Towards a self-evaluation tool : focus groups with multi-agency working practitioners

As the third and last part of the realist process evaluation, two rounds of focus groups were organised within the three countries (3*2). The first round asked MAW practitioners about the proposed structure and content of the self-evaluation tool. The research team then constructed a preliminary draft of the website-based self-evaluation tool, and the second round of focus groups reviewed this draft.A focus group is a group discussion in which a small number of participants discuss a certain topic or set of issues raised by a moderator who also guides the discussion. The researcher acted here as the moderator: posing questions, keeping the discussion going and enabling full participation and interaction for all the participants. The interaction among the participants is an essential part of the focus group. Through group discussion, the interactions, interests, ideas and motives of the participants can be derived (Vander Laenen, 2021; Wilkinson, 2004).Depending on the Covid-19 measures in place for each country at that time, the focus groups were conducted either online via Microsoft Teams or face-to-face. For both rounds of focus groups, Ghent University provided a questionnaire with extensive instructions and a note form. The focus groups were moderated in Belgium by Ghent University, in the Netherlands by RadarAdvies and in Germany by VPN.As the third and last part of the realist process evaluation, two rounds of focus groups were organised within the three countries (3*2). The first round asked MAW practitioners about the proposed structure and content of the self-evaluation tool. The research team then constructed a preliminary draft of the website-based self-evaluation tool, and the second round of focus groups reviewed this draft.A focus group is a group discussion in which a small number of participants discuss a certain topic or set of issues raised by a moderator who also guides the discussion. The researcher acted here as the moderator: posing questions, keeping the discussion going and enabling full participation and interaction for all the participants. The interaction among the participants is an essential part of the focus group. Through group discussion, the interactions, interests, ideas and motives of the participants can be derived (Vander Laenen, 2021; Wilkinson, 2004).Depending on the Covid-19 measures in place for each country at that time, the focus groups were conducted either online via Microsoft Teams or face-to-face. For both rounds of focus groups, Ghent University provided a questionnaire with extensive instructions and a note form. The focus groups were moderated in Belgium by Ghent University, in the Netherlands by RadarAdvies and in Germany by VPN.B