Focus groups are fundamentally a way of listening to people and learning from them.
Focus groups create lines of communication. This is most obvious within the group itself, where there is a continual communication between the moderator and the participants, as well as among the participants themselves. Just as important, however, is a larger process of communication that connects the worlds of the research team and the participants. " The key to planning in focus groups is to think through the whole project.All research projects using focus groups consist of four basic steps that include Planning, Recruiting, Moderating, Analyzing and Reporting. The small group dynamics in focus group lead people to be more open in their responses.
However, the danger of small discussion is one or two participants may dominate the interview and influence overall opinion of the members. Focus group yield qualitative feedback. Its key benefit lies in the ability to identify areas or product attributes that should be probe further through quantitative research.Focus groups are a form of group interview that capitalizes on communication between research participants in order to generate data.
Although group interviews are often used simply as a quick and convenient way to collect data from several people simultaneously, focus groups explicitly use group interaction as part of the method. This means that instead of the researcher asking each person to respond to a question in turn, people are encouraged to talk to one another: asking questions, exchanging views and commenting on each others' experiences and points of view.The method is particularly useful for exploring people's knowledge and experiences and can be used to examine not only what people think but how they think and why they think that way. Focus groups were originally used within communication studies to explore the effects of films and television programmes.
To my understanding the idea behind the focus group method is that group processes can help people to explore and clarify their views in ways that would be less easily accessible in a one to one interview.Group discussion is particularly appropriate when the interviewer has a series of open ended questions and wishes to encourage research participants to explore the issues of importance to them, in their own words, generating their own questions and pursuing their own priorities. When group dynamics work well the participants work next to the researcher, taking the research in new and often unexpected directions. Group work also helps researchers tap into the many different forms of communication that people use in day-to-day interaction, including jokes, anecdote, teasing, and arguing.Gaining access to such variety of communication is useful because people's knowledge and attitudes are not entirely encapsulated in reasoned responses to direct questions.
Everyday forms of communication may tell us as much, if not more, about what people know or experience. In this way focus groups reach the parts that other methods cannot reach, revealing range of understanding that often remain unexploited by more straight data collection techniques. Tapping into such interpersonal communication is also important because this can highlight cultural values.Through analyzing the operation of humor, consensus, and dissent and examining different types of narrative used within the group, the researcher can identify shared and common knowledge.
A method that facilitates the expression of criticism and the exploration of different types of solutions is invaluable if the aim of research is to improve services. Such a method is especially appropriate when working with particular populations who are often unwilling to give negative feedback or may feel that any problems result from their own inadequacies.The model usually used by focus group is a theoretical model, and the participants are selected on the base of study population. The groups can be "naturally occurring" like e. g it could be a group from our Marketing class or may be drawn together specifically for the research.
Using preexisting groups allows the observer to collect natural data from the way they behave. An additional advantage is that friends and colleagues can relate each other's comments to incidents in their shared daily lives. They may challenge each other on contradictions between what they profess to believe and how they actually behave.It is important to consider the appropriateness of group work for different study populations and to think about how to overcome potential difficulties. My study indicates that sometimes you might face difficulties, in managing the group, and making them interact with each other and I think communication difficulties should not rule out group work, but must be considered as a factor.
I think the groups should be run in a relaxed environment. The Ideal group size is six to eight people and the session should take no longer than two hours, with some refreshment in between.Also to my research extent the facilitator should explain that the aim of the focus group is to encourage people to talk to each other rather than to address themselves to the researcher. Ideally what I assessed from the research that the group discussions should be tape recorded and transcribed. If this is not possible then it is vital to take careful notes and researchers may find it useful to involve the group in recording key issues on a flip chart. : Analyzing focus group interview is same as analyzing any other qualitative self-report data.
The information collected from a focus group discussion is raw data. The researchers' task is to prepare a statement regarding the collected data. The first step is to copy the entire interview. This will provide a complete record of the discussion and will facilitate analysis of the data.
The next step is to analyze the content of the discussion. The aim of this analysis is to look for trends and patterns that reappear within either a single focus group or among various focus groups. I think Focus groups are not an easy option. The data they generate can be as cumbersome as they are complex.Still the method is basically straightforward and need not be intimidating for either the researcher or the researched. The very best way of working out whether or not focus groups might be appropriate in any particular study is to try them out in practice.
Nevertheless those who participate in this kind of research often find the experience rewarding. The process of research can be more collaborative than other forms of study, and so focus group research can be an empowering process for participants, and an exciting challenge for marketing researchers wanting to gain a different perspective on their field of interest.
