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Focus Groups

These guidelines address the key points to consider if you are thinking of running a focus group. However, please note that they are not intended as a step by step guide, nor as a comprehensive resource on how to run focus groups.

what is a focus group?

A focus group is a small and structured meeting of approximately 8 – 10 people. Discussion revolves around a set of pre-determined topics to give you a set of rich qualitative information.

Although focus groups take a while to set up and require a budget to run, once undertaken, they can prove an efficient way of getting detailed information on a subject. Expect a focus group to give you a range of views from your target audience, and to find out why people hold these views.

A focus group can take place either before or after your event, depending on what you want to find out. For example, if you want to know what motivates your audience to attend an event you might choose to run a focus group before they have seen an event. However, if the information you need is about their opinions of the event itself, then you will obviously need to take them to see something first.

before you start

why do you want to run a focus group?

The first thing to consider is why you are thinking of a focus group rather than any other form of evaluation? A focus group will give you detailed information about a specific set of issues of your choice, but it will not give you quantitative data such as ‘percentages of people who do X’.

who do you want to speak to?

Focus groups provide an opportunity to consult your target audience face to face. Therefore, the members of your focus group should be representative of your target audience. Once you know who you want to speak, the process of recruitment can begin. There are a number of options for how you can contact members of your target audience:

Perhaps the most straight forward way of recruiting a focus group is approaching members of your target audience directly. For example, recruiting after an event from the audience who attended (if they represent your target audience)

One contact can give you a number of other contacts as a ‘snowballing’ effect. This has another advantage, as it can sometimes be more efficient to recruit a group of people who know each other. If the group are already friends, they are likely to find it easier to talk openly and honestly during the session.

Alternatively, there are times when approaching members your target audience directly is problematic. On these occasions, the use of a ‘gate-keeper’ enables you to recruit through another person. A gate-keeper should be someone who is active in the community you want to reach. They will then be able to contact people on your behalf who are part of your target audience.

incentives

A focus group session could take up to 2 hours. For this amount of time you will need to pay people for attending. How much you offer will of course depend on your budget, but consider how you can make it worthwhile for people to come to your focus group! This may not result in offering money as focus groups are social occasions and you may have other incentives available, such as tickets or refreshments. However, the incentive must be something that the target audience will want to have. For example, tickets to see Shrek might not be appropriate if your focus group is with independent adults.

location

Choosing a location is critical to the success of your session. Try to find somewhere that has a suitable atmosphere and is easy for participants to get to. However, it is also important to make sure that the location you choose is sufficiently quiet enough to be able to record the session. For example, whilst a pub can be relaxed or lively, it may also provide you with unwelcome background noise.

during the session

your role

Remember the focus group is to hear about other people’s opinions. You are there to ask questions and draw out answers from the participants themselves, but not to give your own opinions!

topic guide

Writing a topic guide is the process that helps you decide what to say. You should not rely on ad-libbing as this is likely to result in the collection of lots of information that is not quite what you wanted to find out. Instead, create a topic guide where you write down what you are going to ask the group. You should aim to discuss about 3 or 4 broad subject areas, with specific questions under each of these.

This is also the time to consider your stimulus material. How can you illustrate what you would like the group to talk about, or do you need to remind them of something they have seen or heard? Newspaper clippings, photos, drawings and objects can all make useful stimulus material. However, using a topic guide does not mean that you must stick rigidly to its structure. This should be a conversation, and where possible you should move through the questions you want to ask in as natural an order as possible, which means being flexible with your topic guide.

recording

It is recommended that you record the session with at least 2 devices. This may be a simple tape recorder or more advanced video recording devices. However, should technology fail you will not know until it is too late. For this reason, there should always be an additional member of staff dedicated to taking notes. Their job is not to contribute but to write down as much as possible of what is being said and by whom. Bear in mind that if you are recording, you will need to transcribe the tapes. If transcribed externally, this will obviously need to be included in your budget. If transcribed internally, you will need to set aside an amount of time at least as long as the session took itself.

after the session

data analysis and writing the report

Focus groups provide large amounts of detailed data that will take time to analyse. Please refer to the advice in Writing Questionnaires on this site for information on how to analyse your data. The report itself should piece together all the information that has come out of the session. Refer to your original aims to give a structure to the report and ensure that you are answering what you wanted to know.

Costs

Running a focus group is likely to cost £500 - £1500. The following list describes the essentials that you will encounter if you choose to run a focus group:

  • payment for participants (£20 - £40 / person)
  • travel costs for participants
  • refreshments
  • venue hire
  • stimulus material
  • tapes for recording
  • batteries
  • transcription costs
  • overtime for additional staff member
  • your time