Sabine Caillaud

Focus Groups and Ecological Practices: A Psychosocial Approach

The aim of this article is to show that focus groups (FGs) are a relevant method for the study of social representations of ecological practices and the meanings they have acquired in different socio-cultural contexts. First, relevant theoretical elements about ecological practices and representations are mentioned. Then, our different steps of designing FGs are detailed. A comparison between French and German FGs illustrates different processes of social representations and evidences how the tasks and stimuli structure group discussions about practices. Results highlight the role of the majoritys opinion in facing scientific uncertainty and in the evaluation of ecological practices. They also point out different ways of anchoring them. For the French participants, ecological practices are means of acting according to political values, whereas for the German group members, they are compromises between individual and altruistic interests. Furthermore, the potentialities of FGs are discussed.

Focus Groups in Triangulation Contexts

In some cases, focus groups are used as a stand-alone method, but they are also frequently combined with other approaches. When designing a study, a combination of focus groups and individual interviews may be selected because they afford access to different aspects of the phenomenon under study (with focus groups being included in order to provide insights into collective construction of social knowledge and everyday knowledge). This can give rise to different sorts of data with varying possibilities and outcomes. Analysis, thus, goes beyond simply comparing the content of individual interviews and of focus groups, as analysis can also focus on processes, drawing on the various theoretical perspectives (i.e. social interactionism and subjective reconstruction) adopted by researchers. Using focus groups with a view to triangulation does more than simply make the data more complete; it also affords a better understanding of a phenomenon under study. For example, analyzing apparently ‘unremarkable’ data in group discussions about ecological risks led to the identification of what could be termed a ‘false consensus’. Thus, it is argued, focus groups can make a valuable, indeed, unique contribution when employed in mixed methods studies – not just in terms of the data generated, but also the insights.

Die „grünen Deutschen“

Okologische Probleme werden in unserer Gesellschaft immer prasenter, sei es in den Medien oder in unserem Alltag. Deutschland wird oft in anderen Landern – und besonders in Frankreich – als ein Vorbild in diesem Bereich betrachtet. Dieser Stereotyp wird hier in einer sozialpsychologischen Perspektive analysiert. Ziel unserer Arbeit ist es generell zu verstehen, wie das soziale Denken uber Umweltprobleme funktioniert. Hier geht es genauer darum, das franzosische Stereotyp der „grunen Deutschen“ zu erklaren: wo kommt es her? Und welche Funktionen hat es?