Difference between revisions of "Focus Groups"
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| − | {{Term|FOCUS GROUPS| | + | {{Term|FOCUS GROUPS|Qualitative research tool in which a group of participants is invited to share feelings and thoughts on a specific topic (such as a product, a service, a concept, an advertisement, an idea...). Participants, who are usually alike persons, can spontaneously talk with each other, since the focus group session runs in an interactive setting. |
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| + | A small group of people brought together in a discussion specifically designed to uncover and share insights and observations, suggest new ideas or make recommendations on a specific subject of interest.<ref>[http://www.unfpa.org/monitoring/toolkit/tool1_glossary.pdf United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). Programme Manager's Planning Monitoring & Evaluation Toolkit, 2004.]</ref> A moderator or interviewer usually guides the discussion without necessarily controlling it. The focus group is comprised of limited number of "homogeneous participants who discuss a predetermined topic within a permissive and non-threatening environment"<ref>Krueger A. Richard in Mathison, Sandra. Encyclopaedia of Evaluation, pp 160, Ed. University of British Columbia. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005.</ref>. | ||
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| + | In evaluation, focus groups have been used for purposes of: | ||
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| + | # Understanding a problem, situation or programme from the perspective of a certain group. Any understanding stemming from the focus group discussion may be used to develop a programme logic model or help gain insight into various perceptions on a given topic. | ||
| + | #Pilot testing programme ideas, services or policies | ||
==Benefits of focus groups== | ==Benefits of focus groups== | ||
| − | + | *quick method; | |
| − | + | *helpful for collecting information on the group's attitude on a given subject, that would be difficult to obtain without interaction; | |
| − | + | *useful for eliciting information on the characteristics of conversation. | |
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| + | ==Be aware that...== | ||
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| + | *Focus Groups can be effective only with a skilled moderator, who has to balance the freedom and spontaneity of the conversation against the focus on the topic. | ||
| + | *Participants' answers are influenced by the social environment: in order to avoid conflict, their attitude is usually more polite and moderate compared to what they would show in one-to-one interviews. | ||
| + | *It is difficult to generalize Focus Groups' output, since the number of participants is not large enough to be representative of the whole population. | ||
| + | *Group should be composed by people who are similar, in order to limit the self-censorship. Hence, to collect data on persons with different characteristics it is necessary to run multiple focus group sessions. | ||
| + | *Results are difficult to analyse because sessions must be audio taped and transcribed and because the issue is influenced by the moderator, who participates in the session too. <ref> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_group Wikipedia] (3 June 2009), [http://managementhelp.org/evaluatn/focusgrp.htm managementhelp.org] (3 June 2009), [http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/focus-groups.shtml www.webcredible.co.uk] (3 June 2009), [http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1969B.pdf www.extension.iastate.edu] (3 June 2009) </ref> | ||
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| + | See also: [[Needs Assessment]]; [[Audience Analysis]]; [[Stakeholder Analysis]]; [[Problem Tree Analysis]]}} | ||
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| − | + | {{Tool|Organizing a Focus Group| | |
| − | #participants | + | __NOTOC__ |
| − | # | + | =='''Preparing a Focus Group'''== |
| − | # | + | #Identify the main goal of the focus groups. |
| − | # | + | #Select 6-10 participants (they should have strong feelings about the issue to be discussed and also have similar characteristics, such as the same age or the same status). |
| + | #Avoid involving friends in the same session, since they can form cliques. | ||
| + | #Plan your session (consider that the meeting should last 1.5 hours approximately). | ||
| + | #Phrase five to six open and neutral questions to ask the participants (be careful to formulate them in a language the participants are familiar with). | ||
| + | #Send the participants an invitation explaining the goal of the meeting, the proposed agenda, the main issue to be discussed and the related questions. | ||
| + | #Set a quite room and arrange the chairs in a circle (if possible, around a table). | ||
| + | #Plan to record the session (using audio/audio-video recorder) or ask a co-facilitator to take notes during the meeting. | ||
| + | =='''Running Focus Group'''== | ||
| + | #Welcome the participants. | ||
| + | #Ask the participants to introduce themselves and, eventually, to wear name tags. | ||
| + | #Review the agenda. | ||
| + | #Introduce the main goal of the meeting. | ||
| + | #Ask the questions you have prepared and reflect back a summary of participants’ answers. | ||
| + | #Ensure balanced participation: if there is somebody dominating the session, invite participants to speak in turn; respect participants’ right to be silent but give them the chance to express themselves in a one-to-one context (for instance, during a break). | ||
| + | #Let disagreements arise, since they can lead to interesting and innovative ideas, but be careful in managing them. | ||
| + | #Avoid sharing your personal opinion with the group. | ||
| + | #Keep the discussion on track. <ref>[http://managementhelp.org/evaluatn/focusgrp.htm managementhelp.org] (30 July 2009); | ||
| + | [http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/focus-groups.shtml www.webcredible.co.uk] (30 July 2009)</ref>}} | ||
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| − | + | =='''Job Aid'''== | |
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| + | [[Image:pdf.png]] [[Media:Toolkit_Template_Focus_Group.pdf|Organizing a Focus Group]] | ||
Latest revision as of 10:08, 3 October 2013
 FOCUS GROUPS |
| Qualitative research tool in which a group of participants is invited to share feelings and thoughts on a specific topic (such as a product, a service, a concept, an advertisement, an idea...). Participants, who are usually alike persons, can spontaneously talk with each other, since the focus group session runs in an interactive setting.
A small group of people brought together in a discussion specifically designed to uncover and share insights and observations, suggest new ideas or make recommendations on a specific subject of interest.[1] A moderator or interviewer usually guides the discussion without necessarily controlling it. The focus group is comprised of limited number of "homogeneous participants who discuss a predetermined topic within a permissive and non-threatening environment"[2]. In evaluation, focus groups have been used for purposes of:
Benefits of focus groups
Be aware that...
|
 Organizing a Focus Group |
Preparing a Focus Group
Running Focus Group
|
Job Aid
References
- ↑ United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). Programme Manager's Planning Monitoring & Evaluation Toolkit, 2004.
- ↑ Krueger A. Richard in Mathison, Sandra. Encyclopaedia of Evaluation, pp 160, Ed. University of British Columbia. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005.
- ↑ Wikipedia (3 June 2009), managementhelp.org (3 June 2009), www.webcredible.co.uk (3 June 2009), www.extension.iastate.edu (3 June 2009)
- ↑ managementhelp.org (30 July 2009); www.webcredible.co.uk (30 July 2009)