CHARACTERISTICS OF FOCUS GROUPS

1. Consist of Small Groups of People: Focus groups always consist of small groups of people who can fit around a table so that each person can join the discussion and make a valuable contribution. It’s always advisable to keep a small group of people so as to make them comfortable and to foster active discussion and engagement.

2. Use Open-ended Questions: During Focus groups, it’s always advisable to let participants know there’s no right or wrong answer, all responses should be duly appreciated. Don’t ask questions that provide only “yes” or “no” answers. As your participants might give you new and valuable information you weren’t seeking.

3. Always Use Participants Name: This will prevent anyone from dominating focus group discussions and to bring shy participants into the meeting.

WHEN TO USE FOCUS GROUP AS A DATA COLLECTION METHOD

If you are reading this blog post, you will probably be curious about when a focus group is an appropriate research method. Focus groups research can be used in various areas such as market research, social research, counselling, and health care assessment. 

 

Researchers use a focus group method to obtain in-depth knowledge concerning attitudes, perceptions, beliefs and opinions of individuals (Then, Rankin, & Ali 2014). A Focus group could be used at the start of research to gather hypotheses for study before starting the primary research. 

 

Focus groups are an essential companion to surveys (Elliot, 2005). One limitation of using the focus group method is that it uses a small number of participants to represent a broader public, so using a questionnaire would give better comprehension. This method would provide both an in-depth understanding and also statistical results. Generally, a focus group method is used when the researcher or research requires an in-depth insight.

HOW TO CONDUCT A FOCUS GROUP 

STEP 1: PLAN YOUR FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS

You are conducting this focus group research because you have a problem you are trying to solve or questions you are trying to answer. You will need to formulate the questions to ask the participants. Questions asked should be tailored around the problem you are trying to solve.

These questions would serve as a guide and give the interview a defined direction. They are not usually set in stone, so feel free to ask follow-up questions if clarification is needed, and it would help make findings more straightforward. 

According to (Then, Rankin, & Ali 2014), there are three stages in which focus group questions are developed; Engagement, Exploration and Exit problems. 

Engagement Questions are easy questions posed early on to introduce the participants to each other to make them more at ease and familiarize them with the topic. 

Exploration Questions. Once participants have begun to relax and open up in the group, the moderator asks deeper, probing questions about the topic and how they feel about it. These might include, "What makes you say that?" "and "What would be a better solution?"

Exit Questions. After the moderator is confident the group has shared all that it can, wrap-up questions are posed to confirm that everything has been said. These might include, "Is there anything I haven't asked that I should have?"

Rules to Follow when Formulating Focus Group Questions 

•  Avoid yes or no questions to allow participants to express themselves.
• Questions should be simple to understand and answer.
• Keep it neutral. How the question is formed should not influence the answer. 

STEP 2: DECIDE ON PARTICIPANTS 

This step involves deciding the participants representing the population you are researching to find answers. This is basically your population sample.  Population sampling is crucial in focus group research. Unlike the qualitative method where research relies on statistics, a focus group is a quantitative approach that depends on the quality of response. Therefore, it is vital to carefully reduce your population sample to a manageable and practical size. 

Do not forget that purpose drives the study. When you decide on your participants, think about what you want to find out from the research. This would guide you to know what group would provide the best answer to your questions and, most importantly, give the validity of your findings.

Homogeneity is vital in focus group research. Group members in a focus group must have similarities such as demography, job, etc. If the study aims to find differing views or carry out a comparative analysis, it is necessary to conduct a series of focus groups. However, members of the same group must have similar traits. 

If you do not choose the right participants, your research would be rendered unreliable.

STEP 3: RECRUIT PARTICIPANTS

Now you know what characteristics you want your participants to have, and how do you find willing participants for your focus group? You would be surprised how stressful it could be to gather participants for your focus group.

Recruiting participants depends on the characteristics of the participants you are looking for, and let's not forget your budget. 

Here are some ways to recruit participants; 

According to Elliot (2005), here are some criteria for recruiting participants.

• Nomination could be used when the key individuals nominate people they think would make the right participants. Nominees are familiar with the topic, known for their ability to respectfully share their opinions, and willing to volunteer about 2 hours of their time. 
• Random selection works if participants come from a large but defined group (e.g. an entire high school) with many eager participants, names can be randomly drawn from a hat until the desired number of verified participants is achieved. 
• Sometimes, an already existing group serves as an ideal pool from which to invite participants (e.g. Kiwanis Club, PTO, Chamber of Commerce). 
• Depending on the topic, the pool might be defined by position, title or condition (e.g., young MBAs, old writers, community health nurses, parents of teenage boys).
• Hire a focus group facility or independent recruiter- There are commercial research firms that specialize in screening and finding participants.
• Get help from a university marketing research or advertising class if they know and experience focus group research. 
• Work through gatekeepers such as teachers (for students), health care systems (for patients, physicians or nurses), or instructors of English as a Second Language course (for recent immigrants). 
• Volunteers are also used when selection criteria are broad, participants can be recruited with flyers and newspapers.

FOCUS GROUPS INCENTIVES

Recruiting participants is one thing but getting them to show up is another. Showing up for interviews and discussion to talk openly to strangers takes a lot, so participants need to be encouraged to leave or rearrange their busy schedules.

Incentives are a great way to get participants to show up. It is not a bribe or a reward. Participants are more likely to attend the discussion if they know they would get something out of it. Incentives could be monetary or non-monetary. Financial incentives are offered in money, while non- monetary incentives are in the form of coupons, catered lunch, gift cards, etc.

STEP 4: MODERATING THE FOCUS GROUP

One attribute of a focus group is that it is led by a moderator, not an interview or debate. 

It is the moderator's job to make sure participants feel at ease, and that is when engagement questions come in.  It is essential to make participants feel at ease before diving deep into the day's central questions.

These are steps to follow when moderating a focus group (Boughton, 2016)

•  Develop and Interview Schedule- Organise the order in which the discussion will go. 
•  Fill Out Confidentiality and Consent Form- This is a crucial step as it shows that all participants are attending the focus group willingly.
• Record the Focus Group- This will give you something to refer back to. Let the participants know that the discussion will be recorded.
• Create A Relaxed Environment- Make participants feel comfortable. The method of discussion for a focus group should be relaxed. When participants are settled, they are more likely to actively participate and provide honest responses. For example, let participants introduce themselves or the same something interesting about themselves. This should break the ice.
• Establish the Rules at The Start- Include housekeeping rules that should be followed. For example, participants should not talk over each other, phones should be turned off, letting them know that the session will be recorded (this should be communicated to the participants before the focus group).
• Moderate Without Actually Participating- The job of the moderator is to guide the interview. A moderator should not dominate the discussion.

 STEP 5: ANALYZE AND REPORTING FOCUS GROUP DATA

After getting the right data for the research, it is time to study the data. Like other research methods, data from a focus group must be critically and carefully analyzed. Analyzing the data would mean going back to the videos recorded during the focus group.

Here is a process to follow when analyzing focus group data

•   Transcribe all of the focus group comments.
•  If you do more than one focus group, rearrange the comments to have answers together for each interview protocol question.
• For each question, note the main ideas that occur in the answers.
• Review the main ideas to identify ideas that occur again and again. Note that sometimes the same basic idea occurs in answers to multiple questions.
• Perform critical thinking about these main recurring ideas to identify themes. Sometimes a theme may include more than one main idea.
• Identify quotations that illustrate each theme.
• Write your "findings" in an engaging narrative to describe the themes and include the quotations.
• In your "discussion" section, show how your study's themes are similar to, or different from, related previous studies and use the literature to explain the "why" behind the themes.

When reporting your findings, it is important to provide as much detail as possible on the sample population and how they were accessed to show that members of the target population had equally good chances of hearing about the work and participating in it. As you interpret your results make sure all data got answers to your research questions.

These are the steps you can follow to help you conduct a focus group. Remember that the moderator is not supposed to be actively involved in the discussions to avoid bias.