Comparison of offline and online focus groups for pretesting sensitive survey questionnairesLozar Manfreda, Katja (Avtor) Hlebec, Valentina (Avtor) Kogovšek, Tina (Avtor) Lobe, Bojana (Avtor) offline focus grouponline focus groupsynchronous chatdata qualitypretesting survey questionsThe study compares traditional synchronous offline focus groups with synchronous online focus groups using chat to pretest survey questions on a sensitive topic. Despite expecting higher data quality in the online focus groups due to their private setting, the comparison of 42 focus groups (21 of each type) revealed minimal differences in data quantity and quality. Moreover, the differences observed were attributed to transcript quality, the moderators’ experience, and social skills, participant homogeneity, and familiarity among participants, rather than the focus group setting. This suggests online focus groups can provide a viable alternative or complement to offline focus groups for pretesting sensitive survey questions, especially when faced with cost constraints, epidemic, large geographical distances, or other limits on face-to-face interactions.20252025-11-08 20:49:57Članek v reviji175810UDK: 303.022ISSN pri članku: 0040-3598DOI: 10.51936/tip.62.3.681COBISS_ID: 255480323sl