Once the focus group discussions have been transcribed, analysis can begin. Record the discussion on video for future reference. A new tool for qualitative research article pdf available in qualitative sociology 73. A great deal of the skepticism about the value of focus groups probably arises from the. During the focus groups, one author read focus group discussion guide questions, took notes, and ran the digital voice recorder. Effective focus group questions that spark discussion. Focus group discussion a focus group discussion fgd is a good way to gather together people from similar backgrounds or experiences to discuss a specific topic of interest.
A focus group is a focused discussion group that follows a structured questioning. More detailed information can be found in the reference section below. The analysis sequence continues after the focus group with an immediate debriefing with the moderator and assistant moderator. In virtually every focus group discussion fgd, participants. Focus groups can easily turn into patontheback sessions if you. How to conduct a focus group the grantsmanship center. Groups are usually composed of seven or eight people, selected purposively. Over the last five years there has been a gathering body of available help. Schedule the fgd at a time that is convenient for the group. Using a focus group discussion method, we collected data from 23 students. Introduction to conducting focus groups office for coastal. Focus groups are guided conversations among a number of customers or potential customers to help you learn about various aspects of your business, such as your marketing efforts, quality or customer service.
The moderator can bring any changes in order to better facilitate the discussion during the group discussion. In this chapter, i will focus on the importance of the focus group method, its history, and its benefits and pitfalls. Focus group discussion relies on facilitators or moderators to guide the groups discussion berg, 1989. The advantages of focus group discussion are as follows. Request for quotation for the provision of services for. If the discussion is well managed, it allows deepseated feelings on a subject to emerge naturally. In this case, the idea is to use a small number of exploratory groups, in an initial stage of the research, to guide the construction of the topics of the interview. Sample focus group questions for employee engagement poppulo.
Most of the studies n 144 used focus group discussions alongside other methods such as interviews n 117, surveys n 82, choice experiments n 6 and delphi technique n 1. A focus group discussion is a qualitative data collection method that engages 6 to 12. Implementation of mindfulness training for mental health. Generate and pretest an interview guide the interview guide sets the agenda for the focus group discussion by establishing the research questions to be addressed in the focus group. Insights from two decades of application in conservation article pdf available in methods in ecology and evolution 99. Terms of reference template department of education and. The participants were selected based on invitation by the researchers. Membership the network group advisory group will comprise.
In addition, jana has raised the possibility of something. Dia focus group summary page 1 focus group summary on february 5th, 2009, two focus groups were conducted by market perceptions, inc. Free and open discussion among the respondents results in generation of new ideas that can be very useful for decisionmaking. Jul 28, 2017 sample focus group questions for employee engagement tim vaughan in a recent blog focusing on the evolution of traditional companyemployee relationships, my colleague danielle hegarty, wrote about the crucial importance for companies to really listen to their employees. Serves as a comprehensive guide to focus group discussions, a qualitative research methodology that involves a focus on specific issues, with a predetermined group of people, participating in an interactive discussion. When respondents are relaxed, they will open up and talk more.
Part of the understanding qualitative research series. Focus groups are best carried out by a pair of evaluators, one to facilitate the group and the other to record responses, themes, enthusiasm, body language, mood of discussion etc. Best practices in research evaluation what is a focus group. Mpi on behalf of the denver international airport dia concessions program. Definition of a focus group focus group discussions fgds are defined as semi structured group discussions, which yield qualitative data on the community level by facilitating interaction between participants. What focus group discussions are and when to use them. Because focus groups are a variety of qualitative research, the following discussion examines qualitative analytic. Professor of sociology, emeritus north dakota state university fargo, nd 58105 contact information.
It helps students explore a diversity of perspectives. A facilitator poses the research questions to the group, which are often based on a prepared discussion guide. The primary benefit of using a focus group is that it levels the playing field of a demographic. As part of a dissertation research project, an online focus group was created in order to help determine questions and issues to be asked in depth interviews of distance learning students about their motives, barriers and enablers in their decision to enroll in. Focus group also gives insights into peoples shared understandings of everyday life, so that the researcher can find out why an issue is important, as well as what is important about it. Analyzing focus group data the analysis and interpretation of focus group data require a great deal of judgment and care, just as any other scientific approach, and regardless of whether the analysis relies on quantitative or qualitative procedures. The purpose of a focus group is to collect information about peoples opinions, beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, not to come to consensus or make a decision. Focus groups explicitly use group interaction as part of the method kitzinger 1995. Focus groups are a way to discover demographicrelevant information through an interactive group sessions that is run by a facilitator. Focus group discussions generally last from an hour and a half to two hours, longer than this and the discussion loses momentum sherraden, 2001. Introduction focus group discussion fgd involves gathering people from similar backgrounds or experiences together to discuss a specific. Focus group questions and analysis october 23, 2007 kathleen slobin, ph. Much of the work presented here is taken from two sources.
Important skills that a group moderator should possess 3. When used as a survey method, the focus group approach presents various pros, strengths and benefits, as well as cons, weaknesses and drawbacks. The products themselves, and the ideas and concepts regarding its manufacture, marketing, use, and the discussions here represent confidential information. A typical focus group session will last between one and two hours. Discussion guides designed to aid the facilitator during focus group sessions were prepared. The name of network group committee sets out to achieve what outcomes. Based on classical grounded theory analysis, we found that peertopeer cooperative learning pcl has several advantages.
Chapter 6 analyzing focus group results 141 participants, and that a short verbal summary at the conclusion of the discussion allows for verification. Focus group discussion guidelines focus group discussions, or fgds are a qualitative research method. Focus groups where facilitated by a psychiatrist and a research coordinator. The pros and cons of focus groups show that there can be a lot of valuable information gathered from this type of survey method. Facilitators and moderators can change their questionnaire at will to suit the focus group better, which will usually result in more fruitful discussions. Focus group summary report capuchin communications. Focus groups can help guide marketers in providing better goods and services. The difference between quality data and data with bias depends on how people are screened and the data is treated. Your job is to group them by what looks and feels alike.
Larger or combined categories leaders may wish to combine categories to form. This qualitative research technique was originally developed to give marketing researchers a better understanding of the data from. Focus group discussion conclusions blora district, central java november 2009 laura paler columbia university 1 main points there is a high demand for better government in blora, but ordinary citizens do not feel empowered to bring about change. In the second phase, the focus group discussion is then conducted. Focus group discussions a stepbystep guide annette gerritsen. The term focus group was created by ernest dichter, a famous market expert and psychologist. This paper uses the definition of focus group as a controlled group discussion, on the basis that the group interaction generated through discussion is of prior importance to this methodology. The goal of todays meeting is to understand if the internal communications and news you currently receive is effective, relevant and valuable to you. Some of the focus groups advantages are as follows. Planning the focus group study of three phases of focus group interviews researcher must understand the purpose of the study, the problem definition, and specific data requirements key decisions are who the appropriate participants will be, how to select and recruit participants, how many focus groups will be conducted, and where. Everyone should participate and have a voice in the discussion. In a brief time the moderator must create a thoughtful, permissive atmosphere, provide ground rules. A focus group gathers together people from similar backgrounds or experiences to discuss a specific topic of interest, guided by a moderator who introduces. Th ese techniques are commonly used in policy research and are applicable to many research questions.
Research suggests that group discussion can cause participant attitudes to. Socioeconomic differences, educational levels, and other distinguishing characteristics that could potentially skew the data are removed because everyone becomes an equal contributor to the group. The moderator is an independent third party who is engaged by the company to do this research. The focus group discussion fgd is a rapid assessment, semi. Academics were grouped in three categories, according to age and involvement in research. Focus group discussions helped identify the broad thematic areas and the issues which should be researched. Semistructured interviews and focus groups margaret c. Group a, below 30, group b between 30 and 50 with two subgroups, b1 with little involvement. Below are summary statistics about the participants. The question section is where you ask the questions that you designed and tested in step 4 3. Depending on the research objective, the focus group can be used alone or in conjunction with other methods. Focus groups can vary in size, but many experts suggest the group should optimally consist of 10 to 12 people. All participants were asked questions pertaining to their transportation usage. Chapter 6 examines a variety of additional possibilities that go beyond the basic format.
For each of the prioritized root causes in process b, the group will be asked to recommend or suggest doable solutions or actions to resolveaddress these core problems. Instead, i find it more useful to think that the degree of formal structure in a focus group is a decision that the research makes according to the specific purposes of the research project. This is because there is no designated leader in the group and the discussions are made natural. During an fgd, a researcher and assistant facilitates a discussion with a small group of people using predetermined questions. The discussion provided a framework for preparation of a detailed questionnaire to be used for ascertaining stakeholders perceptions about the industry and to solicit their comments and suggestions. Focus group summary report the provincial council elected in the 2014. I discuss both of these design strategies in my book, focus groups as qualitative research, sage 1996. Focus groups procedural guide this overview of procedures used in developing and implementing a focus group are just that an overview. What are the advantages and disadvantages of focus group. The opening is the time for the facilitator to welcome the group, introduce the purpose and context of the focus group, explain what a focus group is and how it will flow, and make the introductions.
Such a roundtable discussion becomes a focus group only if two more criteria are met. As the project manager and facilitator of a focus group, your job is to fully engage the members to get their honest feedback. It helps students recognize and investigate their assumptions. Merton, a sociologist and the associate director of the bureau of applied social research headed the first focus groups in the united states. Focus groups should bring together 5 to 12 participants selected to represent the target audience, or specific segments thereof. Instead of a traditional survey which offers specific question and answer options, the focus group allows participants to speak freely about the ideas presented and offer their opinions in a way that supports what the survey is attempting to discover. Aug 29, 2010 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, a service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging henderson, naomi r. As long as the disadvantages are equally weighed with the advantages that focus groups provide, the.
The ideas and the opinions flow freely without any rules and the regulations to follow. Focus group participants should be characterized by homogeneity, but with sufficient variation to allow for contrasting opinions. Characteristics of focus group discussions your business. How to develop a 360 view of your target audience council of community clinics. Bradley th is course provides an overview of two types of qualitative data collection methodologies. The structure of focus group was similar with that of indepth interviews. A focus group discussion is a structured discussion used to obtain indepth information qualitative data insight from a group of people about a particular topic.
More people will attend, and they will be more focussed on the discussion if they dont schedule several fgds for a representation of views if the geographic scope of the research is wide. Homogeneity is most often sought in terms of occupation, social class, educational level, age, education, or family characteristics, and gender unless interaction across these groups is what is driving the study. The discussions in the focus groups can be kept under control. The focus group fg has been actually employed by marketing, and is becoming importanct also in other areas. Today researchers have a variety of choices in analyzing focus group data, and these generally fall into two basic categories. The first few moments in focus group discussion are critical. It increases students awareness of and tolerance for ambiguity or complexity. If it is the first meeting of a group you will need to establish a baseline of evidence you want to know about past experiences and about the group s current experience of it facilities and services, and how such use has affected them. Focus group interviews are a qualitative research method that consist of a carefully designed discussion which allows people to express their points of view in a group setting and provide researchers with indicators of program impact. The purpose of the focus group is to gather evidence of the impact of librarybased it services over time. Term this terms of reference is effective from insert start date and continues until the insert expected date of completion of the networkwill be ongoing until terminated by agreement between the parties. Ensure everyone at the table has a turn including the reticent ones.
Questions should be designed to solicit the views of participants regarding specific issues. Communicate how information obtained during the focus groupcommunity discussion will be used. The aim is to gain insight into a groups attitudes, enablers and barriers to behaviour. Qualitative data was collected through conducting three semistructured focus groups and one by request oneonone interview. There are only a few basic rules to keep in mind while participating today. Heong the focus group discussion fgd is a rapid assessment, semi. Dos and donts of a positive focus group experience 5. At this time, the moderator makes a quick check to ensure. Disclosure agreement thank you for agreeing to participate in a focus group to discuss new products that are in the early stages of development. According to the society for human resource management shrm, the key to question design is specificity. Focus group discussion overseas development institute. It typically consists of a facilitator who runs the group, sometimes a cofacilitator or note taker, and 6 to 10 participants.
As with any research study, the first stage in conducting a quality focus group is to. How do you best combine focus groups and individual interviews in. The discussion provided a framework for preparation of a detailed questionnaire to be used for ascertaining stakeholders perceptions about the industry and. Focus group discussion guide set 3 variables, questions and. Focus group interviews nurture different perceptions and points of view and are used to gather. What a focus group most certainly shouldnt be is a group chat without direction or it will quickly disintegrate into a pointless mess. Focus group discussion is frequently used as a qualitative approach to gain an indepth understanding of social issues. For people to be engaged they first need to feel relaxed and comfortable in their surroundings. Focus group discussion guide set 3 variables, questions and summary tables for resource threats, perceptions on. Early signs of revulsion and disinterest can allow a facilitator to guide the discussion in important directions. Finally, in the last phase, the data are analysed and a summary of data was produced to properly reflect the respondents discussion accurately. Depending on the research objective, the focus groupcan be. The findings cannot be projected and the results dependent upon interaction. Common in evaluation, communication and market research, they are a useful tool to assess the target audiences knowledge and attitudes towards the campaign issue, or towards the campaign materials and messages e.
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