Analyzing Focus Groups Through Poetic Dialogues: Enhancing Participant Engagement and Representation in Program Evaluation

Abstract

Evaluating programs in rural communities can present challenges when large, observable successes, such as infrastructure additions, are limited due to resource challenges. These successes are often quantifiable and easily identified by external stakeholders. However, there are often intangible and social impacts that should be captured as successes of rural community-focused programs that may not fit the more quantitative methodology. Arts-based methodologies, like poetic analysis, can help capture the diverse impacts of a program, while also centering the voices of program participants in the evaluation itself. This study examined the use of poetic dialogues, an application of poetic transcriptions for focus group data, to highlight the socio-cultural, and sometimes intangible, program impacts from a rural food access and health promotion program. We collected data through focus groups with community coalitions implementing the program in four rural Georgia counties. We then crafted poetic dialogues to capture program impact, both for program evaluation as well as community engagement efforts. Merging a user-focused and appreciative evaluation approach with arts-based analysis allowed us to capture and communicate impacts that were intended to be more responsive to the individual and collective identities of rural community members impacted by the health promotion program. Implications for using poetic dialogues are discussed, as well as potential avenues for future research to expand this research area.