Focus groups (по-русски)
In January 2009 the research team started setting up focus groups consisting of 10-15 members. The topics of these groups have been determined by volunteer participants. If you would like to participate in a group, please do not hesitate to sign up or suggest a new topic. Below you can find a link to the calendar of upcoming focus groups.
The focus groups are part of a study designed to investigate the following issues:
- Who in Ireland speaks Russian?
- How do we use our languages? How do we feel about our languages?
- How do our life stories contribute to our understanding of who we are?
- How have we (re-)integrated into Irish society?
- What is the future for Russian and our other languages in Ireland?
- What can society learn from us? How can our experience as people who speak many languages inform public policy on education and integration?
If you agree to participate, this will involve meeting other members of the Russian-speaking community in a focus group to discuss your experience of living in Ireland. Your participation in this focus group will last approximately two hours. You may choose to take part in an English- or Russian-speaking group.
Suggested topics
How the groups are run
Confidentiality and anonymity
Publication of discussions
Suggested topics
How can children feel comfortable and safe in two cultures?
Will Russian be spoken in Ireland in 20 years?
What are we passing on to the next generation?
Why learn English?
The experiences of spouses who are not permitted to work.
Do Russian speakers have anything in common?
How the groups are run
In the focus groups questions are directed to the group, not to individuals. You have the right to: (a) not answer a question, (b) terminate the interview, or (c) withdraw from the study at any time in the process.
Confidentiality
The interviews will be recorded, transcribed and translated into English/Russian. Participants will be given transcripts of their contributions and invited to further comment on or clarify their views. We agree that the discussions generated in the research process are the joint property of the researchers and the participants.
The original recording and transcripts will be available only to those working on the current project. All data will be kept in a secure location in the Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies in Trinity College Dublin. Data will only be shared with your consent.
Participants in focus groups should be aware that there is no guarantee that other participants in the focus group will maintain the privacy of the information discussed within the focus group. Therefore, in the case of this data source, neither confidentiality nor anonymity can be guaranteed.
Publication of discussions
Focus groups (or segments of focus groups) will be made public in the form of data archives, web sites, journal articles, or books only with the permission of participants.
Link to Consent Form [English] (PDF, 31KB)
Link to Consent Form [Russian] (PDF, 123KB)