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Article: Comparing traditional focus groups with a Group Support Systems (GSS) approach for use in SME research.(small and medium enterprises)
- Article from:
- International Small Business Journal
- Article date:
- November 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Sage Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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This study examined the use of Group Support Systems (GSS) technology as a tool for soliciting perceptions, or ideas, from a target audience. We compared this approach to a more traditional focus group methodology, and concluded that GSS technology has a number of advantages. First, the relative anonymity of responses encouraged participation from the more timid group members, ensuring vocal individuals did not dominate. Second, the GSS technology made the findings available to group members immediately, so that clarification, correction and some quantitative analysis of responses could take place during the session. Third, the GSS approach allowed ideas to be separated ...