Focus groups as a quality improvement technique: a case example from health administration education

Abstract

States that growing numbers of experienced adult professionals are pursuing higher education on a part‐time basis and are enrolling selectively in university and workplace‐based undergraduate, graduate, and continuing professional education programs. As competition for this growing population of lifelong learners increases, the assessment of student satisfaction requires more attention. This article discusses the advantages of focus groups – a structured group interview technique – over other techniques for assessing the satisfaction of adult learners, presents key aspects of focus group methodology, and provides a case illustration of focus group methodology applied to quality improvement in a professional master’s level management program that serves adult professionals who are employed full‐time in the health professions.