Moving on from trials and errors: a discussion on the use of a forum as an online focus group in qualitative research

The observations in this paper follow online focus group research involving mothers who play video games as a leisure pursuit. The study utilised an online focus group method within a custom online forum which split the forum into small virtual rooms, replicating small face-to-face focus groups in an online environment. The primary objective of this paper is to offer insights that can support other researchers in utilising the online forum based focus group methodology, by reflecting on the research process and detailing the lessons learned. Furthermore, the article contributes to methodological debate on the use of online alternatives, by reflecting on the potential pitfalls of using an online forum as a focus group and presenting the benefits of using the online forum format.