Group Discussions in Health Services Research - Part 2: Reflections on The Concept of Group, Moderation and Analysis of Group Discussions as well as Online Group Discussion

This article is the second of 2 articles on group discussions in health services research, written by the Qualitative Methods Working Group of the German Network for Health Care Research (DNVF). It starts with theoretical considerations on the concept of groups, and provides specific knowledge about groups in general and the behaviour of individual group members in particular, which is relevant for the design and interpretation of interaction processes in the group context. The following sections deal with the processuality of group discussions, moderation styles and techniques as well as reflections on possible subjects and methods of analysis. Presentation of results and text passages which unveil the interaction structure of several discussion participants are also discussed here. Finally, insights into the special features, potentials and challenges of group discussions via online platforms are provided. Together, the two articles provide an overview of the most important aspects of the application of group discussions in the field of health services research.