Focus Groups

The following information is excerpted from a PowerPoint presentation on Information Gathering, delivered by OMNI Institute to The Denver Foundation's current Learning Community grantees. To see the entire presentation in PDF, click here.  Other excerpts include surveys and interviews.

Using Focus Groups to Gather Information

• Focus groups are planned small group discussions of about 8-12 people
• They are highly participatory and can be used to obtain diverse ideas and perceptions about a topic of interest
• Different experiences, ideas and points of views often emerge

Benefits and Limitations of Focus Groups

Benefits

• Group dialogue can generate rich information as participants engage one another in different ways of thinking about or experiencing an issue
• Provides a representation of diverse opinions and ideas; gathers information from those who are most involved in an issue or have expert knowledge about the topic
• Relatively low cost and efficient way to generate a great deal of information

Limitations

• Discussions can be sidetracked or dominated by more vocal participants
• Focus groups are susceptible to facilitator bias which can impact the validity of findings
• Cannot assess how generalizable individual themes or viewpoints are within a like population

Steps Involved in Conducting Focus Groups

• Focus group guide development
  • Identify the kind of information needed
  • Develop 5-6 broad, open-ended questions
• Recruit participants
• Determine plan and logistics for conducting the focus groups
  • Location, time, potential incentives
• Conduct the focus groups
• Analyze Data

Tips for Effective Focus Group Guide Development

• Decide on what information is most important
  • 90-minute focus group generally consists of 5-6 questions
• Develop questions that will facilitate the sharing of ideas and experiences
  • Apply guiding principles interview questions
  • Ask questions that encourage the exchange of ideas and stories v. individual turn-taking in answering

Considerations for an Inclusive Focus Group Process

• Participation is not linked to services
• Information is confidential and protected - group norms
• "Getting to know each other" time
• Respect/honor participant expertise and time
• Consider language, gender and ethnic match of facilitator and participants
• Consider how cultural norms influence the group
• Consider role of community leaders in introductions/recruitment
• Use community-based sites for interviews
• Explain when results will be available and how they will be shared
• Share information back with the community and any action steps

Tips for Effective Focus Group Facilitation

Roles and Responsibilities of Facilitator

• Use the Focus Group Guide
• Be familiar with questions/content
• Establish rapport and create a comfortable, informal environment for discussion
• Set expectations for participation and group norms
• Ensure confidentiality
• Record the discussion (tape recorder or note taker)
• Obtain consent (written or verbal)
• Keep participants engaged, attentive and interested
• Monitor time and use time effectively

General Facilitation Tips

• Define key terms
• Minimize pressure to conform to a dominant viewpoint
• Repeat the question
• Pause for an answer
• Repeat the reply
• Ask when, what, where, and how questions to provoke more detailed information
• Use neutral comments (e.g. "anything else?")

Tips for Effective Focus Group Analysis

• Compile Responses
  • Repeated, virtually verbatim responses
  • Insightful comments
  • Unique opinions and valuable insights
  • Overall themes and summary
• Analyze Information
  • Creating a descriptive narrative
  • Clustering and grouping information
  • Summarizing recurring themes and "types" of comments for individual questions
  • Capture outliers