Difference between revisions of "Focus Groups"

Difference between revisions of "Focus Groups"

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{{Term|FOCUS GROUPS|A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members.
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{{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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'''Other definition:''' Focus groups are a powerful means to evaluate services or test new ideas. Basically, focus groups are interviews, but of 6-10 people at the same time in the same group. One can get a great deal of information during a focus group session.
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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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'''What are focus groups?'''A focus group involves encouraging an invited group of participants to share their thoughts, feelings, attitudes and ideas on certain subject. Organising focus groups within an organisation can also be very useful in getting buy-in to a project from within that company.
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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.
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#Pilot testing programme ideas, services or policies
  
  
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'''In marketing'''In the world of marketing, focus groups are seen as an important tool for acquiring feedback regarding new products, as well as various topics. In particular, focus groups allow companies wishing to develop, package, name, or test market a new product, to discuss, view, and/or test the new product before it is made available to the public. This can provide invaluable information about the potential market acceptance of the product.
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==Benefits of focus groups==
  
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*quick method;
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*helpful for collecting information on the group's attitude on a given subject, that would be difficult to obtain without interaction;
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*useful for eliciting information on the characteristics of conversation.
  
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'''In social sciences'''
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==Be aware that...==
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In the social sciences and urban planning, focus groups allow interviewers to study people in a more natural setting than a one-to-one interview. In combination with participant observation, they can be used for gaining access to various cultural and social groups, selecting sites to study, sampling of such sites, and raising unexpected issues for exploration. Focus groups have a high apparent validity - since the idea is easy to understand, the results are believable. Also, they are low in cost, one can get results relatively quickly, and they can increase the sample size of a report by talking with several people at once.[3]
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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.
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*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.
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*It is difficult to generalize Focus Groups' output, since the number of participants is not large enough to be representative of the whole population.
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*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.
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*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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'''Types of focus groups'''
 
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Variants of focus groups include:
 
  
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Two-way focus group - one focus group watches another focus group and discusses the observed interactions and conclusion
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See also: [[Needs Assessment]]; [[Audience Analysis]]; [[Stakeholder Analysis]]; [[Problem Tree Analysis]]}}
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Dual moderator focus group - one moderator ensures the session progresses smoothly, while another ensures that all the topics are covered
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Dueling moderator focus group - two moderators deliberately take opposite sides on the issue under discussion
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Respondent moderator focus group - one or more of the respondents are asked to act as the moderator temporarily
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Client participant focus groups - one or more client representatives participate in the discussion, either covertly or overtly
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Mini focus groups - groups are composed of four or five members rather than 8 to 12
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Teleconference focus groups - telephone network is used
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Online focus groups - computers connected via the internet are used
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Traditional focus groups can provide accurate information, and are less expensive than other forms of traditional marketing research. There can be significant costs however : if a product is to be marketed on a nationwide basis, it would be critical to gather respondents from various locales throughout the country since attitudes about a new product may vary due to geographical considerations. This would require a considerable expenditure in travel and lodging expenses. Additionally, the site of a traditional focus group may or may not be in a locale convenient to a specific client, so client representatives may have to incur travel and lodging expenses as well.
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The use of focus groups has steadily evolved over time and is becoming increasingly widespread
 
  
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'''Benefits/ Strengths of Focus Group Discussions'''
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{{Tool|Organizing a Focus Group|
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Group discussion produces data and insights that would be less accessible without interaction found in a group setting -- listening to others’ verbalized experiences stimulates memories, ideas, and experiences in participants. This is also known as the group effect where group members engage in “a kind of ‘chaining’ or ‘cascading’ effect; talk links to, or tumbles out of, the topics and expressions preceding it” (Lindlof & Taylor, 2002, p. 182) [4]
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Group members discover a common language to describe similar experiences. This enables the capture of a form of “native language” or “vernacular speech” to understand the situation
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=='''Preparing a Focus Group'''==
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Focus groups also provide an opportunity for disclosure among similar others in a setting where participants are validated. For example, in the context of workplace bullying, targeted employees often find themselves in situations where they experience lack of voice and feelings of isolation. Use of focus groups to study workplace bullying therefore serve as both an efficacious and ethical venue for collecting data (see, e.g., Tracy, Lutgen-Sandvik, & Alberts, 2006) [5]
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#Identify the main goal of the focus groups.
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#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).
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#Avoid involving friends in the same session, since they can form cliques.
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#Plan your session (consider that the meeting should last 1.5 hours approximately).
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#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).
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#Send the participants an invitation explaining the goal of the meeting, the proposed agenda, the main issue to be discussed and the related questions.
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#Set a quite room and arrange the chairs in a circle (if possible, around a table).  
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#Plan to record the session (using audio/audio-video recorder) or ask a co-facilitator to take notes during the meeting.
  
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'''Problems and criticism'''
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=='''Running Focus Group'''==
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However, focus groups also have disadvantages: The researcher has less control over a group than a one-on-one interview, and thus time can be lost on issues irrelevant to the topic; the data are tough to analyze because the talking is in reaction to the comments of other group members; observers/ moderators need to be highly trained, and groups are quite variable and can be tough to get together. (Ibid.) Moreover, the number of members of a focus group is not large enough to be a representative sample of a population; thus, the data obtained from the groups is not necessarily representative of the whole population, unlike in opinion polls.
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#Welcome the participants.
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#Ask the participants to introduce themselves and, eventually, to wear name tags.
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#Review the agenda.
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#Introduce the main goal of the meeting.
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#Ask the questions you have prepared and reflect back a summary of participants’ answers.
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#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).
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#Let disagreements arise, since they can lead to interesting and innovative ideas, but be careful in managing them.
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#Avoid sharing your personal opinion with the group.
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#Keep the discussion on track. <ref>[http://managementhelp.org/evaluatn/focusgrp.htm managementhelp.org] (30 July 2009);
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[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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A fundamental difficulty with focus groups (and other forms of qualitative research) is the issue of observer dependency: the results obtained are influenced by the researcher, raising questions of validity. The issue evokes associations with Heisenberg’s famous Uncertainty Principle. As Heisenberg said, "What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." Indeed, the design of the focus group study (e.g. respondent selection, the questions asked, how they are phrased, how they are posed, in what setting, by whom, and so on) affects the answers obtained from respondents. In focus groups, researchers are not detached observers but always participants. Researchers must take this into account when making their analysis (Based on: Tjaco H. Walvis (2003), “Avoiding advertising research disaster: Advertising and the uncertainty principle”, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 403-409).
 
  
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Douglas Rushkoff[6] argues that focus groups are often useless, and frequently cause more trouble than they are intended to solve, with focus groups often aiming to please rather than offering their own opinions or evaluations, and with data often cherry picked to support a foregone conclusion. Rushkoff cites the disastrous introduction of New Coke in the 1980s as a vivid example of focus group analysis gone bad. In addition there is anecdotal evidence of focus groups rebelling, for instance the name for the Ford Focus, was created by a focus group which had grown bored and impatient and the irony of this was not picked up by the marketing team. <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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=='''Job Aid'''==
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{{Addlink |
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Below you have a list of selected websites where you can find further information on Focus Groups:}}
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{|border=1; width= 100%
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!Link
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!Content
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|[http://managementhelp.org/evaluatn/focusgrp.htm managementhelp.org]
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|Guideline to conduct a Focus Group.
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|[http://humanresources.about.com/od/whenemploymentends/a/exit_interview_2.htm www.humanresources.about.com]
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|Other sample exit interview questions.
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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

Term2.png 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:

  1. 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.
  2. Pilot testing programme ideas, services or policies


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.

Be aware that...

  • 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. [3]


See also: Needs Assessment; Audience Analysis; Stakeholder Analysis; Problem Tree Analysis


Toolkit.png Organizing a Focus Group

Preparing a Focus Group

  1. Identify the main goal of the focus groups.
  2. 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).
  3. Avoid involving friends in the same session, since they can form cliques.
  4. Plan your session (consider that the meeting should last 1.5 hours approximately).
  5. 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).
  6. Send the participants an invitation explaining the goal of the meeting, the proposed agenda, the main issue to be discussed and the related questions.
  7. Set a quite room and arrange the chairs in a circle (if possible, around a table).
  8. Plan to record the session (using audio/audio-video recorder) or ask a co-facilitator to take notes during the meeting.

Running Focus Group

  1. Welcome the participants.
  2. Ask the participants to introduce themselves and, eventually, to wear name tags.
  3. Review the agenda.
  4. Introduce the main goal of the meeting.
  5. Ask the questions you have prepared and reflect back a summary of participants’ answers.
  6. 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).
  7. Let disagreements arise, since they can lead to interesting and innovative ideas, but be careful in managing them.
  8. Avoid sharing your personal opinion with the group.
  9. Keep the discussion on track. [4]


Job Aid

Pdf.png Organizing a Focus Group


References

  1. ↑ United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). Programme Manager's Planning Monitoring & Evaluation Toolkit, 2004.
  2. ↑ Krueger A. Richard in Mathison, Sandra. Encyclopaedia of Evaluation, pp 160, Ed. University of British Columbia. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005.
  3. ↑ Wikipedia (3 June 2009), managementhelp.org (3 June 2009), www.webcredible.co.uk (3 June 2009), www.extension.iastate.edu (3 June 2009)
  4. ↑ managementhelp.org (30 July 2009); www.webcredible.co.uk (30 July 2009)
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