The Role of Focus Groups

Focus groups can be used at the preliminary or exploratory stages of a study; during a study, perhaps to evaluate or develop a particular programme of activities; or after a programme has been completed, to assess its impact or to generate further avenues of research. They can be used either as a method in their own right or as a complement to other methods, especially for triangulation and validity checking.

Focus groups can help to explore or generate hypotheses and develop questions or concepts for questionnaires and interview. They are however limited in terms of their ability to generalise findings to a whole population, mainly because of the small numbers of people participating and the likelihood that the participants will not be a representative sample.

Examples of research in which focus groups have been employed include developing HIV education in New Delhi, understanding how media messages are processed, exploring people’s fear and distance interviewing of family doctors Potential and limitations

Interaction is the crucial feature of focus groups because the interaction between participants highlights their view of the world, the language they use about an issue and their values and beliefs about a situation. Interaction also enables participants to ask questions of each other, as well as to re-evaluate and reconsider their own understandings of their specific experiences.

Another benefit is that focus groups elicit information in a way which allows researchers to find out why an issue is salient, as well as what is salient about it. As a result, the gap between what people say and what they do can be better understood. If participants reveal multiple understandings and meanings, multiple explanations of their behaviour and attitudes will be more readily articulated.

The benefits to participants of focus group research should not be underestimated. The opportunity to be involved in decision making processes, to be valued as experts, and to be given the chance to work collaboratively with researchers, can be empowering for many participants. If a group works well, trust develops and the group may explore solutions to a particular problem as a unit, rather than as individuals. Not everyone will experience these benefits, as focus groups can also be intimidating at times, especially for inarticulate or shy members. Hence focus groups are not empowering for all participants and other methods may offer more opportunities for participants. However if participants are actively involved in something which they feel will make a difference, and focus group research is often of an applied nature, empowerment can realistically be achieved.

Another advantage of focus groups to clients, users, participants or consumers is that they can become a forum for change, both during the focus group meeting itself and afterwards.

For example, the participants in a research experienced a sense of emancipation through speaking in public and by developing reciprocal relationships with the researchers. In another study, patients in hospital were invited to give their views about services and to provide ideas about improvements. In this instance change occurred at the management level as a direct result of patients’ input.

Although focus group research has many advantages, as with all research methods there are limitations. Careful planning and moderating can overcome some, but others are unavoidable and peculiar to this approach. The researcher, or moderator, for example, has less control over the data produced, than in either quantitative studies or one-to-one interviewing. The moderator has to allow participants to talk to each other, ask questions and express doubts and opinions, while having very little control over the interaction other than generally keeping participants focused on the topic. By its nature focus group research is open-ended and cannot be entirely predetermined.

It should not be assumed that the individuals in a focus group are expressing their own definitive individual view. They are speaking in a specific context, within a specific culture, and so sometimes it may be difficult for the researcher to clearly identify an individual message. This too is a potential limitation of focus groups.

On a practical note, focus groups can be difficult to assemble. It may not be easy to get a representative sample and focus groups may discourage certain people from participating, for example those who are not very articulate or confident, and those who have communication problems or special needs. The method of focus group discussion may also discourage some people from trusting others with sensitive or personal information. In such cases personal interviews or the use of workbooks alongside focus groups may be a more suitable approach.

Finally, focus groups are not fully confidential or anonymous, because the material is shared with the others in the group.

The practical organisation of focus groups

Organising focus group interviews usually requires more planning than other types of interviewing as getting people to group gatherings can be difficult and setting up appropriate venues with adequate recording facilities requires a lot of time. The recommended number of people per group is usually six to ten, but some researchers have used up to fifteen people or as few as four. Numbers of groups vary, some studies using only one meeting with each of several focus groups, others meeting the same group several times. Focus group sessions usually last from one to two hours. Neutral locations can be helpful for avoiding either negative or positive associations with a particular site or building. Otherwise the focus group meetings can be held in a variety of places, for example, people’s homes, in rented facilities, or where the participants hold their regular meetings if they are a pre-existing group.

It is not always easy to identify the most appropriate participants for a focus group. If a group is too heterogeneous, whether in terms of gender or class, or in terms of professional and ‘lay’ perspectives, the differences between participants can make a considerable impact on their contributions. Alternatively, if a group is homogenous with regard to specific characteristics, diverse opinions and experiences may not be revealed. Participants need to feel comfortable with each other. Meeting with others whom they think of as possessing similar characteristics or levels of understanding about a given topic, will be more appealing than meeting with those who are perceived to be different.

Once the types of participant have been decided, locating them is the next challenge. Recruitment of participants can be time consuming, especially if the topic under consideration has no immediate benefits or attractions to participants. It is likely that people with specific interests will have to be recruited by word of mouth, through the use of key informants, by advertising or poster campaigns, or through existing social networks. Incentives, whether expenses, gift vouchers or presents, will usually need to be offered

The Role of a Moderator

Once a meeting has been arranged, the role of moderator or group facilitator becomes critical, especially in terms of providing clear explanations of the purpose of the group, helping people feel at ease, and facilitating interaction between group members.

During the meeting moderators will need to promote debate, perhaps by asking open questions. They may also need to challenge participants, especially to draw out people’s differences, and tease out a diverse range of meanings on the topic under discussion. Sometimes moderators will need to probe for details, or move things forward when the conversation is drifting or has reached a minor conclusion. Moderators also have to keep the session focused and so sometimes they may deliberately have to steer the conversation back on course. Moderators also have to ensure everyone participates and gets a chance to speak. At the same time moderators are encouraged not to show too much approval, so as to avoid favouring particular participants. They must avoid giving personal opinions so as not to influence participants towards any particular position or opinion.

The role of the moderator is a demanding and challenging one, and moderators will need to possess good interpersonal skills and personal qualities, being good listeners, non-judgmental and adaptable. These qualities will promote the participants’ trust in the moderator and increase the likelihood of open, interactive dialogue.

Finally, the degree of control and direction imposed by moderators will depend upon the goals of the research as well as on their preferred style. If two or more moderators are involved in the facilitation of a focus group, agreement needs to be reached as to how much input or direction each will give. It is recommended that one moderator facilitates and the other takes notes and checks the recording equipment during the meeting. There also needs to be consistency across focus groups, so careful preparation with regard to role and responsibilities is required.

The moderator’s job is to keep the group” focused” and to generate a lively and productive discussion. Questions should be “open-ended.” Those that can be answered with a” yes” or “no” should be avoided.

Conducting the Interview: There is on one best way to conduct a focus interview Sometimes a trained psychologist experienced in group interviewing techniques is approached to act as the discussion leader or moderator Many a time, group interviews are conducted by persons who have gained considerable experience in handling such interviews though they may not be well-versed with the literature on successful discussion techniques.

To start a group interview in a reasonably sound manner, it is desirable that the moderator first explains the subject for discussion in his own words. He should initiate the discussion and allow the group interview to proceed spontaneously, without any intervention. However, when he feels that the group discussion has digressed from its theme, he should intervene and bring it back on the track. He may introduce certain stimuli, such as products, packages, pictures or advertisements, which may stimulate members of the group of participate in the discussion more actively. As has been observed:

“The moderator is like a conductor, orchestrating an improvisation. The task calls for adeptness and awareness of what is going on, what people are doing and feeling. It means giving everyone a chance without taking dull roll calls.”

The entire group discussion is recorded on a tape recorder. Several groups are formed and the same procedure is followed in each case. Comparisons of discussions of these groups may enable the interviewer to get new ‘insights’ into the subject discussed.

Advantages of Focus-Group Interviewing

Following are a number of advantages of focus-group interviewing.

• Group interview studies are often fast and cheap. A study based on three or four group interviews can be conducted in a very short period. When the researcher is subjected to time and cost constraints, group interviewing is especially useful.
• The group interview technique is appropriate for generating hypotheses more so in cases when the available information is scanty. This may be helpful to the researcher when other sources are inadequate to stimulate his thinking. Such interviews are regarded as “highly productive idea breeders”.
• This technique brings the respondent who supplies information and the client who uses it closer.
• This technique is quite flexible, which is not the case when a structured questionnaire is used. Here, the interviewer listens, thinks, probes, explores, framing hunches and ideas as he proceeds. He is not an automatic, mechanical, wind-up questioner as a survey interviewer is.
• The group interviewing technique, like the individual depth interviewing, is appropriate to handle contingencies.
• Respondents in a group interview stimulate one another. There is an interaction of ideas, attitudes, emotions and beliefs of the different members comprising the group. As a result of this interaction, the threshold for personal revelations is lowered in the focus-group interview. Also, interaction widens the base of discussion – many more ideas emerge than would be possible in the depth interview involving only two persons.
• Finally, a group interview study often gives its findings not in the “form of mysterious symbols and dull tables” but in direct quotations in which people give their views at length. Thus, its findings emerge in a form which is fully understandable to the clients.

Disadvantages and Misuses of Focus group Interviewing

• Some of the advantages of the focus group technique also lead to misuses. For example, this technique may be used by a manage to support his pre-conceived notions.
• The technique is used for too many things. It does not indicate how extensive the attitudes expressed by the participants are. The necessary follow-up quantitative research is generally not conducted.
• The data are not at all predictable. This is because the sample is generally inadequate and drawn purely on the basis of convenience.
• Much of the results depend on the moderator. He has his own biases and limitations and the things that impress him may or may not be typical.
• Another difficulty in focus-group interviewing is with respect to the recruitment of participants. This problem would arise when a large number of groups are to be formed.

Projective Methods: Sometimes, to provide a stimulus to help generate a discussion in informal interviewing, certain projective methods are used. Such techniques are based on the principal of confronting an individual with a purposely ambiguous situation he must interpret. The ambiguous situation may just be a word, an incomplete sentence, or a picture. For example, when a respondent is shown a series of pictures with ambiguous situations, he is supposed to invent a story which explains the pictures. The purpose of using such a projective method is to remove the inhibitions of the respondent as he thinks and answers in terms of other people rather than himself.

Such methods were first devised by psychologists and psychiatrists concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from emotional disorders. They are used to find a comprehensive picture of the individual’s personality structure, his emotional needs, his conflicts, etc.

Projective Techniques: Projective techniques provide either verbal or visual stimuli with the objective to encourage the respondent to reveal his hidden feelings and attitudes without his being aware of doing so. There are a number of projective techniques.

Word Association Test: This test is sometimes called free word association test. In this test, the respondent is given a single word and asked to say whatever words come to his mind without any delay. The respondent is given a series of words, one after the other, and his immediate reaction is sought. It is believed that such a test provokes the respondent to come out with a meaningful response.

Responses can be classified in more than one way: (i) on the basis of frequency with which a particular word has been given as a response; (ii) on the basis of the interval of time before response is made (hesitation); and (iii) on the basis of failure of respondents to come out with any response (blocking). Word association tests are particularly useful in selecting brand names and in advertising to ascertain its effectiveness. In the latter case, a test is given to the same panel of consumers both before and after an advertisement.

Sentence Completion Test: Sentence completion test is similar to the word association test. The respondent is subjected to some pressure to give spontaneous replies. It is believed that it would reveal attitudes which otherwise respondents may be reluctant to disclose.

Sentence completion test, as the name implies, involves the use of an incomplete sentence which the respondent is asked to complete immediately. The sentence should be short and simple so that the response may also be in a few words. While some respondents may be in a position to give considered being quite reliable and, as such, they are frequently used in marketing research.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): Thematic Apperception Test consists of 30 pictures plus one blank card. The maximum number of pictures used with any respondent is 20, usually administered in two sessions, ten each time.

Before using the TAT, the respondent is told that the test is of imagination and that there is no right or wrong response. The pictures are shown to the respondent one at a time and he is asked (i) to describe what is happening and the feelings of characters shown in the picture; (ii) to tell what he feels has led up the scene; and (iii) to tell what the outcome will be. The test assumes that the responses to these questions based upon ambiguous pictures reveal personal feelings and experiences of the respondent. Interpretation of TAT should be done by experienced specialists in this line.

Story Completion Test: This test is a logical development of the sentence completion test. Here, the respondent is given the opening sentence or sentences describing a certain situations. He is asked to narrate the story as he imagines. It is believed that he respondent while developing the story gives out his own psychological reactions.

Cartoons (Blank Balloons): Another device that is used in projective techniques is the cartoon or blank balloon. It involves the use of a cartoon showing two persons talking in a particular setting. The comments of one person are shown in a speech balloon while the other speech balloon. Pertaining to the second person is kept empty. The respondent is asked to give the reply the second person would have given. Since the respondent thinks that he is a different person not involved in the cartoon, he would not feel any hesitation in giving out his reaction to that situation. He might give his own reaction without being aware that he is doing so. It may be noted that responses in such tests should be confined to a few words. These tests are used in a number of marketing problems such as packaging, quality of services, etc.

Projective techniques are now increasingly being used in marketing research. However, they have been criticised on account of their subjectively in interpretation. With the help of various projective techniques, it should be possible to study people’s motives, emotions, values, attitudes, and needs by somehow getting them or project these interval states on to external objects. This potent idea is behind projective devices of all kinds.

Kerlinger further goes on to say that one of the basic principles of projective techniques is that the more unstructured and ambiguous a stimulus, the more a subject is expected to project his emotions, needs, motives, attitudes and values.

No doubt, they are the most imaginative and significant tools in psychology, but on account of their lack of objectively, people have questioned whether they should be used in scientific research.