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Focus group
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Focus group
A focus group is a group interview involving a small number (sometimes up to twelve) of demographically predefined participants. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are used in market research to better understand people's reactions to products or services or participants' perceptions of shared experiences. The discussions can be guided or open. In market research, focus groups can explore a group's response to a new product or service. As a program evaluation tool, they can elicit lessons learned and recommendations for performance improvement. The idea is for the researcher to understand participants' reactions. If group members are representative of a larger population, those reactions may be expected to reflect the views of that larger population. Thus, focus groups constitute a research or evaluation method that researchers organize to collect qualitative data through interactive and directed discussions.
A focus group is also used by sociologists, psychologists, and researchers in communication studies, education, political science, and public health. Marketers can use the information collected from focus groups to obtain insights on a specific product, controversy, or topic. U.S. federal agencies, such as the Census Bureau for the 2020 decennial census, also use the focus group method for message testing purpose among diverse populations.
Used in qualitative research, the interviews involve a group of people who are asked about their perceptions, attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and views regarding many different topics (e.g., abortion, political candidates or issues, a shared event, needs assessment). Group members are often free to talk and interact with each other. Instead of a researcher/evaluator asking group members questions individually, focus groups use group interaction to explore and clarify participants' beliefs, opinions, and views. The interactivity of focus groups allows researchers to obtain qualitative data from multiple participants, often making focus groups a relatively expedient, convenient, and efficacious research method. While the focus group is taking place, the facilitator either takes notes and/or records the discussion for later note-taking in order to learn from the group. Researchers/evaluators should select members of the focus group carefully in order to obtain useful information. Focus groups may also include an observer who pays attention to dynamics not expressed in words e.g., body language, people who appear to have something to add but do not speak up.
Focus groups first started in the 1940s as a research method in the context of market research concerning radio soap operas. During the Second World War, Robert K. Merton set out to analyze the effectiveness of propaganda with the use of focus groups. Merton devised a procedure in which twelve participants at a radio studio would respond to negatively associated content by hitting a red button or positively associated information by hitting a green button. From there, Merton created an interviewing procedure to gain further insight into the subjective reactions of focus-group participants. He later established focus groups for the Bureau of Applied Social Research. The use of focus groups by sociologists gained popularity in the 1980s when Merton published a report on focused interviews. Paul Lazarsfeld had also received a government contract to get insight into individuals' responses to war radio propaganda.
Psychologist and marketing expert Ernest Dichter coined the term "focus group" itself before his death in 1991.
In disciplines of library and information science, when librarians intend to work on a library's collection, they consult patrons. The focus groups librarians organize are helpful in identifying patrons' needs. In addition, teachers, other professionals, and researchers can also be recruited to participate in focus groups to ascertain those individuals' library-related needs. Focus groups can also help librarians better understand patron behavior and the impact of services on the library use.
In the social sciences and in urban planning, focus groups allow interviewers to study people in a more natural conversational pattern than typically occurs in a one-to-one interview. In combination with participant observation, focus groups can be used for learning about group attitudes and patterns of interaction. An advantage of focus groups is their fairly low cost compared to surveys because focus groups allow a researcher to obtain results relatively quickly and increase the sample size by including several people at once. Another advantage is that a focus group can allow participants to learn from one another as they exchange views and to understand research as an enriching experience. The nature of the focus group contrasts with the more typically extractive nature of traditional social science research which seeks to "mine" participants for data (with few benefits for participants); this difference is especially important for indigenous researchers who employ focus groups to conduct research on their own ethnic group.
In marketing, focus groups are seen as an important tool for acquiring feedback regarding new products and other marketing-related topics. Focus groups are usually employed in the early stages of product or concept development, when organizations are trying to determine the overall direction of a marketing initiative. Participants are recruited on the basis of their similarity to members of the demographic groups targeted as potential consumers of the product. Focus groups allow companies wishing to develop, package, name, or test market a new product to get the perspective of potential consumers before the product is made available to the public. Focus groups can thus provide valuable information about the potential for consumer acceptance of the product.
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Focus group
A focus group is a group interview involving a small number (sometimes up to twelve) of demographically predefined participants. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are used in market research to better understand people's reactions to products or services or participants' perceptions of shared experiences. The discussions can be guided or open. In market research, focus groups can explore a group's response to a new product or service. As a program evaluation tool, they can elicit lessons learned and recommendations for performance improvement. The idea is for the researcher to understand participants' reactions. If group members are representative of a larger population, those reactions may be expected to reflect the views of that larger population. Thus, focus groups constitute a research or evaluation method that researchers organize to collect qualitative data through interactive and directed discussions.
A focus group is also used by sociologists, psychologists, and researchers in communication studies, education, political science, and public health. Marketers can use the information collected from focus groups to obtain insights on a specific product, controversy, or topic. U.S. federal agencies, such as the Census Bureau for the 2020 decennial census, also use the focus group method for message testing purpose among diverse populations.
Used in qualitative research, the interviews involve a group of people who are asked about their perceptions, attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and views regarding many different topics (e.g., abortion, political candidates or issues, a shared event, needs assessment). Group members are often free to talk and interact with each other. Instead of a researcher/evaluator asking group members questions individually, focus groups use group interaction to explore and clarify participants' beliefs, opinions, and views. The interactivity of focus groups allows researchers to obtain qualitative data from multiple participants, often making focus groups a relatively expedient, convenient, and efficacious research method. While the focus group is taking place, the facilitator either takes notes and/or records the discussion for later note-taking in order to learn from the group. Researchers/evaluators should select members of the focus group carefully in order to obtain useful information. Focus groups may also include an observer who pays attention to dynamics not expressed in words e.g., body language, people who appear to have something to add but do not speak up.
Focus groups first started in the 1940s as a research method in the context of market research concerning radio soap operas. During the Second World War, Robert K. Merton set out to analyze the effectiveness of propaganda with the use of focus groups. Merton devised a procedure in which twelve participants at a radio studio would respond to negatively associated content by hitting a red button or positively associated information by hitting a green button. From there, Merton created an interviewing procedure to gain further insight into the subjective reactions of focus-group participants. He later established focus groups for the Bureau of Applied Social Research. The use of focus groups by sociologists gained popularity in the 1980s when Merton published a report on focused interviews. Paul Lazarsfeld had also received a government contract to get insight into individuals' responses to war radio propaganda.
Psychologist and marketing expert Ernest Dichter coined the term "focus group" itself before his death in 1991.
In disciplines of library and information science, when librarians intend to work on a library's collection, they consult patrons. The focus groups librarians organize are helpful in identifying patrons' needs. In addition, teachers, other professionals, and researchers can also be recruited to participate in focus groups to ascertain those individuals' library-related needs. Focus groups can also help librarians better understand patron behavior and the impact of services on the library use.
In the social sciences and in urban planning, focus groups allow interviewers to study people in a more natural conversational pattern than typically occurs in a one-to-one interview. In combination with participant observation, focus groups can be used for learning about group attitudes and patterns of interaction. An advantage of focus groups is their fairly low cost compared to surveys because focus groups allow a researcher to obtain results relatively quickly and increase the sample size by including several people at once. Another advantage is that a focus group can allow participants to learn from one another as they exchange views and to understand research as an enriching experience. The nature of the focus group contrasts with the more typically extractive nature of traditional social science research which seeks to "mine" participants for data (with few benefits for participants); this difference is especially important for indigenous researchers who employ focus groups to conduct research on their own ethnic group.
In marketing, focus groups are seen as an important tool for acquiring feedback regarding new products and other marketing-related topics. Focus groups are usually employed in the early stages of product or concept development, when organizations are trying to determine the overall direction of a marketing initiative. Participants are recruited on the basis of their similarity to members of the demographic groups targeted as potential consumers of the product. Focus groups allow companies wishing to develop, package, name, or test market a new product to get the perspective of potential consumers before the product is made available to the public. Focus groups can thus provide valuable information about the potential for consumer acceptance of the product.
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