A focus group involves encouraging an invited group of participants to share their thoughts
, feelings, attitudes and ideas on certain subject. Organising focus groups within an organisation can also be very useful in getting buy-in to a project from within that company.
Focus groups are most often used as an input to design.
Advantages of focus groups include:
- Quick, cheap and relatively easy to assemble
- Good for getting rich data in participants' own words and developing deeper insights
- People are able to build on one another's responses and come up with ideas they might not have thought of in a 1-on-1 interview
- Good for obtaining data from children and/or people with low levels of literacy
- Provides an opportunity to involve people in data analysis (e.g. "Out of the issues we have talked about, which ones are most important to you?")
- Participants can act as checks and balances on one another - identifying factual errors or extreme views
Limitations of focus groups include:
- The responses of each participant are not independent
- A few dominant focus group members can skew the session
- Focus groups require a skilled and experienced moderator
- The data which results from a focus group requires skill and experience to analyse
How to plan and prepare for focus groups
Invite around 6 to 8 people to participate for a session to last for about an hour. Then, prepare an agenda including a list of the top-level issues to be tackled (if appropriate).
Prepare an introduction script explaining the purpose of the day and how the day will be run. This can include issues of consent and fire regulations (if relevant). Be sure to always use a quiet room with few distractions and arrange people in a circle (possibly around a table).
Running focus groups
If appropriate, ask the participants to introduce themselves and/or wear name tags. Most importantly, all questions you ask should be open and neutral. It's also important for the moderator to be aware of participants' energy and concentration levels and provide short breaks if necessary. The moderator should encourage free-flowing discussion around the relevant issue(s).