2.4. Research Instruments

The main research instrument used for the FGD was a set of semi-structured interviews which was developed in Malay language. As the FGD aimed to explore the perceptions of quality of life during the pandemic among B40 single mothers, the content of the interview protocol was designed based on the emergence theme during the brain storming stage by the research team and guided by Seligman’s PERMA Model. The domains that were included in the interview were mental health, quality of life, and well-being of single mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The semi-structured interview consisted of two parts, which were the introduction and the key question. A total of 15 questions was developed to explore mental health, quality of life, and well-being of single mothers during the pandemic. The interview protocol was distributed to four panels of subject matter experts comprised of family medicine specialists, psychologists, and economic experts to assess content validity of the interview protocol. They were requested to give comments and to rate the suitability and clarity of each question (yes or no response). Most commented that the questions were relevant, suitable, and clear. After taking into consideration the views and remarks from expert panel members, a final set of questions was constructed, consisting of 12 questions (introduction and key question). Nevertheless, to fulfil the objective of this article, only questions related to the domain of quality of life among B40 single mothers will be highlighted.