Focus Groups

Focus groups are a popular form of qualitative research. Focus group discussions, can be useful in idea-generation; testing a concept or message; in identifying the full range of opinions about a product or issue (including the extremes of sentiment); and in helping understand how citizens and consumers perceive an issue or problem, communications campaign, public figure or organization, product or service. Focus groups are also helpful in development and testing of survey questionnaires. Under the guidance of a skilled moderator, groups can capitalize on the synergies of human interaction and produce useful insights.

There are five keys to successful focus groups:
  1. Researchable objectives must be clearly and completely articulated (not as easy as it first appears).
  2. The target population should be precisely identified and group discussants recruited through systematic procedures likely to result in the desired range of participants. Use of self-selected volunteers, especially regular group participants, should be discouraged.
  3. A general outline for helping guide the discussion should be prepared, reviewed and revised as necessary, until all parties are satisfied that it will generate pertinent discussion that addresses the objectives.
  4. Different moderators have different styles for eliciting useful thoughts and feelings. The client and moderator should have shared expectations and a comfort level about how "directed" and structured the discussion will be.
  5. Written analyses that summarize group discussions should aim to describe themes emerging from the groups, intensity of feelings, unique thoughts and perspectives, and make liberal use of quotations for illustration. Quantification should be limited to terms like “few,” "some," about half, and "most" to avoid being misleadingly precise.
Creativity is an important ingredient for obtaining the best results, but careful forethought is essential. Group sessions can easily become too "free-wheeling" and spin out of control without careful planning and direction.

Focus groups are not a substitute for, and should not be confused with, surveys. Surveys are typically based on samples of several hundred respondents or more who are selected through systematic procedures (often probability-based random selection). Well done surveys permit researchers to formulate quantitative estimates, make generalizations, and draw conclusions. Focus groups result in more limited and tentative knowledge, though they can be useful in revealing nuance and generating hypotheses.

GR&C staff have conducted focus groups research and qualitative analysis for organizations including the U.S. Postal Service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Dezenhall Resources, the Apha-1 Foundation, and other clients.