates · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need for more meaningful public engagement interventions that shape understanding and behaviour in everyday decision-making around the prevention and management of non-serious infections. Antimicrobial resistance is often perceived as distant and abstract, contributing to public disconnection from the issue.

    Making microbes matter: evidence for the use of digital storytelling in antimicrobial resistance public engagement · 2026 · DOI

  • In doing so, these findings extend beyond conventional evaluations focused on message recall or attitude change, suggesting instead that DST may activate affective, relational, and social pathways often under-recognised in antibiotic stewardship communications.

    Making microbes matter: evidence for the use of digital storytelling in antimicrobial resistance public engagement · 2026 · DOI

  • The challenge of verifying participant identities in online qualitative research, particularly in the context of artificial intelligence tools. The risk of excluding vulnerable or marginalized participants through traditional approaches to verification. The need to balance the potential consequences of inauthentic participation with the importance of prioritizing reflexive practice and transparency in qualitative research.

    Ethics of not knowing who we are talking to in qualitative research · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of a settled or widely accepted definition of what constitutes an 'imposter participant' in qualitative research. The need for a more nuanced approach to handling uncertainty in qualitative research, one that prioritizes reflexive practice and transparency. The importance of considering the potential consequences of inauthentic participation, rather than simply applying routine verification procedures.

    Ethics of not knowing who we are talking to in qualitative research · 2026 · DOI

  • When recruiting health policy professionals and digital public health stakeholders with time constraints for qualitative studies, we encountered a challenge that remains underexplored in the literature: how to conduct interviews under 30 min while ensuring high data quality, depth and maintaining research rigour.

    The 30-Minute Interview Methods Guide: Lessons From Over 100 Interviews in the Health Policy Domain · 2026 · DOI

  • BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Virtual interviewing in qualitative research may promote inclusion, diversify samples, and maximize participation, but there is limited research regarding methodological best practices for marginalized study populations.

    Virtual interviewing with marginalized young adult mothers: appreciating the New Norm · 2023 · DOI

  • Given the lack of detailed, contextualised accounts on how researchers gain access to schools during or after a crisis, our experiences add to current understandings by providing an ‘on the ground’ account on how research can be stymied or end with mixed results when it is viewed as a difficult undertaking.

    Gatekeepers, guides and ghosts: intermediaries impacting access to schools during COVID-19 · 2022 · DOI

  • The findings support further research into this phenomenon to discern whether disclosing one’s story of sexual assault via social media can be seen as an avenue for positive coping and facilitate further resolution after a sexual trauma, specifically regarding a sense of empowerment and a sense of contributing to a larger online narrative of survivors.

    Posting the story of your sexual assault online: a phenomenological study of the aftermath · 2020 · DOI

  • Future Research: Future research could examine how to manage or overcome the impostor phenomenon for students and professionals, focus on disciplines outside STEM, and investigate how socialization opportunities may be compromised due to this phenomenon.

    The Impostor Phenomenon Among Postdoctoral Trainees in STEM: A US-Based Mixed-Methods Study · 2020 · DOI

  • Research limitations/implications A limitation of this study was that the authors did not conduct the interviews, and therefore reframing or adding questions to specifically unpack comments related to attitudes, feelings or the use of SNS in academia was not possible.

    Researchers’ attitudes towards the use of social networking sites · 2017 · DOI

  • This short report considers sensitivity and security of audio-recordings, drawing attention to a lack of guidelines for researchers on the preservation or destruction of such data.

    When to Delete Recorded Qualitative Research Data · 2008 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the preparation of students for job interviews, - The paper highlights the need for mock interviews as a preparation tool

    Mock Interviews Help to Prepare for the Real Thing · 1987 · DOI

  • Locating competent, available experts on a given topic is sometimes difficult - Students need to be prepared for bias and individualism in the interview

    The interview field trip in discussion research · 1971 · DOI

  • The complexity of the personal interview technique. The need for an impersonal, objective viewing of the child and their point of view. The difficulty of interpreting the child's point of view.

    The Personal Interview · 1934 · DOI

  • Further research is needed to refine methods for using video interviews in qualitative research. The paper suggests that future research should focus on the potential of video interviews to increase participation and reduce inequalities in research. The use of video interviews in future pandemics should also be explored.

    Video Interviews as a Tool in Qualitative Research: Researcher Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic · 2026 · DOI

  • The media coverage of virus and vaccine information revealed the limited knowledge and vastly differing perspectives the public has about these topics.

    ‘I don’t want to die so young:’ an exploratory study of students’ virus and vaccine concepts and sources of information · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods

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57 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 727 Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods papers in our 4.5M-paper local library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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