21

Focus groups

What is it?

A focus group is a form of qualitative research where a group of specially selected or randomly selected individuals come together to discuss a specific topic. Participants are usually recruited based on their demographics, psychographics, buying attitudes, or past buying behaviour.

The facilitator of the group is known as the moderator and he or she will ask questions and participants will answer the questions and/or discuss the issue with the other members while the moderator listens, makes notes and asks additional more probing questions.

There are several types of focus group:

  • Two-way focus group – where one focus group watches another and discusses what they observe. This can be particularly useful if the topic is complex or challenging, as seeing what the other group thinks can open up new lines of discussion and new ideas.
  • Dual moderator focus group – where each moderator has a different role: one to make sure the group runs smoothly and everyone has an opportunity to speak, and the other to make sure all the topics are covered. This can be particularly useful if there is a lot of ground to cover.
  • Duelling moderator focus group – where two moderators deliberately take opposing sides in the discussion, playing the role of devil’s advocate with each other. This is particularly useful when there appears to be one clear ‘winner’ or correct approach because it helps to shift the participants’ view point and open up other ideas.
  • Respondent moderator focus group – where one of the respondents is asked to act as the moderator temporarily. The answer to a question is often influenced by who asked the questions, appointing one of the group or inviting a participant to play the role of moderator can initiate new thinking and change the answers. This can be particularly useful if the group is running out of answers.
  • Client participant focus group – where one or more client representatives participate in the focus group. Most focus groups are conducted on behalf of a business so this means having someone from that business participate either openly or in secret. This can be very insightful for the client, especially if he or she is there incognito. Plus it allows them to direct discussion to areas that are particularly important.
  • Mini focus groups – groups are composed of 4 or 5 people rather than the more usual 8 to 12. This is particularly useful if a more intimate, detailed approach is called for.

Why does it matter?

Focus groups matter because they provide a platform to ask people about their opinions, beliefs, thoughts and attitudes around a particular topic, problem, product or service.

While engaged in lively discussion, members reveal feelings, through verbal and non-verbal communication, that a simple questionnaire may be unable to capture.

Focus groups are frequently used in product development and marketing so that a company can gauge how the product will be received and what tweaks they may need to make prior to release.

How can I use it in practice?

The dynamic nature of open-ended questions means that focus groups are ideal for really unpicking how someone thinks and feels about something. And perhaps more importantly the interaction with others creates greater dialogue and discussion than a qualitative survey which usually provides more insight.

Pretence, political correctness and outright lying by group members can undermine the value of focus groups. Also, some participants may have difficulty articulating their true feelings.

Focus groups usually last between 90 minutes to 2 hours and group members will answer five or six questions during that time. This is ideal if you need access to information or opinion quickly.

How do I get started?

You need to be clear about what you are trying to find out and devise a specific set of questions which, when answered, will provide you with the information you need.

Decide what areas you want to discuss and create some questions that can open the discussion. Obviously you are dealing with individuals in a group setting which means that the questions you prepare may only act as a starting point. You will usually get more detail and more insight if you allow the people in the focus group free rein to discuss the items on the agenda.

That said, there needs to be a facilitator to make sure that the right questions are being answered and to move people onto new topics or to get them back on track if they start to stray off the point.

Possible data sources

The data is collected by the moderator who will make detailed notes and flip chart notes.

Plus the focus groups are often video recorded or audio recorded which can provide more data for analysis through partial or full transcription together with text (Chapter 8) or voice analytics (Chapter 12) and sentiment analysis (Chapter 9).

The facilitator may also get participants to complete questionnaires which would also provide additional data (see Chapters 19 and 20).

How difficult or costly is it to collect?

Focus groups are relatively easy to organise and facilitate in that you are only ever involving small groups of people and gathering their information and insights into a particular topic.

As a result they are also much less expensive than other data capture techniques. However, if focus groups are run in multiple locations across a market, in order to gather variations in options across the market, then the costs can begin to spiral.

Practical example

If you wanted to know more about what your employees thought about a change to the business or were seeking to understand more about employee attitudes so you could positively influence or enhance the culture then focus groups could prove useful.

In this instance you could invite a range of different employees across different divisions and departments as well as different levels of seniority. Often this type of discussion across areas of levels of management would never occur naturally and it can yield some surprising insights for a business seeking to engage its workforce.

Tips and traps

Considering why you are considering running a focus group and therefore what information you are seeking to identify or uncover and use the best type of focus group to best facilitate that outcome. If, for example, you want to know more about what customers think about your products, running the occasional client participation focus group could yield additional insights because it would allow you to ask a lot of additional questions in the guise of a customer and see what other customers thought about it. Often people are less guarded when they think they are being asked a question by someone just like them. Plus, while engaged in lively discussion, members reveal feelings through verbal and non-verbal communication that a simple questionnaire may be unable to capture. Pretence, political correctness and outright lying by group members can undermine the value of focus groups. Also, some participants may have difficulty articulating their true feelings but skilled facilitation can overcome most of these traditional traps.

Further reading and references

To learn more about conducting focus groups see for example:

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