Focus groups continue to be an insightful way of exploring people's views and how these are shaped by social interaction. In health care settings that increasingly stress the need for a patient‐centred approach to research, they are a fruitful way to gather the views and experiences of groups of patients and service users that offers them more control of the interaction. This chapter defines focus groups and discusses how to use them in research. It then identifies particular challenges and opportunities in the analysis of the qualitative data they generate. Focus groups begin with the collection of the pre‐circulated demographic questionnaire; then the facilitator presents the main topic for discussion as well as a set of 'ground rules' and covers any relevant ethical issues such as how data will be recorded, stored, and used. The ground rules are intended to ensure that only one participant speaks at a time and that different views are respected.