Focus Groups and Ecological Practices: A Psychosocial Approach

Abstract

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 majority's 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.

Keywords:

• ecological practices
• focus groups
• France
• Germany
• social representations

Notes

¹The instruction explicitly refers to practices “protecting nature” and not to “ecological” practices. This was a matter of translation: contrary to French, in German the adjective “ecological” is not commonly used and is therefore not well understood. However, according to our theoretical assumptions, the instruction leaves the definition of “efficiency” open to debate.