This article introduces the method of ethnographic focus groups, arguing for the advantages of extending focus group methodology to include an ethnographic component and composing groups based on participants’ membership in communities of practice. Combining the situated and focused interactions from focus groups with the in-depth knowledge gained from ethnographic observations, ethnographic focus groups allow for a multi-sited research design and access to a broad variety of views on a social phenomenon. Based on our own fieldwork for a project investigating language ideologies of English in Denmark in different communities of practice, we demonstrate how ethnographic observations are integrated into the research design, data generation and analysis of focus groups. The article culminates in a seven-step reflection guide to designing and conducting ethnographic focus groups.
AgarM (2006) An ethnography by any other name.Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research7(4): 36.
2.
AgarMMacDonaldJ (1995) Focus groups and ethnography. Human Organization54(1): 78–86.
3.
AlyM (2023) Towards more qualitative research paradigms in nascent entrepreneurship research. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business50(1): 113–132.
4.
AndroutsopoulosJ (2014) Mediatization and Sociolinguistic Change. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.
5.
BaartsC (2015) Introduktion til Etnografisk Metode [Introduction to Ethnographic Methods]. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag.
BeckU (2006) Cosmopolitan Vision. (translated by Ciaran Cronin from Der kosmopolitische Blick oder: Kreig ist Frieden and Suhrkamp, 2004, Verlag Frankfurt am Main). Newark: Polity Press.
8.
BloorMFranklandJThomasM, et al. (2001) Focus Groups in Social Research. London: Sage.
9.
BrinkmannSTanggaardL (eds) (2020) Kvalitative Metoder: En Grundbog 3rd ed. [Qualitative Methods: A Textbook 3rd ed.]. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzel.
10.
BrownS (2015) Using focus groups in naturally occurring settings. Qualitative Research Journal15(1): 86–97.
11.
CorbinJ (2017) Grounded theory. The Journal of Positive Psychology12(3): 301–302.
12.
CorbinJStraussAL (2008) Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory, 3rd edThousand Oaks, California: Sage.
13.
CouplandN (2014) Sociolinguistic change, vernacularization and broadcast British media. In: AndroutsopoulosJ (ed.) Mediatization and Sociolinguistic Change. Berlin: De Gruyter, 67–96.
14.
DanaL-PDumezH (2015) Qualitative research revisited: Epistemology of a comprehensive approach. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business26(2): 154–170.
15.
EdleyNLitosselitiL (2018) Critical perspectives on using interviews and focus groups. In: LitosselitiL (ed.) Research Methods in Linguistics. London: Bloomsbury, 195–227.
16.
FlyvbjergB (2020) Fem misforståelser om casestudiet [Five misunderstandings about the case study]. In: BrinkmannSTanggardL (eds) Kvalitative Metoder: En Grundbog 3rd ed. [Qualitative Methods: A Textbook 3rd ed. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzel, 621–656.
17.
GeertzC (1975) The Interpretation of Cultures. London: Hutchinson.
18.
HalkierB (2010) Focus groups as social enactments: Integrating interaction and content in the analysis of focus group data. Qualitative Research10(1): 71–89.
19.
HalkierB (2020a) Social interaction as key to understanding the intertwining of routinized and culturally contested consumption. Cultural Sociology14(4): 399–416.
20.
HalkierB (2020b) Fokusgrupper [Focus groups]. In: BrinkmannSTanggardL (eds) Kvalitative Metoder: En Grundbog 3rd ed. [Qualitative Methods: A Textbook 3rd ed.]. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzel, 167–184.
IrvineJT (2022) Revisiting theory and method in language ideology research. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology32(1): 222–236.
23.
JungHRoE (2019) Validating common experiences through focus group interaction. Journal of Pragmatics143: 169–184.
24.
Kraft K (2023) Sprogideologier om engelsk i Danmark: Hvem bruger engelsk, og hvor bør man (ikke) bruge engelsk? [Language ideologies of English in Denmark: Who uses English, and where should(n't) English be used?] Anglo Files 210: 50–55.
25.
Kraft K and Lønsmann D (2024) Er du Svend eller er du Pia? Stance og positionering i fokusgruppesamtaler om engelsk i Danmark [Are you Svend or are you Pia? Stance and positioning in focus group conversations about English in Denmark]. Danske Talesprog 23–24: 72–105.
26.
LabovW (1972) Sociolinguistic Patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
LitosselitiL (2003) Using Focus Groups in Research. London: Continuum.
29.
LønsmannD (2009) From subculture to mainstream: The spread of English in Denmark. Journal of Pragmatics41(6): 1139–1151.
30.
Lønsmann D, Kraft K, Thøgersen J, et al. (2024) Engelsk i Danmark – What’s the story? [English in Denmark – What's the story?] Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
31.
MarkeeN (2013) Emic and etic in qualitative research. In: ChapelleCA (ed) The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Malden, MA: Wiley, pp. 1–4.
MonkaMQuistPSkovseAR (2020) Place attachment and linguistic variation: A quantitative analysis of language and local attachment in a rural village and an urban social housing area. Language in Society49(2): 173–205.
34.
MyersGMacnaghtenP (1999) Can focus groups be analysed as talk? In: BarbourRKitzingerJ (eds) Developing Focus Group Research: Politics, Research and Practice. London: Sage, 173–185.
35.
OrtegaY (2024) Charlas y Comidas: Humanising focus groups and interviews. Qualitative Research24(4): 773–792.
36.
PorschéYNegnalDHoweC (2020) Police work under scrutiny: (Self-)criticism in an ethnographic focus group. In: Grujicic-AlatristeL (ed.) Language Research in Multilingual Settings: Doing Research Knowledge Dissemination at the Sites of Practice. Cham: Springer, pp. 23–46.
37.
PotterJHepburnA (2005) Qualitative interviews in psychology: Problems and possibilities. Qualitative Research in Psychology2: 281–307.
38.
PottsD (2016) Focus group interviews. In: HackettPMW (ed.) Qualitative Research Methods in Consumer Psychology: Ethnography and Culture. New York and London: Routledge, 118–130.
39.
PreislerB (1999) Danskerne og det engelske sprog [The Danes and the English language]. Frederiksberg: Roskilde Universitetsforlag.
40.
PreislerB (2003) English in Danish and the Danes’ English. International Journal of the Sociology of Language159: 109–126.
41.
PressALColeER (1999) Speaking of Abortion: Television and Authority in the Lives of Women. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
42.
RathN (2023) Emic and etic approaches in conventional and contemporary social science research. In: SahooMJeyaveluSKuraneA (eds) Ethnographic Research in the Social Sciences. New York: Routledge, pp. 29–38.
43.
SuterEA (2000) Focus groups in ethnography of communication: Expanding topics of inquiry beyond participant observation. The Qualitative Report5(1): 1–14.
44.
ThøgersenJPreislerB (2024) Globalisation, attitudes towards English and party-political affiliation: The case of Denmark. Scandinavian Studies in Language15(1): 1–52.
45.
WoodrowNFairbrotherHCrowderM, et al. (2022) Exploring inequalities in health with young people through online focus groups: Navigating the methodological and ethical challenges. Qualitative Research Journal22(2): 197–208.
46.
YasinNHafeezKSalamzadehA (2025) A cross-country comparative ethnographic analysis of immigrant enclave entrepreneurship. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal28(1): 1–37.
