Virtual focus groups on Zoom: “lessons learned” from two physical activity studies among Black and African American women and children

ABSTRACT

Black and/or African American (Black/AA) individuals have been historically excluded from research, but the recent uptick in Zoom as a platform for virtual focus groups may lead to increased inclusion of Black/AA participants. Researcher reflections from two physical activity-related studies with Black/AA samples, YogaMoves and Mini-Me, that utilized Zoom to conduct virtual focus groups are presented. ‘Lessons learned’ fall under three themes: participant privacy and session security, technological challenges and time burdens, and participant engagement. The present lessons support past research in the need for participant privacy and security, but add novel insights around engaging and supporting Black/AA participants in virtual focus groups. The authors stress not only the importance of participant engagement and community-building, but the lesson of flexibility and understanding of social context, even when the focus group topic may be seemingly unrelated. These lessons can be used by researchers conducting virtual focus groups, particularly when working with Black/AA populations.

KEYWORDS:

• Black and African American populations
• physical activity
• Zoom

Acknowledgments

The authorship team would like to acknowledge the people who so generously contributed their time and views as participants in the two research studies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Grant Numbers R34AT011036 from the National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health (MPIs: Barr-Anderson & Pereira) and R43MD015699 from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (PI: Ma; Subcontract PI: Barr-Anderson). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, or the National Institutes of Health.

Notes on contributors

Amanda L. Folk

Amanda L. Folk is a doctoral candidate at the UMN School of Kinesiology. She is a behavioral scientist and exercise physiologist whose current body of work focuses on green physical activity and social media as a health communication tool. She aims to eliminate physical activity-related health disparities through mixed methods research using a social justice lens.

Stephanie M. Grace

Stephanie M. Grace is a doctoral candidate at the UMN School of Kinesiology. Most of her work focuses on physical activity-related social media use with an overarching goal to better understand how health promotion professionals might harness the power of social media to promote wellbeing. She conducts research that centers on health equity and employs methodologies that join fields like kinesiology, public health, and communication.

Michael Urvig

Michael Urvig is a master’s student at the UMN School of Kinesiology. His research interests center around the physical activity and health of LGBTQ+ persons. The goal of his work is to promote access and opportunity for physical activity and health for LGBTQ+ persons to then reduce and eliminate the related health disparities.

Daheia J. Barr-Anderson

Daheia J. Barr-Anderson is an Associate Professor of Physical Activity and Health Promotion at the University of Minnesota School of Kinesiology. Her research focuses on physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and obesity prevention in children and adults. She is particularly interested in home- and community-based, environmental interventions that incorporate both physical activity and nutrition to achieve healthy outcomes and to decrease racial/ethnic health inequalities.