The effects of communicative interactions on meaning construction in group situations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of communicative interaction on meaning construction in three focus group interviews. Design/methodology/approach – Within the framework of cultural‐historical activity theory, Bakhtin's perspectives of communicative interaction was applied to three interview cases on commercial aerospace supply chains. Findings – These interactions are found to self‐organise without the control of any single actor. However, interventions by interviewees or the researcher affect the outcome when they create disturbances that go beyond the resilience of the established perspectives of the focus group community. The researcher's intervention or guidance is helpful in opening up reality perspectives of the community. Research limitations/implications – Focus group interviews may be difficult to control by the researcher. The potential for gathering rich data may, however, out‐weigh that. Originality/value – The paper illustrates how focus group interviews enhance the richness of data collection compared to other interview methods.