Premises and experiences: the analysis of online focus groups execution

The requirement to set aside the certainty as knowledge generator, which prevents thinking, opens the way toward thinking about focus groups. Taking on this posture, we can realize that there are differences, in terms of execution, between online and offline discussion groups. Are arising here five premises about online focus groups deferring with regard to the working of offline focus groups: participants are aware that the expressivity remains text-only limited; the first self-management goes through the avatar choice; the mediator/researcher's need to be considerably present; having fewer participants to reduce communicational schizophrenia; and a short duration necessity. With analyzing these five premises, it's being necessary to set out empirical examples of online focus groups' execution, focusing on the analysis of theirs interactive dynamics and the mediator/researcher's management. Both set up premises and experiences, open new uncertainties that should be thought about in the future. Issues such as: Do online focus groups implicate a reformulation in the process of the sociological discourse analysis? These reflections remain open.