Focus Groups

Focus-Group• Most frequently used form of qualitative marketing research• Frequently mentioned is their popularity• Many advertising and research agencies consider them to be

the “only” explanatory research tool• An unstructured, free-flowing interview with a small group of

people

Focus Group• Appealing approach• Superficially direct and accessible• Always something of a horserace, you don’t know what

information you’ll get out of them until you’ve gotten it• A group of individual selected and assembled by researchers to

discuss and comment on, from personal experience, the topic that is the subject of the research.

• Rely on the interaction within the group based on topics that are supplied by the researcher.

Benefits• Gaining insights into people’s shared understandings of

everyday life• And the ways in which individuals are influenced by others in

a group situation

Purpose• Can help explore or generate hypotheses and develop

questions or concepts for questionnaires and interview guides.

• used during preliminary or exploratory stages of a study, during a study and after a programme has been completed.

Potentials and Limitations• Enables participants to ask questions of each other as well as

to re-evaluate and reconsider their own understandings of their specific experiences

• Forum for change, both during the meeting itself and afterwards.

• The researcher has less control over the data produced• Difficult to assemble.

Potentials and Limitations• May discourage some people from trusting others with

sensitive or personal information.• Not fully confidential or anonymous.

Organization of FGD• Six to ten participants. • Possessing similar characteristics or levels of understanding

about a given topic.

• Moderator – provides clear explanation of the purpose, help people feel at ease, and facilitate the interaction.

• 90 minutes up to 2 hours.

The Proposal• A capsule projection of how well the researcher understood

the project’s goals, and thus gives the interviewee some protection as well

• A formal, written proposal may be replaced by a verbal pledge

• Time and cost are the heart of the proposal• It may tie up hours of researcher’s time, which probably will

not be compensated

Discussion Guide• A series of memoranda to the researcher-as-moderator,

recapping the discussion areas she must be sure to cover

Scheduling Focus-Group Interviews• Who’s choosing. What inputs are considered.• Who’s going• Marketplace geography• Unpredictable contingencies

Where and WhenMorning interviews

only be recruited reliably among homemakers (young children and certain entrepreneurs, who make their own schedules, and sometimes available then as well)

Luncheon interviews

Employed men and women are sometimes possible, an if the promised recompensed is sufficient to motivate them

Where and WhenAfternoon interviews

Most convenient for students and night workers

Evenings

Prime-time for most employed adults.

Any prospective panelist coming during lunch or dinner hours must be promised reasonably substantial food

The InterviewLivingroom style: Seek pleasantness and relaxationpolite or casual interchange, usually colored by superficial responsibility or motivation to labor

Employ a one-way mirror

Focus-Group Methodology and EthicsEthical issues have become an essential aspect

Due to the nature of close interaction and relationship between the researcher and the participants as well as the unstructured and unpredictable nature of methods

Codes of ethics comprise informed consent, deception, privacy and confidentiality, and accuracy.

Focus-Group Methodology and Ethics• The moderator needs to observe the stress levels of participants

and be well prepared to intervene if necessary• It may be better to run a small group rather than a group with

too many participants• It is essential to have a debriefing session after the focus group

so that the participants can talk about their reactions to the discussion

• It may also desirable to have a co-researcher with clinical experience present during the focus group so that the “comfort level” of the participants can be monitored

ReferencesCooper,D. and Schindler, P. (2011) Business Research Methods, 11th Edition, International Edition, McGraw Hill

Liamputtong, P. (2011). Focus Group Methodology Principles and Practice.Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications

Templeton, J. (1987). Focus Groups: A guide for Marketing and Advertising Professionals. Chicago, Illinois: Probus Publishing Company