A focus group is a gathering (in person or virtually) of participants in a target market. The group will be asked a variety of questions that will allow the researchers to gather representative information from the target population.
What it is: A focus group is a small but diverse gathering (in person or virtually) of participants in a target population which provides reactions to guided and open-ended questions as a means of creating and narrowing information concerning trends, preferences, decision processes, factors considered in purchasing, etc. The output of the meeting is qualitative in nature but is hoped to indicate the preferences of the larger target population.
What does it do: Professor Glenn Blank of Lehigh University said; "Organizations generally use focus groups in planning, marketing, or evaluation, either to improve some specific product or service or, more globally, during the development of strategic plans or mission statements." Wikipedia states the following; " It is a form of qualitative researchLinks to an external site. consisting of interviews in which a group of people is asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members. During this process, the researcher either takes notes or records the vital points he or she is getting from the group. Researchers should select members of the focus group carefully for effective and authoritative responses."
Uses:
How is it used: Focus Groups are used to gather original information about how a group of representative individuals will respond to an idea, a product, a proposed program, etc. Or it can be used to obtain comments on previously gathered information from secondary research or expert interviews for the purpose of understanding the whys and narrowing options for building a quantitative survey.
Where: There are many options of where a focus group could be held. See some examples below:
A Service Organization like a Human Resources group, Financial Analysis group, Library Sciences group, Recreational department, etc. could use a focus group to get detailed feedback on their current and proposed programs. They can understand how and why the services are used today (or not used) and how they could be more effective.
New Product proposal. Many companies will present their new products to a representative panel of people in their target market segment. They can find out the interest and energy around a new product concept. They could test the usability or preferences for color, flavor, consistency, and other characteristics of the proposed product. In addition, the focus group could cover information about the ability or desire to purchase, potential pricing, a frequency of use, willingness to refer others to the product, etc.
Political Issues and Candidates. Political parties, lobbyists, communities, elected officials, special interest groups, etc. want to know how current issues are viewed by a representative sample of voters, influencers, or other key stakeholders.
Social Scientists. Many social scientists use focus groups to identify areas to research, get feedback on research findings, and reduce the cost of research. Focus groups are less expensive than surveys and more cost-effective than one on one interviews. They also allow for the viewing of how participants interact with the topic and build upon each other's thoughts in a more natural manner than surveys or interviews.
Usability or User Interface Feedback: By bringing together a group of users (or potential users) the researcher can get feedback on how the target population responds to the current interface or usability. They can also propose and test new interfaces and get feedback on the proposed changes. They can even have prototypes of several options and find the preferences of the group.
Why: Focus groups are less expensive than surveys, more cost/resource effective than one on one interviews, and allow for natural interactions that more closely mirror how people make, share and evolve their opinions. Focus also provides a great mechanism to more closely identify the factors and ranges that should be included in a quantitative survey when the researcher wants to be able to project the findings of their research on the larger target population with confidence.
Limitations:
Where it shouldn't be used: If you are trying to project how the larger target market will respond, you need statistically accurate survey data to predict outcomes with any degree of confidence. Focus Groups are a qualitative form of research and can not be used to predict any opinions of anyone except the group that participated in the focus group.
Any restrictions: Just because no one in the group disagreed with one of the findings does not mean that everyone agreed. If you did not ask each person's feelings, there may be some in the group that may just choose not to disagree with what was said to avoid conflict. Don't assume consensus unless each person in the group enthusiastically states they are in agreement.
Warnings: Focus groups can foster groupthink, where one or more people or ideas can take over and dominate the focus group. A strongly charismatic group member (or one that dominates) can push the group to a single destination without the group recognizing that they were persuaded to feel that way.
Most focus groups will capture the information through video and audio recordings. Transcripts from the audiotapes will be prepared and the videotapes allow those Clients unable to attend the groups first hand to observe the group dynamics.
Output representation and recommendations:
Present the recommendations based on the findings of the focus group
Present the overall findings/conclusions and how they addressed the desired outcomes (decisions to be made or actions to be taken)
Present representative charts, graphs and individual anecdotes from the reports of the focus group session(s)
