Focus Groups and focus group research
Focus group research involves organised discussion with a selected group of individuals to gain information about their views and experiences of a topic.
Focus group interviewing is particularly suited for obtaining several perspectives about the same topic.
The benefits of focus group research include gaining insights into people’s shared understandings of everyday life and the ways in which individuals are influenced by others in a group situation.
Problems arise when attempting to identify the individual view from the group view, as well as in the practical arrangements for conducting focus groups.
The role of the moderator is very significant. Good levels of group leadership and interpersonal skill are required to moderate a group successfully.
Powell et al define a focus group as a group of individuals selected and assembled by researchers to discuss and comment on, from personal experience, the topic that is the subject of the research. (1996: 499) Focus groups are a form of group interviewing but it is important to distinguish between the two. Group interviewing involves interviewing a number of people at the same time, the emphasis being on questions and responses between the researcher and participants. Focus groups however rely on interaction within the group based on topics that are supplied by the researcher. (Morgan 1997: 12)
Grounded Theory
The approach I take is based upon the Glaser and Strauss (1967) Grounded Theory method, albeit simplified. In sum Grounded Theory begins with a research situation. Within that situation, your task as researcher is to understand what is happening there, and how the players manage their roles. This is mostly done through observation, conversation and interview. Constant comparison is the heart of the process. At first you compare interview (or other data) to interview (or other data). Theory emerges quickly. When it has begun to emerge you compare data to theory. The task is to identify categories (roughly equivalent to themes or variables) and their properties (in effect their sub-categories). Thus the theory or results are emergent -- discovered in the data.
Sampling
The initial sample is likely to be defined by the choice of research situation. If there are many people associated with the situation, you might begin by putting together as diverse a sample as you are able. As categories emerge from the data, you then seek to add to your sample in such a way that you further increase diversity in useful ways. Your purpose is to strengthen the emerging theory by defining the properties of the categories, and how those mediate the relationship of category to category. Glaser and Strauss refer to this as theoretical sampling. The sample is emergent, as is the theory and the method generally.
Sampling is reinforced through the use of the triangulation method. This enables us to generate a representative sample. So by combining multiple observers, theories, methods, and empirical materials, we can hope to overcome the weakness or intrinsic biases and the problems that come from single method, single-observer, single-theory studies.
Thus in recent work carried out at the University of Plymouth focus groups have been triangulated in the following ways. For work that involved testing posters three target areas were identified. 1. The Local Plymouth/Cornwall Area, 2. Hampshire 3. Bristol. The rationale behind this was that the local area would act as a control while Hampshire and Bristol were specific target areas for the marketing department’s poster campaign. Once those areas were selected further triangulation was carried out with the selection of schools. In each area different types of schools were selected i.e. Comprehensive, Grammar and Private Schools were visited. Within the groups one also attempts to meet with a mixed selection of students in terms of gender, subject interests and so on.
Size
The recommended number of people per group is usually six to ten (MacIntosh 1993) less than six and people start to become self conscious about speaking and above ten it becomes harder for the researcher to handle the group and also people can ‘hide’ and not contribute. Six is probably the minimum as we are attempting to generate conversations rather than conduct one-to-one interviews. Incentives, whether expenses, gift vouchers or presents, will usually need to be offered.
Length of Time
The optimum length of time for a group is between 40 minutes and one hour although for web page utilisation research it might be one and a half hours. The length of time is often constrained by other factors i.e. in schools to a 40 minute lesson slot, room booking restraints, costs and so on. As a rule of thumb for a very small uncommunicative group 40 minutes is a long time with larger active groups one hour is too short.
The role of 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 (Kreuger 1988), 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.
Ethical issues
Ethical considerations for focus groups are the same as for most other methods of social research (Homan 1991). For example, when selecting and involving participants, researchers must ensure that full information about the purpose and uses of participants’ contributions is given. Being honest and keeping participants informed about the expectations of the group and topic, and not pressurising participants to speak is good practice. A particular ethical issue to consider in the case of focus groups is the handling of sensitive material and confidentiality given that there will always be more than one participant in the group. At the outset moderators will need to clarify that each participant’s contributions will be shared with the others in the group as well as with the moderator. Participants need to be encouraged to keep confidential what they hear during the meeting and researchers have the responsibility to anonymise data from the group.
Glaser, Barney G., and Strauss, Anselm L. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Aldine, pp. 271.
Homan R (1991) Ethics in Social Research. Harlow: Longman.
Kreuger R.A. (1988) Focus groups: a practical guide for applied research. London: Sage.
MacIntosh J. (1981) ‘Focus groups in distance nursing education’, Journal of Advanced Nursing 18: 1981-85.
Morgan D.L. (1997, 2nd Edition) Focus groups as qualitative research. London: Sage
Powell R.A. and Single H.M. (1996) ‘Focus groups’, International Journal of Quality in Health Care 8 (5): 499-504..
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