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- Focus groups are primarily considered a confirmatory research technique. In other words, their discussion-heavy setting is most useful for confirming or refuting preexisting beliefs. For this reason, they are great for conducting explanatory research, where you explore why something occurs when limited information is available.
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What is a focus group in qualitative research?
- Clarify the Focus Group’s Purpose and Orientation. Clarify the purpose and orientation of the focus group (Tracy, 2013). Carefully consider whether a focus group or individual interviews will provide the type of qualitative data needed to address your research questions.
- Select a Homogeneous Grouping Characteristic. Select a homogeneous grouping characteristic (Krueger & Casey, 2009) to recruit participants with a commonality, like shared roles, experiences, or demographics, to enable meaningful discussion.
- Designate a Moderator. Designate a skilled, neutral moderator (Crowe, 2003; Morgan, 1997) to steer productive dialogue given their expertise in guiding group interactions.
- Develop a Focus Group Guide. Develop an extensive focus group guide (Krueger & Casey, 2009). Include an introduction to set a relaxed tone, explain the study rationale, review confidentiality protection procedures, and facilitate a participant introduction activity.
Focus groups are a valuable research tool that offers a unique opportunity to delve into the complex, qualitative aspects of a research topic. However, they also come with their set of limitations, particularly in terms of generalizability and the potential for moderator influence.
- What Is A Focus Group?
- Step 1: Choose Your Topic of Interest
- Step 2: Define Your Research Scope and Hypotheses
- Step 3: Determine Your Focus Group Questions
- Step 4: Select A Moderator Or Co-Moderator
- Step 5: Recruit Your Participants
- Step 6: Set Up Your Focus Group
- Step 7: Host Your Focus Group
- Step 8: Analyze Your Data and Report Your Results
- Other Interesting Articles
Focus groups are a type of qualitative research. Observations of the group’s dynamic, their answers to focus group questions, and even their body language can guide future research on consumer decisions, products and services, or controversial topics. Focus groups are often used in marketing, library science, social science, and user research disci...
Focus groups are primarily considered a confirmatory research technique. In other words, their discussion-heavy setting is most useful for confirming or refuting preexisting beliefs. For this reason, they are great for conducting explanatory research, where you explore why something occurs when limited information is available. A focus group may be...
Once you have determined that a focus group is the right choice for your topic, you can start thinking about what you expect the group discussion to yield. Perhaps literature already exists on your subject or a sufficiently similar topic that you can use as a starting point. If the topic isn’t well studied, use your instincts to determine what you ...
The questions that you ask your focus group are crucially important to your analysis. Take your time formulating them, paying special attention to phrasing. Be careful to avoid leading questions, which can affectyour responses. Overall, your focus group questions should be: 1. Open-ended and flexible 2. Impossible to answer with “yes” or “no” (ques...
It is important to have more than one moderator in the room. If you would like to take the lead asking questions, select a co-moderator who can coordinate the technology, take notes, and observe the behavior of the participants. If your hypotheses have behavioral aspects, consider asking someone else to be lead moderator so that you are free to tak...
Depending on your research topic, there are a few sampling methodsyou can choose from to help you recruit and select participants. 1. Voluntary response sampling, such as posting a flyer on campus and finding participants based on responses 2. Convenience sampling of those who are most readily accessible to you, such as fellow students at your univ...
A focus group is not just a group of people coming together to discuss their opinions. While well-run focus groups have an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere, they are backed up by rigorous methods to provide robust observations.
Consider conducting a tech check prior to the arrival of your participants, and note any environmental or external factors that could affect the mood of the group that day. Be sure that you are organized and ready, as a stressful atmosphere can be distracting and counterproductive.
After concluding your focus group, you and your co-moderator should debrief, recording initial impressions of the discussion as well as any highlights, issues, or immediate conclusions you’ve drawn. The next step is to transcribe and clean your data. Assign each participant a number or pseudonym for organizational purposes. Transcribe the recording...
If you want to know more about statistics, methodology, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.
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Focus groups are a type of qualitative research that bring together a small group of people representing a target audience. In a conversation usually guided by a moderator, this group will discuss a specific topic, products, services or concepts in a controlled environment.
A focus group is a research or evaluation method that brings together a group of people to answer questions in a moderated setting. The dynamics of the group, and how the participants interact, provide additional useful information.
Focus groups are useful for developing ideas because the group can explore and reflect on things together. For example, if you're developing an information pack for people who have depression, it might be a good idea to hold a series of focus groups in different geographical areas, across a range of communities.
Focus groups are one of the most effective and popular market research methods available. Used to gather qualitative data and in-depth insights, they enable researchers to collect information on anything from products and services to beliefs and perceptions in order to reveal true customer attitudes and opinions.
