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Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution and adaptation is not allowed for any purposes.

Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

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Page 1: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Communication Arts Research CA3011A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C.

This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution and adaptation is not allowed for any purposes.

Page 2: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Focus Group

Page 3: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Content Outline

Focus Group•Overview of focus group•Characteristics of focus group•Advantages VS disadvantages of focus

group•Uses of focus group

Page 4: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Focus Group

Page 5: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Focus Group: Overview• Focus group (group interviewing), is a

research strategy for understanding people’s attitude and behavior.(how and why)

• Focus group involve people (participants).• The number of the participants is from 6-12

people.• They are interviewed simultaneously, with a

moderator leading the respondents in a relatively unstructured discussion about the topic under investigation.

Unlike the survey aiming at measuring the attitude and

behaviour (what is the relationship)

Page 6: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Four Characteristics of Focus Group

Page 7: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

1. Focus group involve people (participants).

Page 8: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

2. The people possess certain characteristics and recruited to share a quality or characteristic of interest to the researcher. Ex. All may be beer drinkers, or Lexus owner, or females 18-34 who listen to certain types of music on the radio

Page 9: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

3. Focus groups usually provide qualitative data.•Data from focus groups are used to

enhance understanding and to reveal a wide range of opinions, some of which the researcher might might not expect.

•In most cases, they are not used to test hypotheses or to generalize to a population. This is accomplished only when several focus groups are conducted to achieve a satisfactory sample size.

Page 10: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

4. Focus groups have a focused discussion.•Most of the questions to be asked are

predetermined, the sequence of questions is established, and the questions are structured to further the goal of the research.

•However, the moderator is free to depart from the structure if the participants present relevant information.

Page 11: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Uses of Focus Group

Page 12: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Three Uses of Focus Group (Morgan, 1997)1) A self-contained focus group is one in which the focus group method is the only means of data collection. The results of self-contained groups can stand on their own; the data from the groups provides a sufficient answer to the research question.

The focus group is mainly used to gather

information.

Page 13: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Three Uses of Focus Group (Morgan, 1997) (contd.)2) A supplementary focus group is one in which the group discussions form a starting point or are a source of follow-up data for quantitative study. For ex., a researcher planning a survey on why people read online news might develop questionnaire items based on the content of a number of focus groups that discuss that topic. He/she might gather more in-depth info. about the quantitative results using focus groups to determine the reasons people read the news. The focus group is used to

support/refute the main data collection instrument. (supplement

other techniques)

Page 14: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Three Uses of Focus Group (Morgan, 1997)3) Multimethod is of a number of qualitative and/ or quantitative techniques used to collect data about a topic. The focus group results might be combined with participant observation, case studies, or surveys.

The focus group stands as equal methodology.

Page 15: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Advantages of Focus Group

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Advantages of Focus Group• Focus groups allow researchers to collect preliminary

info.about a topic or a phenomenon. They may be used in pilot studies to detect ideas that will be investigated further using another research method, such a survey or some other qualitative method.

• Focus groups can be conducted quickly. Most of the time is spent recruiting the respondents.

• The cost of focus groups also makes the approach an attractive research method. When respondents are difficult to recruit or when the topic requires a specially trained moderator, focus group may cost much more

Page 17: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Advantages of Focus Group

•Focus groups are flexible in question design and follow-up. A moderator in the focus group, however, works from a list of broad questions as well as more refined probe questions; hence, it is easy to follow up on important points raised by participants in the group.

Page 18: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Advantages of Focus Group

•Most professional focus group moderator use a procedure known as an extended focus group, in which respondents are required to complete a written questionnaire before the session begins. The pre-group questionnaire, which covers the material that will be discussed during the group session, forces respondents to ‘commit’ to a particular answer before entering the group.

This is to solve the problem that some

participants do not want to offer opinion.

Page 19: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Advantages of Focus Group•Focus group responses are often more

complete and less inhibited than those from individual interviews. One respondent’s remarks tend to stimulate others to pursue lines of thinking that might not have been elicited in a situation involving just one individual. A skilled moderator also can detect the opinions and attitudes of those who are less articulate by noting facial expressions and other nonverbal behavior while others are speaking.

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Disadvantages of Focus Group

Page 21: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Disadvantages of Focus Group

•A self-appointed group leader who monopolizes the conversation and attempts to impose his or her opinion on other participants dominates some groups. Such a person usually draws the resentment of the other participants and may have an adverse effect on the performance of the group. The moderator needs to

control such situations tactfully.

Page 22: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Disadvantages of Focus Group•Unless enough groups are conducted, typical

focus group research (4-6 groups)is inappropriate to gather quantitative data. Many people unfamiliar with focus group research incorrectly assume that the method will answer the question “how many” or “how much.” In fact, focus group research is intended to gather qualitative data to answer questions such as “why” or “how.” Focus groups do no provide such info. Unless enough groups are conducted. Require quite a no.

of focus groups

Page 23: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Disadvantages of Focus Group

•Focus groups depend heavily on the skills of the moderator, who must know when to probe for further info., when to stop respondents from discussing irrelevant topics, and how to involve all respondents in the discussion. The moderator must remain completely objective.

The moderator must be professional.

Page 24: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Disadvantages of Focus Group

•The small focus group samples may not represent the population form which they were drawn; and the recording equipment or other physical characteristics of the location may inhibit respondents.

Page 25: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Reference

•This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution and adaptation is not allowed for any purposes.

Wimmer, R. & Dominick, J. (2011). Mass Media Research: An Introduction (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth.

Page 26: Communication Arts Research CA3011 A. Parichart W. & A. Chulamani C. This course material is for non-commercial use only. Any public display, distribution

Thank you for your attention