Focus Groups A Practical How To Session

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Focus GroupsA Practical How To Session
CCCSE Workshop May 26, 2009
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Why focus groups? Digging beneath the numbers
Initiative on Student Success
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• CCCSE Starting Right Initiative
• Quantitative Qualitative Information
• 2002 - 2006 CCSSE Focus groups
• 2007 - 2011 SENSE Focus Groups
• 2009-10 Three colleges and two high schools in
  Houston area longitudinal study
• 2010-2011 Three colleges in different locations
  around the country longitudinal study

Initiative on Student Success
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• Findings CCSSE Focus Groups
• Five CCSSE Benchmarks
• Active and Collaborative Learning
• Academic Challenge
• Student-Faculty Interaction
• Student Effort
• Support for Learners

Initiative on Student Success
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• CCSSE Findings In the Classroom
• Student-Faculty Interaction
• Discussed grades or assignments with an
  instructor
• Active and Collaborative Learning
• Asked questions in class or contributed to class
  discussions
• Academic Challenge
• Worked harder than you thought you could to meet
  an instructors standards or expectations
• Percent of students responding often or very
  often Source 2008 CCSSE
  Cohort Data

46
64
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Initiative on Student Success
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• Focus Group Findings

A Good Class
Video not available
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• Focus Group Findings

A Not-so-good Class
Video not available
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SENSE Findings Academic Preparedness 89 agree
strongly or somewhat that they are prepared
academically to succeed in college. yet
More than 75 of survey respondents indicated
that they placed into at least one developmental
course math, reading, or writing. Source 2008
SENSE Cohort Data
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• From Starting Right Focus Groups

Video not available
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• From Starting Right Focus Groups

Video not available
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Focus Group Toolkit
http//www.ccsse.org/publications/focusgroups.cfm
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Focus Group Toolkit

• Planning Focus Groups
• Selecting a Moderator and Note-taker
• Coordinator Responsibilities
• Coordinator Checklist
• Room Set-Up
• Videotaping Guidelines
• Consent Forms
• Recruiting Focus Group Participants
• Selecting Participants
• Invitation Letters Postcard

• Discussion Tools
• Moderator DOs and DONTs
• Moderators Guide
• Student Profile Sheet
• Response Sheet Non-Academic Responsibilities
• Response Sheet Finances
• Analyzing/Reporting
• Summary Report Sample

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Focus Group Toolkit Coordinator Responsibilities

• Identify moderator and note-taker
• Recruit students and place reminder phone calls
• Provide student incentives and refreshments
• Provide consent forms (IRB consent if needed)
  and profile forms
• Arrange for meeting room, audio/visual equipment,
  table tents
• Be available before the focus group
• Institutional Review Board

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Focus Group Toolkit Selecting a Moderator

• A time to listen, not to talk.
• Choose your facilitator wisely.
• Objective
• Not known to participants
• Not particularly knowledgeable about what the
  college is doing
• Able to listen without showing a reaction!

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Focus Group Toolkit Criteria for Selecting
Participants

• Goal To gain as accurate a picture as possible
  of student experiences at the college. You want
  the good, the bad, and the ugly!
• Identify a mix of students
• If there is a particular program or service you
  want more in-depth information about, hold a
  separate focus group for those involved in that
  program.
• Ideal focus group size 7 to 10 students
• Maintain contact with participants prior to focus
  group
• Hallway recruitment, aka the CCCSE focus group
  tackle!

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Focus Group Toolkit Gathering Quantitative Data
Along with Qualitative Information

• Student Profile Form Use to gather basic
  information about your participants
• Additional response forms can be used to
  complement discussion findings. Examples
• Non-Academic Responsibilities
• Finances
• Technology Use

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Focus Group Toolkit Moderator DOs and DONTs

• Do
• Use a neutral, yet comfortable and inviting tone
  of voice and facial expressions.
• Follow the discussion outline.
• Ask questions to clarify and increase
  understanding.
• Ensure that each participant contributes.

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Focus Group Toolkit Moderator DOs and DONTs

• Do
• Give people time to think. Be comfortable with
  silences.
• Be respectful of all points of view and instruct
  those in the group to do the same.
• Use plain language! Avoid college jargon.
• Keep the discussion moving to end on time.

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Focus Group Toolkit Moderator DOs and DONTs

• Dont
• Dont try to guide the participants to your own
  conclusions.
• Dont share your own opinion or experiences.
• Dont dominate the conversation.
• Dont criticize or ridicule anyones comments or
  allow anyone in the group to do so.

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Focus Group Toolkit Moderator DOs and DONTs

• Dont
• Dont challenge the accuracy of participants
  knowledge or views.
• Dont translate jargon or slang terms. (If
  someone asks what a term means, ask the
  individual using the term to explain what he or
  she means.)

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Focus Group Toolkit Moderator DOs and DONTs

• Dont
• Dont interpret participants comments for the
  group.
• Dont give answers to participants questions.

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Focus Group Toolkit Moderator Guide
Sample Outcome  To understand students earliest
academic experiences with the college.
Sample Questions Think about your first day
in class at this college. What was it like? Did
any of your instructors tell you what they expect
from you in the class?  If so, what did they tell
you? How do those expectations match your own
expectations for your college experience?
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Focus Group Toolkit Moderator Guide
Sample Outcome  To understand what motivates
students to pursue higher education
Sample Questions Why did you decide to go to
college? Did anyone urge you to go to college?
Parents? Friends? High school teachers or
counselors? Anybody else?
Sample Questions When did you decide to go to
college? While in high school? After high
school? Did you work for a while before
deciding to return to school?
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Group Activity Create a Discussion Outline

• Select an OUTCOME. What do you want to learn
  from focus group participants?
• What 3 or 4 QUESTIONS could you ask to get to
  that outcome?
• Write OUTCOME and QUESTIONS on paper.
• Select one person to share your groups outline
  with session participants.

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Mini-Focus Groups
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Reporting

• Demographics Data from Quantitative Forms
• Key Themes
• Illustrative Quotes
• Observations and Questions to Consider

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Lets Listen!
Next steps at your college?
What do you want to learn more about? From whom?
What challenges do you see in conducting focus
groups at your college?