Focus Groups

Focus groups involve bringing together small groups of people who usually share a commonality (in the same business, similar health challenge, or had a common experience) to explore issues through open-ended questions.

In focus groups, participants fluidly discuss a topic, or series of topics, and are led by a trained moderator who works from a written guide. Focus group research is not designed to produce data for statistical analysis (correlation, prediction, projections, estimation). However, if the population you would like to make generalizations about is highly specific (say, males who are between the ages of 30 and 50, who graduated from college with a master of fine arts degree, who live in rural Maine, and have at-home painting studios) with proper caution, you could probably make generalizations from a thoughtfully selected focus group.

Years of experience in the industry have validated that 8 — 10 participants is the optimal number for a focus group — enough people for a diversity of opinions, everyone has enough “airtime,” and no one can really avoid participation. With more than this number, airtime becomes constrained, and reluctant participants become discouraged from participating. Smaller groups of 5 - 6 are often used for business focus groups or for very technical topics. Mini groups allow each participant more ”airtime” without the pressure of a larger assemblage. All groups, when well managed, have the advantage of using peers to both prompt open participation and to allow snowballing of ideas and points of view.

Focus groups are often precursors of sample surveys. The insights and understandings developed from observing patterns in focus group data are often developed into a set of hypotheses (pre-conceived ideas or theories) about the larger population. These hypotheses can then be confirmed or denied using structured questions and sample surveys. Similarly, focus groups are also used after sample survey results indicate the need for deeper understanding of particular findings.

The diagram of the Johari Window (modified from its original form) is a handy way to appreciate the benefits of focus group research. With in-person focus groups, a researcher is able to use an array of tools to access information in all four “windows.” The art and science of focus groups is not just determining what is “top of mind” (what respondents readily say) but what is “beneath the surface” (what they really do and how they think and why this is so). There are a number of scientifically grounded, rigorous techniques for soliciting information in focus groups. Properly employed, these techniques obtain unusually accurate, insightful and useful information from respondents.

Pros		Cons
No other method can provide the in-depth dialog that can lead to an understanding of underlying attitudes beliefs and motivations.		The sample size of a focus group means that it cannot be counted on to be representative of a population. Responses from group to group can and do vary considerably.
Groups can be conducted quickly and in stages, providing speed and the option to start with a few groups and add more later.		Completing large numbers of groups to reduce the effects of small samples can be expensive.
An extensive infrastructure exists to conduct groups – making it practical to conduct groups almost anywhere.		Participation or actual "airtime" of participants is typically quite small, less than 10 minutes each and even less in groups where some respondents dominate the discussion.
It is possible get useful information out of very small numbers of respondents.		Unless group dynamics are well managed, one or a few respondents can dominate the discussion and color the responses of all participants.
		The information obtained is highly dependent on the skills (training and experience) of the moderator.
		Interpretation of focus group information is subjective and therefore more open to differing interpretations than survey results.