tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855167929664076178.post5196007896906650351..comments2023-10-23T10:05:46.939-07:00Comments on Parent Leadership in Education: Equal air time (but you have to be online)elmonte08http://www.blogger.com/profile/12237422313455159119noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855167929664076178.post-80660950030972898512008-11-06T09:38:00.000-08:002008-11-06T09:38:00.000-08:00Aurelio, you're absolutely right. All the benefits...Aurelio, you're absolutely right. All the benefits of online focus groups only click in once the participants are actually connected. Access to be heard by researchers and their clients – whatever the medium - is always going to be an issue for those who don't have transportation to a centre where focus groups are being held, who aren't in the malls or grocery stores where people with clipboards stop shoppers to get their opinions, who don't have phones to receive the survey calls, and who simply don't have an address.<BR/><BR/>Someone who doesn't have keyboarding skills or facility with language will definitely be at a disadvantage online (even having leapt the hurdle of computer access). The person who doesn't have speech or language abilities in a face-to-face interview or discussion would also encounter an uneven playing field, and find their voice not being heard, or understood.<BR/><BR/>And of course, if an individual is outside the identified target group (by geographic location, income, age, gender, political identification, or whatever), they're excluded too. <BR/><BR/>There is no one right answer, and your real-life interviews and discussions absolutely look like the way to go for the population that is under-served by technology, even as you work to improve their access to it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com