%0 Journal Article %1 lee_secret_2010 %A Lee, Raymond %D 2010 %J The American Sociologist %K externalist institutional marketing merton methodology public-opinion-research sociology sociology-of-science united-states %N 2 %P 115--141 %R 10.1007/s12108-010-9090-1 %T The Secret Life of Focus Groups: Robert Merton and the Diffusion of a Research Method %V 41 %X Focus groups became popular in social research in the 1980s. Robert Merton has pointed to the continuities and discontinuities between focus groups and the wartime use of 'focused interviewing' he and his colleagues developed at the Bureau of Applied Social Research. Using a variety of sources, the paper attempts to chart the ways in which focused interviewing came to be taken up, diffused and modified in marketing research before re-emerging into sociology as the focus group.

@article{lee_secret_2010, abstract = {Focus groups became popular in social research in the 1980s. Robert Merton has pointed to the continuities and discontinuities between focus groups and the wartime use of 'focused interviewing' he and his colleagues developed at the Bureau of Applied Social Research. Using a variety of sources, the paper attempts to chart the ways in which focused interviewing came to be taken up, diffused and modified in marketing research before re-emerging into sociology as the focus group.}, added-at = {2019-08-29T01:56:31.000+0200}, author = {Lee, Raymond}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2014092503206680e38589abb89fa3bb2/jpooley}, doi = {10.1007/s12108-010-9090-1}, interhash = {e0c77e7bd10b7251b3090a98a31c37fa}, intrahash = {014092503206680e38589abb89fa3bb2}, issn = {0003-1232}, journal = {The American Sociologist}, keywords = {externalist institutional marketing merton methodology public-opinion-research sociology sociology-of-science united-states}, month = jun, number = 2, pages = {115--141}, timestamp = {2019-08-29T01:56:31.000+0200}, title = {The {{Secret Life}} of {{Focus Groups}}: {{Robert Merton}} and the {{Diffusion}} of a {{Research Method}}}, volume = 41, year = 2010 }