What are Focus Groups?
Why Use Focus Groups?
Are Focus Groups Right for You?
Case Study?
Techniques for Observing Focus Group

What are Focus Groups?
Focus Groups are a qualitative research technique used to uncover the beliefs, behaviors and motivations of a group of respondents.  They've been around since the 1960s, but gained much greater popularity and sophistication in the 1980s. 

Focus groups are discussions in which a skilled moderator asks a set of carefully crafted but open-ended questions designed to uncover respondents’ thoughts, feelings and habits on a subject.  The open-ended nature of the questions allows the moderator to react to respondents’ answers with new questions designed to dig deeper into an issue than typical question-answer survey research.

Focus groups are often used as a basis for designing survey research, because they often uncover issues that survey researchers would never even have considered.

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Why Use Focus Groups?

Ø      Seeing is Believing – Focus Groups provide an invaluable resource of information – the thoughts and reactions of actual consumers.  Listening to real live consumers in a comfortable setting provides a unique opportunity to strengthen your understanding of the market.

Ø      Professional Expertise  – Focus Groups benefit from the involvement of a professional moderator specially trained to gather deep information without directing responses.  By using an outside professional, rather than contacting respondents directly, you can avoid the pitfalls of hidden agendas and biased information.  The neutral setting ensures respondents are free to give open, honest reactions and opinions – good or bad, they tell it like it is.

Ø      The Value of the Unexpected – Focus Groups are famous for providing information no one expected to hear.  The open discussion format allows respondents the freedom to bring up points that managers and researchers never guessed were there.

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Are Focus Groups Right for You?
Focus Groups are ideal for a variety of applications, including concept testing, category review, advertising testing, and any situation that calls for exploration or deeper analysis of an issue.  They are also well-suited for internal idea generation and employee satisfaction research. 

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Case Study
In a series of focus groups on convenience store use, we learned that some women who shopped at convenience stores multiple times a day feel guilty about what they consider their inefficient, disorganized, poorly managed lives.  So much so, that they were reluctant to go back to the same store where the clerks will “think we are terrible wives or mothers.”   (Men didn't seem to care.)

LESSON:  Once our client heard this they can take steps to tell these women it's okay to come back.  You're welcome here, we want you here.  It's not you, it's the crazy world and the hectic schedule that's to blame and we're here to help you cope.

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Techniques for observing focus groups

Excerpted from:  "The Practical Handbook and Guide for Focus Group Research," by Thomas L. Greenbaum.

1. When you arrive at the facility, please give your name and state that you are with National Market Measures.  Do not state your company name.  This helps to assure client confidentiality in the event respondents or other clients are in the lobby.
   

2. Please do not wear white (shirt, blouse, dress, suit, etc.) to the focus group session as white can easily be seen through the respondent mirror.  (Don't worry; if you forget we won't send you home, you just won't be able to sit up near the glass!)  
   

3. Try to arrive at the facility at least 30 minutes before or 15 minutes after the start of a group to avoid confusion with respondents who will be waiting in the lobby area.  (The first group starts at 7:30a.m. – 15 minutes in advance is sufficient for this session.)
   

4. Familiarity with the discussion guide is important.  
   

5. Be alert to nonverbal as well as verbal responses to the groups.
   

6. Try to focus on the big picture, rather than the details.  A few, unusual things said by one or two respondents is not as important as the broad sense of what the discussion meant.
   

7. While the moderator will attempt to control a dominant respondent, in every group there tends to be a person who is more articulate and talkative than the others.  It is important to listen to all of the comments.  Additionally, while the shy or quiet respondent can often be drawn out, sometimes too much prodding from the moderator causes total withdrawal.  In those cases, it is best for the moderator to avoid pressuring the respondent to participate.
   

8. Remember, audio and videotapes of the groups are available.  It is not necessary to try to "get everything down on paper."  Focus on key thoughts that develop during the session.
   

9. Accept that focus groups are a dynamic, rather than static research technique.
   

10. Recognize that consensus among group participants is generally not going to happen. Consensus is not necessary in order for the output from focus groups to be useful.  It is extremely valuable to understand the differences of opinion about a particular topic.
    

11. Try not to draw any conclusions while listening to the group discussion.  Jumping to conclusions can lead to loss of objectivity throughout the remainder of the focus groups, especially if you are only observing one of the groups or one night out of a series of sessions.
    

12. Try to minimize observer talking during the group discussion.  Loud noises such as coughing, laughing, or bumping the glass mirror can be heard by the respondents and can also distract the moderator.
    

13. Keep in mind that the moderator is not there to instruct or educate respondents when they are unaware of a product, service or issue.  The idea is to find out how much or little the respondents know and/or get their reactions to a new product or service.
    

14. Have faith in the moderator, but do not be afraid to speak up, if appropriate. There is a planned break in the discussion guide during which questions can be addressed to the moderator.  Passing notes to the moderator while the focus groups are in progress is discouraged.
    

15. During the planned breaks, the moderator will check with the client for additional input.  Please assign one individual to be the “point person” and filter additional questions or comments for the moderator to that person.  During the session, the moderator will cue the backroom that a break is about to occur.  It is asked that the  “point person” meet the moderator in the hall outside of the client room to disseminate the information.

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