The Devil's Advocate: A Strategy to Avoid Groupthink and Stimulate Discussion in Focus Groups

MacDougall, Colin; Baum, Frances

doi:10.1177/104973239700700407

Cited by 141Focus Groups and Qualitative MethodsDelphi Technique in ResearchQualitative Research Methods and Applications

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 19 of the 19 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Devil's Advocate: A Strategy to Avoid Groupthink and Stimulate Discussion in Focus Groups

MacDougall, Colin, Baum, Frances·1997·Qualitative Health Research

DOI 10.1177/104973239700700407

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Abstract

The focus group is an increasingly popular qualitative research method in health research to gain insight into complex problems. Concerns have been expressed about how best to stimulate free and open discussion; especially on controversial issues and/or when the group comprises people with different power and status. A potential pitfall of the focus group technique is group-think: the impact of censoring and conforming as described by such social psychologists as Irving Janis. The article describes an evaluation of a method to reduce groupthink and stimulate creativity and controversy in focus groups that analyzed consultation between an Australian federal government department and its communities. The article recommends to researchers using focus groups the selective use of devil's advocates to reflect different perspectives to groups, to ask questions in a different way, to introduce new questions, and to avoid groups arriving at premature solutions.

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MacDougall's experiment confirmed that the operation of the devil's advocacy opened up new alternatives.
“The experiment confirmed that the operation of the devil's advocacy opened up new alternatives but it was unclear whether the final decision quality was improved or not.”
From Closed-mindedness and insulation in groupthink: their effects and the devil’s advocacy as a preventive measure (2021) · cites this paper as [29]
The devil's advocates take the opposite position against alternative solutions presented by other group members.
“A devil's advocate takes an opposite position against alternative solutions that presented by fellow ingroup members [28, 29].”
From Closed-mindedness and insulation in groupthink: their effects and the devil’s advocacy as a preventive measure (2021) · cites this paper as [29]
Some studies recommended the devil's advocacy to prevent groupthink.
“Some studies recommended the devil's advocacy to prevent groupthink [28, 29, 47].”
From Closed-mindedness and insulation in groupthink: their effects and the devil’s advocacy as a preventive measure (2021) · cites this paper as [29]
The opposition by devil's advocates triggers other group members to reflect on issues from different perspectives and to avoid premature solutions.
“This opposition triggers the other group members to reflect on the issues from different perspectives and to avoid the premature solutions [29].”
From Closed-mindedness and insulation in groupthink: their effects and the devil’s advocacy as a preventive measure (2021) · cites this paper as [29]
Adding more devil's advocates increases the number of explored solutions during group decision making.
“simulation results show that adding more devil's advocates increases the number of explored solutions during the group decision making.”
From Closed-mindedness and insulation in groupthink: their effects and the devil’s advocacy as a preventive measure (2021) · cites this paper as [29]

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Authors: MacDougall, C., & Baum, F.
Affiliations: Flinders University (AU)
Department of Public Health at Flinders University of South Australia, South Australian Community Health Research Unit
Corresponding author: MacDougall, Colin
ORCID: MacDougall, Colin
Venue: Qualitative Health Research
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 1997-11
Volume: 7
Issue: 4
Pages: 532-541
ISSN: 1049-7323 (ISSN-L)
1552-7557
DOI: 10.1177/104973239700700407
OpenAlex: W2132549529
Cited by: 141
References: 19
Citations by year: 2026: 12 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 6
FWCI: 3.15
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Qualitative Health Research (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Delphi Technique in Research
Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
Keywords: devil's advocate, groupthink, focus groups, group discussion, controversial issues, conformity, creativity, health research methods

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The Devil's Advocate: A Strategy to Avoid Groupthink and Stimulate Discussion in Focus Groups

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