Focus Groups

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Focus Groups
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Understanding Focus Groups

• Focus groups are group interviews with a
  moderator guiding the interview. The small group
  discuses the topics the interviewer raises.
• Groups may be divided along a number of
  categories of interest ie. Race, gender, age,
  interest, class

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Advantages

• The natural setting allows people to express
  opinions/ideas freely.
• Open expression among members of marginalized
  social groups is encouraged.
• People tend to feel empowered, especially in
  action-oriented research projects.
• Survey researchers are provided a window into how
  people talk about survey topics.
• The interpretation of quantitative survey results
  is facilitated.
• Participants may query one another and explain
  their answers to each other.

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Limitations

• A polarization effect exists (attitudes become
  more extreme after group discussion)
• Only one or a few topics can be discussed in a
  focus group session.
• A moderator may unknowingly limit open, free
  expression of group members.
• Focus group participants produce fewer ideas than
  in individual interviews.
• Focus group studies rarely report all the details
  of study design/procedure.
• Researchers cannot reconcile the differences that
  arise between individual-only and focus
  group-context responses.

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Strengths

• Exploration and Discovery- focus groups are
  frequently used to learn about either topics or
  groups of people that are poorly understood.
  Because the group carries on most of the
  discussion, the researcher does not need to know
  a great deal about the topic under study.
• Context and Depth-focus groups allow you to
  understand the background behind peoples
  thoughts and experiences. You have access to a
  wide range of experiences and opinions.
• Interpretation- helps in understanding the why
  of things. Their process of communication can
  yield valuable data.
• Access to tacit, experiential knowledge- you
  can observe the process of interaction between
  your participants.

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A Few Examples of Focus Group Research

• A corporation wanted to ensure the success of the
  new employee child care center that it was
  building. A series of focus groups helped the
  company develop flexible policies that employees
  felt were truly family friendly.
• A graduate student wanted to understand the
  experiences of high school students with lower
  grade-point averages. Her thesis used focus
  groups to explore why these students limited
  their goals to not flunking out.
• A large nonprofit organization wanted to increase
  its activities in the African-American community.
  Through a nationwide series of focus groups, the
  organization learned that it was virtually
  unknown in this community, despite an advertising
  campaign that it thought was geared to African
  Americans.

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Examples Continued

• A self-help program for recent immigrants wanted
  to design a community center. The program hired
  a trainer who taught its counselors how to do
  focus groups among its members, eventually
  leading to a center that people in the community
  truly claimed as their own.
• A hospital wanted to learn why some new parents
  attended free childbirth classes while others did
  not. Focus groups showed that those who did not
  attend had inaccurate stereotypes about the
  nature of the classes, so a special brochure and
  publicity plan were developed to correct this.

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The Process of Communication

• It is important to remember that the focus group
  occurs as the midpoint in a larger three part
  process of communication
• 1) The research team members decide what they
  need to hear from the participants
• 2) The focus groups create a conversation among
  the participants around these chosen topics
• 3) members of the research team summarize what
  they have learned from the participants.

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Who Controls a Focus Group?

• While it may be your focus (you picked the
  topic), it is their group.
• This means that you have to take what they say
  into account.
• If they seem unable to answer your question, the
  problem may be with your question itself, maybe
  it doesnt really get at the issue.

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How is a focus group different than an interview?

• Group Dynamics- Interaction is a complicated
  phenomenon. It is more than personalities
  mixing.
• Groups have leaders. By having a moderator, you
  eliminate an in-member as the leader.
• The moderator can structure discussions rigidly
  with detailed questions.
• Or the moderator can simple facilitate
  participants explorations of wide ranging issues.

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Success

• Focus groups work best when what interests the
  research team is equally interesting to the
  participants in the groups.
• In the ideal case the questions that you ask
  produce lively discussions.
• The groups are easier to analyze, and the final
  product captures the excitement of the groups.
• Example Jhally and Lewis were interested in how
  people of different ethnic groups perceived
  depictions of race differently. They had
  subjects view episodes of the Cosby Show and
  discuss issues around race.

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How do you make sure the interests are well
matched?

• Just imagine yourself in the focus group and ask
  yourself
• What kinds of things do you want to say about the
  topic?
• What kinds of things do you expect the other
  people in the group to talk about?
• What would you like to learn about the other
  people in the group?
• How would you like the people in the group to
  treat you?
• How would you like the moderator to treat you?
• How do you want to feel when the group is over?

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Projects that Use Focus Groups

• Problem Identification
• Planning
• Implementation
• Assessment

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The Usual Focus Group

• 8 participants
• Sometimes they know each other, sometimes they
  dont
• 1-4 hours
• Have a moderator
• May be audio or videotaped

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All Focus Groups Have Three Things in Common

• 1) Qualitative research method for collecting
  data
• 2) Focused efforts at data gathering
• 3) Generate data through group discussions

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What Isnt a Focus Group

• Three basic reasons why something might be called
  a focus group even if it is not
• 1) It might not be a research effort to gather
  qualitative data.
• 2) It might not be focused. If there is no
  central theme of interest, it is not a focus
  group.
• 3) It might not involve group discussion. Just
  gathering people does not guarantee that a
  meaningful discussion will occur.
• People can go off on tangents, ramble etc.
• One person might dominate and control the
  situation.

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Considerations

• Cost
• Time
• Moderators
• Facilities
• Strangers or Friends
• Sensitive Topics
• Is conformity produced
• Can They Stand Alone?
• Can They Tell You How People Will Behave?

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Make Sure You

• Are Skeptical
• Have High Quality Moderating
• Learn from the Participants
• Are Creative

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When Should One Avoid Focus Groups

• Avoid Focus Groups When the Imply Commitments You
  cannot Keep
• Avoid Focus Groups if the Participants Are not
  Comfortable With Each Other
• Avoid Focus Groups when the Topic is not
  Appropriate For Participants
• Avoid Focus Groups When A Project Requires
  Statistical Data

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Resources Required to Do Focus Groups/The Basic
Components

• Planning
• Recruiting
• Moderating
• Analyzing and Reporting

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Focus Groups and Sensitive Issues

• How can one promise anonymity and confidentiality
  if other participants are untrustworthy?

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Hidden Costs

• Equipment
• Compensation
• Space
• Moderators
• Transcription

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Radical Methodology

• Focus groups make subjects into agents in the
  production of data. Subjects can bring up
  topics, ask questions, argue key points and voice
  opinions.
• Collective Testimony

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An Empirical Example

• Easter Madriz and Latina womens fear of crime.