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From Focus Group

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		+	Implementation Strategies:
		+	- Prepared Questions before hand
		+	- Have one or two people facilitating rather then 5 (or at the time 6) facilitating
		+	- Have people who are engaged in the topic of focus and not there because they had to be there
	== Videos ==		== Videos ==

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Revision as of 23:21, 24 November 2011

Focus Groups

Contents 1 Definition 2 Types of Focus Groups 3 History of Focus Groups 4 Theory Behind It 5 When Should it Be Used 6 Videos 7 Strengths 8 Limitations 9 External Links 10 Authors 11 Notes and References

Definition

A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes 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.

Types of Focus Groups

Two-way focus group - one focus group watches another focus group and discusses the observed interactions and conclusion

Dual moderator focus group - one moderator ensures the session progresses smoothly, while another ensures that all the topics are covered

Dueling moderator focus group - two moderators deliberately take opposite sides on the issue under discussion

Respondent moderator focus group - one and only one of the respondents are asked to act as the moderator temporarily

Client participant focus groups - one or more client representatives participate in the discussion, either covertly or overtly

Mini focus groups - groups are composed of four or five members rather than 6 to 12

Teleconference focus groups - telephone network is used

Online focus groups - computers connected via the internet are used

History of Focus Groups

Early Works The earliest work was carried out primary by the social sciences. Emory Bogardus and Walter Thurstone used various interviews to survey people to find out about their social lives (Brissett & Edgley, 1990).

During WWII (1970’s)

Focus groups were used for marketing schemes (Unknown, 2004; Edmunds, 1999 & Morgan, 1998). Robert K. Merton and started the group interviews for the development of propaganda materials at the home front (Edmunds, 1999 & Morgan, 1998). The manipulated people into working the home front during the war (Morgan, 1998). Their first focus group went quite well although the questions were quite leading. The term focus groups itself was coined by psychologist and marketing expert Ernest Dichter (Unknown, 2004).

Theory Behind It

Focus groups are a way of listening to people and learning from them. It is used as a communication line from the moderator to the participant and participant to participant. It is not a passive process it is the desire is to listen and learn. It is your responsibility as a moderator to decide what is relevant and irrelevant. “It is YOUR focus, but it is THEIR group" (Morgan, 1998).

Community Reasons of using a Focus Group

Focus group are great to use in a community setting because it can help address the communities concerns in a organized meeting style. Focus groups also relate to different social groups and develops the communities research (Morgan, 1998).

When Should it Be Used

Focus groups can be used in marketing, usability engineering, and social sciences and urban planning. Urban planning focuses on obtaining feedback regarding new products and various topics about what the consumers want. In usability engineering focus groups are used to collect views on a software or website. Social sciences and Urban planning focus groups allow the individuals conducting the focus groups to interview the participants in the study in a more natural setting rather than a one-to-one interview. Social sciences and urban planning is the one most commonly used for community development processes. It allows the researchers to gain access on various cultures and social groups to determine what they want.

Three Examples in Community/Group settings:

1. A Community-Based Hip-Hop Dance Program for Youth in a Disadvantaged Community in Ottawa: Implementation Findings

2. Community participation in riverfront development.

3. Evaluating an online occupational therapy community of practice and its role in supporting occupational therapy practice.

REFERENCES! Beaulac, J., Olavarria, M., & Kristjansson, E. (2010). A Community-Based Hip-Hop Dance Program for Youth in a Disadvantaged Community in Ottawa: Implementation Findings. Health Promotion Practice, 11(3S), 61S-69S.

Hoffmann, T., Desha, L., & Verrall, K. (2011). Evaluating an online occupational therapy community of practice and its role in supporting occupational therapy practice. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 58(5), 337-345.

Sanoff, H. (2005). Community participation in riverfront development. Codesign, 1(1), 61-78.

How to plan: Invite around 6 to 8 people to participate for a session to last for about an hour. Then, prepare an agenda including a list of the top-level issues to be tackled (if appropriate). Prepare an introduction script explaining the purpose of the day and how the day will be run. This can include issues of consent and fire regulations (if relevant). Be sure to always use a quiet room with few distractions and arrange people in a circle (possibly around a table).

Preparing for the Session Identify the major objective of the meeting. Carefully develop five to six questions (see below). Plan your session (see below). Call potential members to invite them to the meeting. Send them a follow-up invitation with a proposed agenda, session time and list of questions the group will discuss. Plan to provide a copy of the report from the session to each member and let them know you will do this. About three days before the session, call each member to remind them to attend.

Developing Questions Develop five to six questions - Session should last one to 1.5 hours -- in this time, one can ask at most five or six questions. Always first ask yourself what problem or need will be addressed by the information gathered during the session, e.g., examine if a new service or idea will work, further understand how a program is failing, etc. Focus groups are basically multiple interviews. Therefore, many of the same guidelines for conducting focus groups are similar to conducting interviews (see the Basics of Conducting Interviews).

Planning the Session Scheduling - Plan meetings to be one to 1.5 hours long. Over lunch seems to be a very good time for other to find time to attend. Setting and Refreshments - Hold sessions in a conference room, or other setting with adequate air flow and lighting. Configure chairs so that all members can see each other. Provide name tags for members, as well. Provide refreshments, especially box lunches if the session is held over lunch. Ground Rules - It's critical that all members participate as much as possible, yet the session move along while generating useful information. Because the session is often a one-time occurrence, it's useful to have a few, short ground rules that sustain participation, yet do so with focus. Consider the following three ground rules: a) keep focused, b) maintain momentum and c) get closure on questions. Agenda - Consider the following agenda: welcome, review of agenda, review of goal of the meeting, review of ground rules, introductions, questions and answers, wrap up. Membership - Focus groups are usually conducted with 6-10 members who have some similar nature, e.g., similar age group, status in a program, etc. Select members who are likely to be participative and reflective. Attempt to select members who don't know each other. Plan to record the session with either an audio or audio-video recorder. Don't count on your memory. If this isn't practical, involve a co-facilitator who is there to take notes.

How to Run: If appropriate, ask the participants to introduce themselves and/or wear name tags. Most importantly, all questions you ask should be open and neutral. It's also important for the moderator to be aware of participants' energy and concentration levels and provide short breaks if necessary. The moderator should encourage free-flowing discussion around the relevant issue(s). Other tips for running focus groups include: Start on an issue people have strong feelings about and are familiar with Phrase issues in terms people will be familiar with Let participants know their contributions are valuable (both through what you say and also your body language) It's also important that the moderator realises that: It may be necessary for them to step in and keep the session on-track Disagreements and debates are useful when they lead to new and interesting ideas, but have to be managed carefully Issues of power and privacy need to be managed sensitively Focus groups should end with the moderator winding-up the session by stressing all that has achieved and casting it in a positive light.

Facilitating the Session Major goal of facilitation is collecting useful information to meet goal of meeting. Introduce yourself and the co-facilitator, if used. Explain the means to record the session. Carry out the agenda - (See "agenda" above). Carefully word each question before that question is addressed by the group. Allow the group a few minutes for each member to carefully record their answers. Then, facilitate discussion around the answers to each question, one at a time. After each question is answered, carefully reflect back a summary of what you heard (the note taker may do this). Ensure even participation. If one or two people are dominating the meeting, then call on others. Consider using a round- table approach, including going in one direction around the table, giving each person a minute to answer the question. If the domination persists, note it to the group and ask for ideas about how the participation can be increased. Closing the session - Tell members that they will receive a copy of the report generated from their answers, thank them for coming, and adjourn the meeting.

Immediately After Session Verify if the tape recorder, if used, worked throughout the session. Make any notes on your written notes, e.g., to clarify any scratching, ensure pages are numbered, fill out any notes that don't make senses, eta. Write down any observations made during the session. For example, where did the session occur and when, what was the nature of participation in the group? Were there any surprises during the session? Did the tape recorder break?

[1]

Implementation Strategies: - Prepared Questions before hand - Have one or two people facilitating rather then 5 (or at the time 6) facilitating - Have people who are engaged in the topic of focus and not there because they had to be there

Videos

Cell Phones:

Commercial:

Mountain Dew:

Dodge Caliber:

Starbucks:

Phone:

Strengths

1. Focus groups provide data from a group of people much more quickly and often at less cost than would be the case if each individual were interviewed separately. They can also be assembled on much shorter notice than would be required for a more systematic and larger survey. In marketing studies, focus group data analysis often begins immediately after a session ends, yielding preliminary findings quickly (Stewart, Shamdasani & Rook, 2007).

2. Focus groups allow the researcher to interact directly with respondents. This provides opportunities for the clarification of responses, for following-up questions, and for the probing of responses. Respondents can qualify responses or give contingent answers to questions. In addition, it is possible for the researcher to observe nonverbal responses such as gestures, smiles, frowns, and so forth, which may carry information that supplements and on occasion even contradicts the verbal response (Stewart, Shamdasani & Rook, 2007).

3. The open response format of a focus group provides an opportunity to obtain large and rich amounts of data in the respondents’ own words. The researcher can obtain deeper levels of meaning, make important connections, and identify subtle nuances in expression and meaning (Stewart, Shamdasani & Rook, 2007).

4. Focus groups allow respondents to react to and build on the responses of other group members. This synergistic effect of the group setting may result in the production of data or ideas that might not have been uncovered in individual interviews. Differences of opinion among group members also help researchers identify how and why individuals embrace or reject particular ideas, communications, or products (Stewart, Shamdasani & Rook, 2007).

5. Focus groups are very flexible. They can be used to examine a wide range of topics with a variety of individuals and in a variety of settings (Stewart, Shamdasani & Rook, 2007).

6. Focus groups may be one of the few research tools available for obtaining data from children or from individuals who are not particularly literate (Stewart, Shamdasani & Rook, 2007).

7. The results of a focus group are extremely user friendly and easy to understand. Researchers and decision makers can readily understand the verbal responses of most respondents. This is not always the case with more sophisticated survey research that employs complex statistical analysts (Stewart, Shamdasani & Rook, 2007).

Qualitative Research: Introducing focus groups By: Jenny Kitzinger BMJ 1995; 311 doi:10.1136/bmj.311.7000.299 (Published 29 July 1995)Cite this as: BMJ 1995; 311:299

Tapping into such interpersonal communication is also important because this can highlight (sub) cultural values or group norms. Through analyzing the operation of humour, consensus, and dissent and examining different types of narrative used within the group, the researcher can identify shared and common knowledge. This makes focus groups a data collection technique particularly sensitive to cultural variables—which is why it is so often used in cross cultural research and work with ethnic minorities. It also makes them useful in studies examining why different sections of the population make differential use of health services. For similar reasons focus groups are useful for studying dominant cultural values (for example, exposing dominant narratives about sexuality15) and for examining work place cultures—the ways in which, for example, staff cope with working with terminally ill patients or deal with the stresses of an accident and emergency department.

Focus Groups By: Anita Gibbs Department of Social Medicine at Bristol University March 1997. -Another benefit is that focus groups elicit information in a way which allows researchers to find out why an issue is salient, as well as what is salient about it (Morgan 1988). As a result, the gap between what people say and what they do can be better understood (Lankshear 1993). If multiple understandings and meanings are revealed by participants, multiple explanations of their behaviour and attitudes will be more readily articulated.The benefits to participants of focus group research should not be underestimated. The opportunity to be involved in decision making processes (Race et al 1994), to be valued as experts, and to be given the chance to work collaboratively with researchers (Goss & Leinbach 1996) can be empowering for many participants. If a group works well, trust develops and the group may explore solutions to a particular problem as a unit (Kitzinger 1995), rather than as individuals.

International Journal of Quality in Health Care Focus Groups By: RICHARD A. POWELL and HELEN M.SINGLE Vol. 8, No 5, pp 499-504 1996

A focus group is especially useful when:

- Existing knowledge of a subject is inadequate and elaboration of pertinent issues or the generation of new hypotheses is necessary before a relevant and valid questionnaire can be constructed or an existing one enhanced

- A the subject under investigation is complex and concurrent use of additional data collection methods is required to ensure validity

- The subject under investigation is complex and comprises a number of variables. A focus group enables the researcher to concentrate time and resources on the study's most pertinent variables

- The results of a quantitative survey are ambiguous or misleading and statistical associations require clarification, elaboration or "salvaging". In this respect, a focus group can be employed prior to, concurrently with, or after a quantitative study, or separately to explore complex phenomena not amenable to qualitative research.

Focus groups as qualitative research By David L. Morgan Qualitative research Methods Series 16, Sage Publications Inc. 1997 California USA

The strengths of relying on the researcher’s focus is the ability to produce concentrated amounts of data on precisely the topic of interest. This strength was clear in comparison to participant observation because focus groups not only five access to the reports on a wide range of topics that may not be observable but also ensure that the data will be directly targeted to the researcher’s interests. This strength is one source of focus groups’ reputation for being “quick and easy.”

Limitations

-Limitations can arise when conducting a focus group for a variety of reasons.

-Strong opinions an like wise opinionated individuals often overshadow the opinions of others,Individuals participating in focus groups should not have pre-existing relationships; they should not know each other as this can affect their willingness to share their thoughts and opinions in some cases. Individual interaction is also beneficial to obtain participant perspective which may not occur in focus group settings due to numbers of participants^[1]

-Naturally occurring groups (employees at the same company) or those gathered together specifically for the focus group study each pose unique challenges as you cannot predict participant actions, similarly the quality of information retrieved is dependent of participant behavior. Confidentiality is difficult to maintain due to open discussion format and the fact that videotaping the focus group is the most effective way to document the information collected.The focus group is a verbal discussion and can limit or affect participation for individuals with speech or hearing impairments/barriers. Focus group studies provide a large amount of information which in turn must be carefully documented and transcribed which is time consuming for the researcher.Participants must be carefully chosen to obtain suitable information e.g. women focus group for high heels ^[2]

External Links

Authors

-Sarah Bell

-Krista Butters

-Heather Finn

-Kayleigh Howell

-Joel Whitty

Notes and References

1. ↑ Raby, R. (2010) Public delves inequality and interpretation: The creation of meaning in focus groups and teens. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 9(1) 1-15.
2. ↑ Kitzinger, J. (1995). Introducing focus groups. British Medical Journal,311 299-302.

Brissett, D. & Edgley, C. (1990). Life as Theater: A Dramaturgical Source Book. Second edition. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

Berg, Bruce L.(2004). Qualitative Research Methods: For the Social Sciences. Fifth edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Edmunds, H. (1999). The Focus Research Handbook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc. USA

Morgan, D. (1998). The focus group guidebook. Thousand Oaks, Ca. Library of congress cataloguing-in-publication date: Sage Publications Inc. USA.

Kitzinger, J. (1995). Introducing focus groups. British Medical Journal,311 299-302.

Raby, R. (2010) Public delves inequality and interpretation: The creation of meaning in focus groups and teens. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 9(1) 1-15.

Morgan, D. (1997) Focus groups as qualitative research. Qualitative research Methods Series 16. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc. USA

Gibbs, A. (1997). Focus Groups.

Powell, R. & Single, H. (1996). International Journal of Quality in Health Care Focus Groups 8(5)499-504

Kitzinger , J. (1995). Qualitative Research: Introducing focus groups doi:10.1136/bmj.311.7000.299

Stewart,D., Shamdasani, P. & Rook, D. (2007). Focus groups: theory and practice‬. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc. USA Volume 20 pages, 42-43