The influence of ethnic group composition on focus group discussions
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Focus groups are commonly used to explore participants' experiences in health and social care research. Although it is suggested that having demographically homogenous groups may help put participants at ease, the evidence is sparse.The aims of the paper are to: explore the impact of relative ethnic homogeneity and heterogeneity of focus group participants on the group discussions; improve understanding of homogeneity and heterogeneity in focus groups; suggest ways to operationalise concepts such as being 'more comfortable' with other focus group participants. METHOD: Digitally recorded focus groups were undertaken with family carers of stroke survivors and were later transcribed and analysed using framework analysis. Groups were designated as more or less ethnically homogenous. More homogenous groups included, for example, only White British or Asian Indian participants whilst more heterogeneous groups comprised a mixture of, for example, Asian, White British and Black Caribbean participants. RESULTS: Forty-one carers participated in seven focus groups. Analysis revealed differences in discussions around ethnicity between the more or less ethnically homogenous groups. For example, participants in more ethnically homogenous focus groups were more likely to say ethnicity might influence perceptions of social care services. On the other hand, more heterogeneous groups emphasised similarity in carers' experiences, irrespective of ethnicity. Participants in the more homogenous groups were also more likely to make potentially controversial comments relating to ethnic differences. Additionally they appeared to be more at ease with each other discussing the topic. For example, they spontaneously mentioned ethnic differences earlier in these groups.In contrast, analysis of topics not specifically related to ethnicity, such as the difficult experiences of being a carer, produced no discernible patterns when comparing more and less homogenous focus groups. CONCLUSION: Considerations around focus group participant demographic homogeneity and heterogeneity are complex and these terms may be most usefully applied only in relative terms.Data derived from more homogenous groups complement data from more heterogeneous groups providing different perspectives. Depending on the focus of the discussion, having characteristics in common, such as being a carer can override other differences.
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Participants were grouped according to demographic homogeneity (age and gender) and smoking status.
“Participants were grouped according to the demographic homogeneity (age and gender) [40] and smoking status (Table 1).”
From Assessing the Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Translation of a Text-Based Mobile Smoking Cessation Program in Samoa (TXTTaofiTapaa): Pilot Study (2018) · cites this paper as [40]
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“Additionally, Greenwood, Ellmers, and Holley (2014) suggested that ethnically similar groups are more likely to discuss ethnicity, specifically in relation to social issues.”
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Ogenyi, A., Atkins, B., Bevilaqua, M. C. D. N., Williams, B. P., & Dias, G. P. (2025) · Cogent Education · doi:10.1080/2331186x.2025.2501465 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“This reflected previous research suggesting that homogenous compositions of focus groups are more likely to elicit conversation and data (Greenwood et al., 2014).”
Jin, Q., Ajmani, L., Singh, S., Balasubramanian, A., & Yarosh, S. (2025) · ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC) · doi:10.1145/3713043.3731505 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Previous work has noted that factors such as age, gender, or ethnicity [18, 39, 48] could further differentiate the degree of homogeneity or heterogeneity within these groups, thus affecting the process and outcomes.”
Elias, M. S. (2017) · The University of Queensland · doi:10.14264/uql.2017.1043 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“This is seen as important to ensure participants feel comfortable to share their views, in order to produce active discussion (Greenwood et al., 2014).”
BackgroundMatthys, M., Deforche, B. I., Deliëns, L., Cohen, J., Beernaert, K., Brussel, L. V., Chambaere, K., & Dhollander, N. (2024) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/10497323241300911 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Groups were not divided by age, gender, or other sociodemographic characteristics since the actual evidence that homogenous group composition facilitates comfort and disclosure is rather limited and often based on stereotypical assumptions of group dynamics (Greenwood et al., 2014; Hollander, 2004).”
Quibrantar, S. M., Ahmed, M., Ruggiero, E. D., Sellen, D., & Malik, V. (2025) · Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism · doi:10.1139/apnm-2024-0501 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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“A previous study examined how group composition, in terms of whether ethnically homogeneous or heterogeneous, affects focus group discussions (Greenwood et al., 2014).”
Fehoko, E. S., Tecun, A., Kito, B., Treharne, G. J., & Erickson, S. (2026) · International Journal of Qualitative Methods · doi:10.1177/16094069261459016 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Using images in focus groups with older carers
Greenwood, N., & Pound, C. (2019) · Working with Older People · doi:10.1108/wwop-10-2019-0027 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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“According to Greenwood et al. (2014), there are differences in discussions around ethnicity between the more or less ethnically homogenous groups.”
BackgroundDemocracy, Violent Conflict and National Development in Nigeria
DennisAraziua, O., & Ebomoyi, I. (2017)
Discrepancy Reduction: Conducting Focus Group with Senior Citizens in Hong Kong
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Role of Educational Institutions in Embedding Employability Skills
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Managing the Challenges of Leading Multiracial Churches
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Advantages to Leading as Pastors of Color
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“This is important to note, given that participants in focus groups that are homogonous ethnicity and race are more likely to have discussions about the influence of culture, race, and ethnicity (Greenwood et al., 2014).”
Nakalembe, D., Akulume, M., Ssekamatte, T., Isunju, J. B., Tamale, B. N., Wejuli, J. M., Nalugya, A., Akello, T., Galiwango, J., Nuwagaba, F., et al. (2025) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-6784690/v1
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Self-reliance in action and self-reliance inaction: urban refugee resilience in Addis Ababa
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“…students to obtain the rich data for the issue of interest were purposively [42, 43] selected from grade 9 in four rural community secondary schools in the Saptari district to maintain homogeneity and minimize the effects of heterogeneity [44], keeping the objectives of the study in mind.”
Caregivers’ views on paediatric burn injury prevention materials in the United Kingdom
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Factors shaping Indian Premier League team fan loyalty: a social network analysis approach
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“Although we initially aimed to group participants homo-geneously to encourage meaningful discussions among individuals with similar experiences and responsibilities [31], practical scheduling constraints made this difficult to achieve fully.”
Chibe, M. E., Napier, C. E., & Grobbelaar, H. (2026) · Journal of Health Population and Nutrition · doi:10.1186/s41043-026-01343-5
“This demographic composition closely aligns with the findings as shared cultural and linguistic backgrounds likely facilitated open communication during the focus group discussions, enabling participants to express their experiences more freely and in depth [31].”
Jin, Q., Ajmani, L., Singh, S., Balasubramanian, A., & Yarosh, S. (2026) · ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC) · doi:10.1145/3773077.3806134
“In our study, child-based groups were composed entirely of children, yet prior work has noted that other factors such as age, gender, or ethnicity [16, 32, 37] could further differentiate the degree of homogeneity or heterogeneity within these groups, thus affect the process and outcomes.”
Operationalizing culture in CLIL: translanguaging with multilingual learners in EFL
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Todorović, L., Bogaerts, A., & Larsen, H. (2026) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1002/jad.70220
“…in two Dutch secondary schools, with separate groups of girls and boys because homogenous groups can facilitate open discussion of potentially sensitive topics (Greenwood et al. 2014), which is relevant given the observed sex differences in adolescents' digital media use (Twenge and Martin 2020).”
Jesevičiūtė-Ufartienė, L., & Ligeikienė, R. A. (2026) · Business and management · doi:10.3846/bm.2026.2495
“Homogeneous groups consist of participants who share similar demographic or social characteristics and are often recommended when the research topic involves experiences that may be influenced by power dynamics or social hierarchy (Greenwood et al., 2014).”
- Authors
- Greenwood, N., Ellmers, T., & Holley, J.
- Affiliations
- St George's, University of London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Greenwood, Nan
- ORCID
- Greenwood, Nan
- Venue
- BMC Medical Research Methodology
- Published
- 2014-09-20
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 107-107
- ISSN
- 1471-2288 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4177596
- OpenAlex
- W2063297534
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 10.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMC Medical Research Methodology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Repository (Kingston University London) (acceptedVersion)
- Middlesex University Research Repository (Middlesex University Of London) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- School for Social Care Research
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Delphi Technique in Research
- Keywords
- focus groups, ethnic homogeneity, ethnic diversity, participant demographics, family caregivers, stroke, ethnicity, social care services, participant comfort, qualitative research design
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Ethnicity, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Social Behavior, Caregivers, Focus Groups, Cultural Diversity, Stroke, Black People, White People, Asian People
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