L7 Focus groups Flashcards
What is a focus group and what is the purpose?
A focus group is a group of people with certain characteristics who generate a narrative in a focussed discussion.
The purpose is to generate data through the exploration of opinions, needs, values, and beliefs expressed by participants individually and collectively.
What can a focus group do?
- Help with decision making (more options)
- Guide program / intervention / innovation
- Provide insight in organisational concerns and issues
- Be used with other research methods (triangulation)
Stimulate a ripple effect: drop one question–> discussion amongst participant–> co-creation.
What is the creative diamond?
/ \ Diverging - idea generation / \ | |Clustering - categorizing, idea sorting \ / \ / Converging - idea selection
Goal is not to reach consensus
What is the “structure” of a focus group?
From general to specific:
First, collect and share intuititions - articualtion contextual stories, then iterative process:
- make it explicit - articulation of the “why”
- systemize - categories, connections
- Converge - priorities, focus
What are the strenghts of focus groups?
- Co-production of new knowlege, and old knowledge is consolidated (rich data)
- Opportunity to derive a collective perspective
- Direct interaction observable / group discussion allows synthesis and validation of ideas and concepts
- Wide area of applications / issues / topics - exploring controversial, complex, and sensitive issues
- All people can be included
- Can empower participants
What are the limitations of focus groups?
- Potential for confidentiality issues / appropriateness of topics (some sensitive topics not for group settings)
- Can be difficult to steer and control (certain conflicts). Effective conduct depends on an experienced and effective facilitator.
- Overwhelming to analyze, interpret results
- Difficult to distinguish individual views from group view (suppression of deviating opinions), and complexity in monitorign verbal and non-verbal responses
- Small sample size–> not representative of larger population (it’s a snapshot)
- Creating the public?
What is a homogenous group, what is an advantage, and what is a disadvantage?
= All participants approx. share a common characteristic that is relevant to the discussion
- This is good for complementary interaction–> mutual learning, co-construction
- Not so good for competitive interaction–> criticl testing, shapening ideas
What are good moderating skills?
- Strong interviewing technique
- Keen observational skills
- Ability to ctronol and giude discussion
- Ability to suppress own personal views
- Respect for participants
What attitude should the moderator have?
- Accepting attitude: all ideas are important
- Active listering: focus on listenign rather than talking
- Respect and empathy: all have a worthy contribution
- Open flexibility: be sensitive to their needs, adjust
What is empathic and analytical listening?
Empathic listening = listening with the sincere intention to understand the other person. Engage in other’s way of thinking, understanding the other’s frame of rdference. “Standing in other people’s shoes”.
Analytical listening = listening in order to structure the heard information, recognizing concepts central to the theme of dicusion, estblishing connections to what has been said already and the direction in which the convo should be heading.
What are other roles in a focus group, and what do they do?
- Secretary: keeping notes
- Monitor / observer: track group dynamics
- Interpreter: translation and shared facilitation
What are the guiding principles of asking questions?
- Ask Qs in a conversational manner
- Wording of the Qs: direct, fortright, comfortable, simple
- Be clear (short Qs, one-dimensional, jargon free)
- Seek help (pilot testing)
- Allow sufficient time (to design / pilot Qs)
- What works is right
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a topic guide?
+ Speed
+ More conversational
+ Spontaneous
- More difficult to analyse
- Limited feedback when pilot testing
- Inconsistency between moderators
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a questioning route?
\+ Increased sponsor confidence \+ Quality analysis \+ Enhanced consistency - Awkwardness - Slower to develop - Potential false impression
What type fo questions do you use in a focus group, in what order?
- Opening Qs
- Introductory Qs
- Transition Qs
- Key Qs
- Ending Qs
