How To Run A Focus Group

How to Run a Focus Group
How to Run a Focus Group * 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 done, 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 ... Show more content on
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Sample tasks: have attendees sign in, distribute any relevant handouts, direct them to refreshments,
invite them to be seated Focus group session formally begins Process overview Sample tasks (by
researcher or moderator): welcome participants and thank them for attending, review purpose for the
session, introduce moderators, provide a brief overview of the focus group process, establish any
ground rules to encourage positive participation, have participants briefly introduce themselves
Moderator begins focus group questions Session debrief (an opportunity for the moderator to ensure
all points have been captured effectively and comprehensively) Sample tasks: highlight key points
of discussion, answer any final questions, describe how results will be used, inform participants if
(and how) study results will be made available, thank participants for their participation, remain in
the room until everyone leaves * Facilitating Session The job of the facilitator is to ensure members
stick to the topic, to ensure the session is productive and enjoyable for all. The facilitator :– must not
contribute to the discussion– brings the group back to the objective of the meeting– deals with
dysfunctional behavior so that everyone contributes to the discussion– should summarize at the end
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Focus Group Essay
At the end of the twelve week implementation, the Residential Assistant used researcher–designed
guided questions to conduct two focus group interviews. Out of the participants, twelve NCLP's and
six nurses were interviewed. This was because the interviews could only take place with those who
were off duty. All interviews were then recorded on tape, with permission, to ensure that no
information would go amiss (Kwong et al., 2011). Focus groups are a technique of group
interviewing that exploits communication between research members in order to gather together
information (Kitzinger, 1995). Focus groups are predominantly beneficial for exploring people's
knowledge and experience and it is extensively used to examine people's experiences of health
facilities and can be an effective method for exploring the attitudes and requirements of staff (Basch,
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
When group dynamics work well, the partakers work together with the researcher, taking the
investigation in new and frequently unanticipated directions. They are also good for giving a lot of
the participants the courage to speak, especially for those who may not feel confident enough to
speak in a one – to – one interview (Kitzinger, 1995). However, focus group methodology has its
limits. The focus collection depends heavily on supported discussion to harvest results; therefore,
the enablement of the dialogue is critical. The worth of the discussion rests upon the skill of the
mediator, who should be well qualified and preferably distant from the target populace, yet not
linked with the researchers (Leung and Savithiri 2009). From the groups, words and expressions
were extracted for coding into groups of meaning and themes were then

Online and Traditional Focus Groups
Marketing research.
Online and traditional focus groups.
Focus groups are a method of group interviewing in which the interaction between the moderator
and the group, as well as the interaction between group members, serves to elicit information and
insights in response to carefully designed questions. The dynamic nature of the questions asked by
the moderator and the group process, produces a level of insight that is rarely derived from
'unidirectional ' information collection devises such as observation, surveys and less interactional
interview techniques. Methods of recording and analyzing information gathered during focus
groups, and strategies for collecting unbiased information have helped focus group research to gain
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Strategies for increasing an open exchange of ideas will be discussed below. Focus groups can be
used in tandem with individual interviews. Evaluators may use focus groups to initially explore
issues and then seek expanded (perhaps private) information through individual interviews. 3)
Questionnaires compared to focus groups are relatively easy and inexpensive to create, analyze and
communicate the findings. Questionnaires may be administered to the masses while focus groups
typically elicit information from only 8 to 24 people who hopefully represent the population being
investigated. Questionnaires may include as many questions as the evaluator thinks the respondents
will complete, while focus group moderators have to crack the whip in order to get responses to five
or so key questions. So why use a focus group?? In some cases evaluators want to gain a deeper
understanding of the issues. Focus groups are able to delve much deeper into issues than
questionnaires. This is discussed further in the When to Use Focus Groups section.
Many evaluators use both focus groups and surveys. Surveys may indicate areas that require further
probing through focus groups. Focus groups may also be used in the creation of surveys. By
discussing the area in need of investigation, focus groups can illuminate key points about the topic
so that the survey is comprehensive enough. Focus groups can also clarify terminology used to

Focus Groups
Although Berg and Lune (2012) cite Barbour (2008) who states that focus groups are small groups
of unrelated individuals, I personally tend to side with Schein who states, "If you want to access
your organization's culture, bring together a group of employees who represent the parts of the
organization that may be most involved with solving the business problem..." (2009, p. 82). By its
very term, a focus group focuses on something. I believe that in ethnographic studies, the
"something" is the culture or microculture which relates the participants to each other. Focus groups
allow the researcher to obtain large amounts of data in a short amount of time. With a good
moderator of the focus group, the researcher should be able to discover ... Show more content on
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Based on my initial observations, I believe that each one has a unique style yet they all work
together cohesively. My focus group will, hopefully, elicit more folk terms. One taxonomy that I
have created is Kinds of Tools Used by a Locksmith. While observing, I noticed that two of the
employees use large tweezers to pick up pins (small parts inside a lock) while the other two had
good finger dexterity and were able to just pick up the small parts with their fingers. In addition,
since the group has worked together for over two years, they tend to "feed" off of one another. This
concept of "one–upping" the other may end up being either a benefit or a hindrance during my focus
group. If by listening to their coworkers, they are able to add to the conversation with additional folk
terms, taxonomies, and meanings (McCurdy, Spradley, and Shandy, 2005), I will learn more about
the microculture. I am hoping that it does not occur, but the downside of the "one–upping" could be
that they want to keep going back and forth on the same question and I, as the moderator, would
have to reign that in. All four people in my focus group are very vocal so I have an advantage with
completing a focus group.If the researcher has a mixture of quiet and vocal people in the group, the
vocal ones may take over and the moderator would need to

Focus Group Reflection Paper
Introduction
No matter the industry, communication plays a role unlike any other facet. It is a web, essentially,
that is responsible for holding every other facet together. Whether a publicly traded company, or a
small local business, having a lack of effective communication can alter the path to success
tremendously. In order to gain a better understanding of this viable role in business, I held a focus
group consisting of three men who own small businesses in my hometown. The topic of discussion
for our group was exactly that of the role communications plays in their given businesses, and the
many ways in which it has an affect. For small business owners especially, this role must never be
overlooked when striving for success. These owners seem to have a higher direct interaction rate
with their customers ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
I mentioned they should post flyers in the schools around town, offering small deals for the students.
By doing so, I think word–of–mouth customers would increase tremendously. These students tell
their parents, and their parents tell their friends as well. It is a win–win situation.
Reflecting back on our focus group discussion, I really enjoyed my time spent with these three men.
Given the commonalities the three share, I did not incur any challenges in our group discussion.
Having a focus group, as such, for any topic I think can be extremely beneficial for any matter worth
discussing; professionally or personally speaking.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I am grateful for my time spent with these three successful businessmen. Since I was
young, I have wanted to be an entrepreneur. The though of writing my own checks has always been
inspiring to me. For my future endeavors, I now recognize the power of communication and the
viable role it plays in every business. I hope one day I can take what I learned from this focus group,
and apply it to a business I call my

Focus Group Focus Groups
The populace of interest for the Women's Health and Money at Work Project focus groups was low
to moderate–income women in Los Angeles County. The study was organized and developed by Iris
Cantor – UCLA Women's Health and Education Research Center, and funded by Cathay Bank
Foundation. To note UCLA was approved by the IRB to move forward with the study. For this study
four focus groups were pre–scheduled through June – August 2015 at St. Joseph's Center (SJC) or
The New Economics Center for Women (NECW). Deciding on the two individual sites were
selected by targeting the low–income population and where they were geographically located. In
cooperation, SJC and NECW recruited all the participants through email and flyers. As well as, on
an ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Among the sample size, the income range was $0 – $17,450. In addition, the data gathered that 53%
of the women didn't finish elementary school or high school. The current employment position of
the women varied from 25% of the women being homemakers, 15% working full time, 14% part
time, 14% unemployed, 10% self employed, 10% were a student or working on a degree, and 12 %
social security, retired, disabled or other. Unfortunately, there was not a clear representation of the
average paid hours worked. Data Collection Eight to fifteenth participants were in attendance at
each focus group. At the start of each focus group participants began by completing a general survey
about their socio–demographic, finances, health and wellbeing. A researcher facilitated a series of
questions and two UCLA team members took notes and recorded each group. The questions
(appendix a) covered topics from overall health, nutrition, budget, savings, debt, and financial
security. All the information then was transcribed and analyzed by the UCLA team members. The 3
Spanish focus group was transcribed and interpreted by an outside vendor. While the English focus
an UCLA team member transcribed group. Data Analysis Equally important, to grasp how the
qualitative study data was extracted a codebook was produced and categorized all the responses.
After these questions

RTI Process In Secondary Schools: Focus Group Analysis
This article used a focus group approach to look at the perspectives of special education directors on
the RTI process throughout secondary schools. Out of eighty–five school districts, twenty public
secondary schools were randomly selected within four counties in a Midwestern state. There were
seventeen special education directors that participating in this study. Out of the two focus groups
that were conducted, eight directors attended the first focus group while the other nine directors
attended the second focus group (Sansosti, Goss, Noltemeyer, 2011). The purpose of this study was
to collect information about each special education director's professional background, what their
involvement in the RTI process was, and what their opinions ... Show more content on
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The feedback given for system structures was more negative than positive. A barrier that was
brought up throughout the study included the difficulty in finding time to provide interventions
when working with a secondary school's schedule. This also focused on the large amount of time
that was being taken away from other content areas when the student was needed to be elsewhere
for scheduled interventions. The directors also felt that the teachers did not have enough time to
participate in RTI procedures like data collection, planning, or collaborative meetings (Sansosti,
Goss, Noltemeyer, 2011). Another topic that was brought up was the confusion between state and
federal polices when dealing with a secondary school. Directors felt there was a lack of leadership at
the state department of education especially when it came to RTI (Sansosti, Goss, Noltemeyer,
2011). For roles and attitudes, the majority said that there was the need for collaboration throughout
the RTI process. Directors looked at the RTI process as a long–term commitment and thought that
general education teachers and special education teachers needed to be working together (Sansosti,
Goss, Noltemeyer, 2011). The participants also stated that the principles needed to be more
supportive of the RTI process which could then be modeled that for the general education teachers.
When looking at evidence based practices the directors felt it was crucial in order for the RTI
process to succeed. The directors felt that there was a lack of assessments being used on the students
as well as universal screening. Both are needed especially when it comes to looking for effective
interventions for each specific student. And finally, the participants thought that more training
opportunities were needed to increase the knowledge of RTI to the school

Generating Creative Ideas for Business Through...
Before starting a business, entrepreneurs need to take and use the methods to generate creative ideas
for product to be marketed and test new ideas. The methods are the focus group method,
brainstorming, brainwriting and problem inventory analysis. These methods are best suitable for an
organization that needs expansion in products or services
First is focus group method, focus group is defined as a group of individuals providing information
in a structured format. A moderator leads the group of about 8 to 14 participants through an open,
in–depth discussion rather than simply asking questions to solicit participants' responses. The group
is stimulated by comments from other group members in creatively conceptualizing and developing
a new ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Brainwriting is an alternative method to brainstorming that tries to encourage a more uniform
participation within a group. Like brainstorming, it is designed to generate lots and lots of ideas in a
short amount of time. This is method more to writing to convey new ideas for products. It also takes
place in groups where each group member will write their ideas over time.
This method has three rules that must be followed, namely the need to write or carry forward cycle
contributed three ideas in 5 minutes should be written in the form brainwriting then give it to the
next member. This is more of a discussion circle forward the idea of each member. Next rules is
following that members read every idea that was written to serve as an inspiration to be create
creative idea, if there is an idea written on the same form barinwriting, finally, this method requires
6 participants sit together and helped by a moderator.
Lastly is problem inventory analysis method, problem inventory analysis is a method of obtaining
new ideas and solutions by focusing on problems for certain product categories, customers usually
given a list of known problems for a particular product category and then asked to identify and
discuss the products in a category with specific problems. This will be more effective because it is
much easier to relate to products that have been identified problem proposed and obtained a new

ASD Focus Group Analysis
strategies to assist people with ASD or other challenges by breaking down their behavior into small
components. They consider the internal details. Others take a holistic view and look at the behavior
so they details they consider are mainly external, from the environment for example.
The researcher felt that was the nature of focus group but to a larger degree a behavior of human
nature, especially in groups where the participants know each other and work together. Therefore to
head off a loss of control of the groups the participants were asked to rate topics that were popular in
similar focus groups (Levy, Mandell and Schultz 2009; Pellicano et al. 2014). The strategy was used
to integrate the topics into the focus groups that participants

Using Focus Groups In Qualitative Research
In today's society, at risk youths often face challenges when reaching out to adults regarding their
personal situations, especially when it comes to them wanting someone to understand their own
perspectives. Therefore, it is important as a researcher to understand the different procedures to
research, especially when selecting an appropriate method to investigate a problem a community
faces, such as with studying youths. As a result, a researcher must follow the rule of thumb when
designing their methods to avoid ethical issues in qualitative research as well as exploring different
options to allow youths to open up to an adult researcher. However, when considering this problem,
the main goal for a researcher is to investigate what youths ... Show more content on
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In order to understand how this method can be used in this study, then it first must be explained.
According to the text, Making Sense of the Social World, focus groups are considered as, "a
qualitative method that involves unstructured group interviews in which the focus group leader
actively encourages discussion among participants on the topics of interest" (Chambliss & Schutt,
2016, p. 220). Often times young adults are more open when around others of their own age, this is
the main reason I selected this method because an at–risk youth is going to be more comfortable
answering questions and sharing their opinions when around a group that shares similar
characteristics or life situations compared to just a one–on–one conversation between them and a
researcher or amongst strangers. However, with this method there are also strengths and weaknesses
when using this method. The major strengths to focus groups are: they can save time and money
compared to other methods, they provide participants the opportunity to explain their viewpoints, it
allows for participants to be more open and give clarification on their personal and group
perceptions, and they provide for a broad range of information and data to be collected from the
sample. The disadvantages to focus groups are: they are hard to manage among a large group, there
can be disagreements or unnecessary conversations among participants that might take away from
the main questions being asked, and not everyone might what to participate or feel intimidated. Not
only are their strengths and weaknesses, but also there is also ethical concerns because it is an open
group setting compared to other methods. Therefore, the main ethical concern with focus groups is
that a researcher has disclosed participants' identities to each other, which can be a concern
particularly if there are sensitive topics being discussed among one

Focus Group Attitudes
Title ....................................
Focus Group:
The focus group consisted out of seven members and met on the 14th of February 2017, to prepare a
persuasive communication. Discussed was firstly the public opinion on the attitude object ex–
offenders and then more in detail the attitudes of the target group potential employers including
hiring managers, recruitment agencies, executive search agents, recruitment consultants and heads
of human resource departments, towards ex–offenders and to which obstacles these attitudes lead for
the attitude object. Afterwards, the focus group concentrated on creating ideas on how these
attitudes could be changed, to create equitable job application processes and increase employment
rates amongst ex–offenders.
The data emerged from the focus group discussion shows that upon release from prison the public's
opinion towards ex–offenders is more the same ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Potential employers are considered to be in high need for cognition and elaboration, as well as those
individuals had chosen to work in an industry that requires self–motivation, independent thinking,
problem–solving and a general interest and involvement in the economy and the labour market.
Thus, the communication will follow the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) by Petty and
Cacioppo (1986) and specifically concentrate on the central processing route, leading to an attitude
change with greater temporal persistence. To activate this route motivation and ability to process the
message are established. Then the stepwise elaboration approach to attitude change will be applied,
using the previously calibrated data from SJT. The triad of strong arguments leading to three
consecutive attitude shifts includes the presentation of the underlying problem of crime, the solution
to preventing re–offending and the gain from preventing

Focus Group Interview Essay
METHOD
The method of 'Focus group interview'.
A very central part of our project is aimed at a focus group interview which we want to conduct with
previous volunteers from Dan Church Aid. As you have to be within the age range of between 18–25
in order to volunteer for Dan Church Aid our participants will be within this.
Due to this aim we have chosen to use the semi–structured qualitative research method. This method
helps us not only to collect data, but also to formulate a framework and a group of questions that we
want to ask the participants of the focus group. This will thereby help us create an investigating and
comprehensive analysis.
One of the important aspects we will be focusing on is the volunteers experiences, emotions and
perceptions ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Furthermore the interviewer who is controlling the audio and the camera will also be writing down
key concepts in the conversation as a way of us being able to remember the essential things
afterwards.
When preparing this kind of interview the ethics of conducting this kind of method is essential. A
focal point within these problematics are in four fields which are: informed consent, confidentiality,
consequences and the role of the researcher (Kvale & Brinkmann 2009: 68). These are points that
has to be focused on in order to create an environment within this focus group interview that makes
the interviewees feel like it is a "safe zone".
In the way we want our analysis to form, we have chosen qualitative above quantitative because it is
a way of interacting with the young people, who have been volunteering, and by interacting with
them achieving both the answers to the questions we pose, but also their emotions, reactions etc. to
the memories that is brought back by talking to other volunteers, who have been in the same
situation. This would not be possible if we chose to do a quantitative survey which would focus
more on the statistics and the larger numbers of participants, this we are not interested in within this

Little Jags Focus Group Program Analysis
The Little Jags Focus Group is a tutoring program born from a combination of the experiences of
my brother, Daniel and my experiences helping other students. The goal of this program is to reach
the students who need help with more than just homework. Teachers decide what the child's needs
are and the child is paired with a compatible mentor. The teachers recommend students that they
think will benefit most from the program.
In the Focus Group, the teachers dictate which skills are addressed. The high school students then
tutor the younger children, working on the predetermined skills and not just homework. The Big
Jags, as the high school students are called, are the ones who help the Little Jags–the elementary
students. All of the work that ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Little Jags receive attention and instruction that may not always be possible in the classroom
with so many other students. The Big Jags develop different games and activities to help the Little
Jags focus their attention on their learning and retain the learned information better. The Big Jags
use different aids that either they learned when they were in elementary or ones that they generate
on the spot.
When it originally began, the goal of the program was to help take some stress off the teachers and
parents. Along the way, it has come to impact everyone involved in the program. The Big Jags not
only help the Little Jags with schoolwork, but also, they willingly give up their time and energy to
work with the younger students. Their generosity shows the Little Jags that someone cares and
wants them to succeed.
Likewise, the Little Jags teach the Big Jags, too. Sometimes, the Little Jags share small random
facts. Other times, there are unspoken lessons the younger students teach the older students that
make the most difference. The Big Jags learn to understand children as a whole and come to
remember how they were as children. They develop lots of patience and show that, even though they
are older, they are really young at heart and understand the Little

A Focus Group Study Of Altschuler And Anne Katz
Summary Joanne Altschuler and Anne Katz created a study ""Of course it's relevant" A focus group
study of older adults' perceived importance of HIV/AIDS prevention education" on the amount of
education older adults have about HIV/ AIDS. Katz and Altschuler both worked on figuring out,
how aware are the older adults of HIV/AIDS prevention. Their study's hypothesis was the
perception of HIV/AIDS prevention education. In their study they wanted to discover the reasons
why adults over 50 are not being educated on HIV/AIDS prevention. (Altschuler, Katz, 2015)
Altschuler and Katz seek to identify the reasons why adults over 50 are not aware of prevention
methods of HIV/AIDS. The study used a random sample of 52 adults, over the age of 50. The
sample ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The questions they provide for the discussions in each of the focus groups were great ways to get
conversations started between the participants about the subject. The questions were icebreakers,
ways to get the group motivated into the conversation without intimating or putting anyone on the
spot. The groups were led through five different questions all–relating to the education on
prevention methods of HIV/AIDS. With the five questions given to each focus group the authors
were able to pick up on four major themes that all groups shared. On the contrary, it was worthy to
see that out of the five focus groups there were common themes. These themes help the reader see
the image of what the participants spoke of and what were the results of the study looked

Focus Group
Focus Groups
An overview
Submitted to:
Prof. Schaff
By:
Muhammad F Balouch
Id # 617531
University of Bridgeport
Executive Summary ..3
Introduction ...4
History of Focus Group .5
Rational and Uses of Focus Group 5
Conducting a Focus Group Study ..7
Running a Focus Group ..8
Analysis and Writing Up . 8
Technique in Focus Group Research ..9
Presentation of the Evaluation ..10
Conclusion ..11
Bibliography ... 13
Executive Summary:
This paper discusses focus group ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
3
To my understanding the idea behind the focus group method is that group processes can help
people to explore and clarify their views in ways that would be less easily accessible in a one to one
interview. Group discussion is particularly appropriate when the interviewer has a series of open
ended questions and wishes to encourage research participants to explore the issues of importance to
them, in their own words, generating their own questions and pursuing their own priorities. When
group dynamics work well the participants work next to the researcher, taking the research in new
and often unexpected directions.
Group work also helps researchers tap into the many different forms of communication that people
use in day–to–day interaction, including jokes, anecdote, teasing, and arguing. Gaining access to
such variety of communication is useful because people 's knowledge and attitudes are not entirely

encapsulated in reasoned responses to direct questions. Everyday forms of communication may tell
us as much, if not more, about what people know or experience. In this way focus groups reach the
parts that other methods cannot reach, revealing range of understanding that often remain
unexploited by more straight data collection techniques.
Tapping into such interpersonal communication is also important because this can highlight cultural
values. Through

Focus Groups Are More Than Just Interviews
Focus Groups are more than just Interviews
Focus groups are known to have existing before WW11, however, it was in the 1940's sociologist
Robert Merton embraced and pioneered the qualitative research method of focus groups. Merton's
study observed and recorded the effects of educational propaganda and conditioning on troop
morale. Nonetheless, it wasn't until the 1980's, focus groups were rediscovered and became a
common method of qualitative research within social sciences. Subsequently, more studies over the
years have helped to develop and refine focus group methods. Qualitative methods such as focus
groups are a collaboration between the researcher and participants to gain a rich, deep ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
Focus groups are organised, group discussions between group members and the researcher, and are
most suitably used for exploring specific topics, on points of view, exploring attitudes and personal
experiences in order to obtain data. In contrast to interviews that asks a specific set of questions. The
role of the focus group researcher is essentially to steer the direction of group discussion or to
provoke participation through further questioning when all seems flat. The researcher needs to
collect data, during the discussion. Also, prevent an individual participant from dominating the
discussion and encourage the more reserved participant. Finally the researcher must at all times
ensure flexibility, objectiveness and empathy and analyse collected data for the report. According to
Forsyth (2010, p. 130) Tuckmann and Jensen's (1977) model of characteristics within a group,
consist of four stages of process, the first or initial stage, 'forming' is when individuals within the
group have not articulated any view and have little trust and no conflict is present, however, there is
an element of apprehension. The second stage, 'storming' takes place as participants in the group
start to become less apprehensive, more trustful and start to assess each other through subtle and not
so subtle arbitration, exploring their

The And Focus Group Moderator Essay
(1) How would you describe Jemma's approach to questioning? Jemma, the researcher and focus
group moderator, has structured the discussion in the following way: to start with, Jemma provides a
frame of reference for the focus group referring to the aim of her research, and summarizes the pre–
formulated research questions that serve as openings to obtain such feedback (Nel, Romm, & Tlale,
2015). Focus groups are seen as providing a unique data source, and tend to emphasise their value in
exploring participants' knowledge and experiences and in helping to understand not only what
people think, but also why they think the way they do (Greenwood, Ellmers, & Holley, 2014). Del
Rio–Roberts (2011) discusses that there are normally two types of questions asked in focus groups:
firstly, the warm–up questions, and secondly, the more serious research questions. Jemma uses this
approach to questioning by asking the group "so which social media if any, do you make use of for
growing your business?"; and then follows that with "tell a bit more how you go about using them?"
(Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2016). These types of questions are more open–ended (Clung,
1997), which allow for the discussion to unfold, and progressively get more specific as the group
interactions increase, which connects with the semi–structured method applied by Jemma. The
flexibility of this approach helps create a climate where any responses can be seen as permissible
(Murgado–Armenteros, Torres–Ruiz, &

A Research On Focus Groups And Surveys
Focus groups and surveys are particularly useful in gathering information on how a vast group of
people feel about a particular service or product. "The method is particularly useful for exploring
people 's knowledge and experiences and can be used to examine not only what people think but
how they think and why they think that way" (Kitzinger, 1995, pp. 299). Along with giving insight
into those feelings, this method can help to improve the design or implementation of how that
product or service is perceived by the public. In general, focus groups are composed of five to ten
individuals with similar characteristics relating to the topic of interest. Focus groups can give
insightful data on the participants being interviewed; however, ... Show more content on
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These categories included questions such as age grouping, gender, and ethnicity. While data
classification helps in clarifying information, one particular system does not fit all. For example,
while the research team decided to classify the gathered data using demographics as a particular
method, another research team may decide to classify in another way; no one method is right or
wrong, but some methods are easier to understand than others. Along with questions to attain
demographic identifiers, questions about what people think about their own insurance companies
were obtained as well. The results of the demographic identifiers can be found in the Appendix,
Figure 1A.
DATA COLLECTION
The research team's focus group interview consisted of five questions pertaining to the participant's
own insurance company or insurance in general. To begin, participants were asked if they believed
that costs of medical care were too high. All of the twenty–six participants answered "yes." Further,
when they were asked why they thought the costs were too high, the majority of the participants
explained that while some of the costs could be attributed to malpractice insurance costs for the
physicians, higher costs could be attributed to the unhealthiness of the country. For example, with 65
million adults and 10 million children suffering from obesity and obesity related illnesses, it is
apparent that with simple changes in lifestyle the

Focus Groups
more opportunity to data that is attractive to the individual (eccentric data). McQuarrie and
McIntyre recommend that this "group distinction" makes bunch meets the unique setting when the
goal is an examination of generally held states of mind, convictions, and practices.
To comprehend why focus groups are famous, and where they are suitably utilized, we investigated
a portion of the suppositions that underlie the utilization of focus groups as a method for information
accumulation. In particular, we needed to see whether there is a "group contrast" in the sort of
reactions a group interview produces compared and an individual interview. We additionally
examined a few contrasts amongst the group and individual interview members, as far as ... Show
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The outcomes displayed here affirm the third suspicion: that focus group discourses are an approach
to watch how social strengths influence a given point. At the point when contrasting a total number
of regulating reactions with unusual responses, examination results did not bolster the theory that
group interviews create more standardizing or regularly held reactions. Respondents were near as
prone to talk about generally shared data in a one–on–one setting as in a group setting. In Supreme
terms, the individual and the group interviews delivered the same number of regulating reactions,
paying little heed to the theme of the talk.
Be that as it may, the example of response generation differed between the two interview settings. In
group interviews, standardizing reactions happened prior and were talked about longer than in
individual interviews, while quirky results happened later and were not examined finally. There was
no such example in the personal interviews: Normative and eccentric effects occurred all through
the examination and were talked about for around the same measure of

The Importance Of Conducting Focus Groups On Students
limitations; it would have been very difficult to recruit students by another means, so it was easier to
choose students who were available and accessible. It was also easier to recruit participants to take
part in groups because the participants knew each other prior to the focus group, this is known as a
natural group (Bryman, 2012). Kitzinger demonstrated that there are benefits of conducting focus
groups with participants who already know each other. For example, the discussion may be seen to
be more honest in a natural group (Kitzinger, 1994). Therefore it is likely that these natural groups
produced more honest and open discussions as the participants recruited were already aware of one
another and able to speak without embarrassment ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
I encouraged all participants to speak naturally and honestly. The focus groups were recorded and
some brief notes were made to note any particularly important details but without disengaging from
the focus group. The focus groups were structured, with several key questions that were asked to the
participants, however these key questions were very general, which was the same approach used by
Schlesinger et al. (1992). This allowed for the two focus groups responses to be compared, as
without this structure the two focus groups could have discussed very different topics and been
difficult to analyse (Bryman, 2012). The broad natured questions allowed for in–depth discussions
to take place between the participants in the focus groups, and when an interesting point arose, the
questions were altered to gain more information in addition to preventing the respondents from
repeating themselves. A copy of the focus group topic guide can be found in Appendix 2.
The sessions lasted between thirty and forty minutes, which were appropriate lengths to enable
enough information and data to be gathered from the participants whilst also ensuring that
everything discussed was relevant to this project. Once enough information had been gathered and
all the topics and questions had been answered, the participants were thanked for participating and
then debriefed on the focus group and informed of how

Introducing Focus Groups
Qualitative Research: Introducing focus groups Jenny Kitzinger, research fellowa + Author
Affiliations aGlasgow University Media Group, Department of Sociology, University of Glasgow,
Glasgow G12 8LF This paper introduces focus group methodology, gives advice on group
composition, running the groups, and analysing the results. Focus groups have advantages for
researchers in the field of health and medicine: they do not discriminate against people who cannot
read or write and they can encourage participation from people reluctant to be interviewed on their
own or who feel they have nothing to say. This is the fifth in a series of seven articles describing
non–quantitative techniques and showing their value in health research ... Show more content on
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It also makes them useful in studies examining why different sections of the population make
differential use of health services.13 14 For similar reasons focus groups are useful for studying
dominant cultural values (for example, exposing dominant narratives about sexuality15) and for
examining work place cultures–the ways in which, for example, staff cope with working with
terminally ill patients or deal with the stresses of an accident and emergency department. The
downside of such group dynamics is that the articulation of group norms may silence individual
voices of dissent. The presence of other research participants also compromises the confidentiality
of the research session. For example, in group discussion with old people in long term residential
care I found that some residents tried to prevent others from criticising staff–becoming agitated and
repeatedly interrupting with cries of "you can 't complain"; "the staff couldn 't possibly be nicer." On
the one hand, such interactions highlighted certain aspects of these people 's experiences. In this
case, it showed some resident 's fear of being "punished" by staff for, in the words of one woman,
"being cheeky." On the other hand, such group dynamics raise ethical issues (especially when the
work is with "captive" populations) and may limit the

Focus Group Discussion
Objective The main objective of this focus group discussion was to get information from human
resource representatives, as well as a few mangers of surrounding companies about their feeling and
attitudes toward MBA programs, North Dakota State University's program specifically. Our
discussion focused on four main aspects of MBA programs: employer sponsored MBA programs,
attitudes toward MBA programs, the pros and cons of the MBA program at North Dakota State
University, and the human resource representatives' thoughts on MBA employees. The information
collected from the discussion will be used to encompass MBA education in the greater Fargo–
Moorhead area.
Method and Procedure The team brainstormed a list of questions ... Show more content on
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To make conversations more personal, the moderator had to address some more sensitive subjects
that would in turn make people more shy to answer, but after a few individuals would give answers,
other would bring it back to them and answer the question fully. Also, when you addressed an
individual by name, it make the conversation more relatable and would result in improvement
participation rates and positively affect quality of data gathering.
What We Would Do Differently
If we could do this focus group again, we would try and include a larger collection of participants.
This improvement would allow us to hear more insights, and give our group a wider variety of
responses. A smaller–sized group may be more personal, but doesn't offer as much depth as a
slightly larger size.
Additionally, something that would help is finding ways to get people to participate more during the
focus group. Not everyone will have as much experience as the next person, but it's still important to
hear their thoughts and opinions. The more that people participate, the better our findings will

On The Ball ' Fitball : Focus Group Study For Initial...
'On the Ball' Fitball: Focus Group Study for Initial Concept Testing Niveditha Kumar University of
Southern California 'On the Ball' Fitball: Focus Group Study for Initial Concept Testing 'On The
Ball' is a new brand of exercise ball that is soon to be launched in the market. The product's unique
selling proposition (USP) claim is that it is the first ever brand to have 30 unique exercises printed
on the ball. The product was developed after finding a distinctive gap in the market for at–home
exercise equipment that can be used most effectively with minimal supervision, in today's hectic
world. The company approached the agency "ABC" to develop an advertising campaign that would
most effectively convey the USP, create buzz and promote sales over a period of 6 months. The
company defined the target market as males and females aged 25–55 in the middle and upper
income brackets. The company decided to foray into the fitness industry owing to the scope of
growth over the next five years. The fitness industry in the USA is expected to make a profit of
$102.2 million in 2014 with trends indicating annual growth at the rate of 0.5% to $1.9 billion in
2019 (Carusotto, 2014). The IBIS World report contains findings that the industry is declining as a
whole and the concentration of such establishments across the country is very low, with relatively
moderate technology change (Carusotto, 2014). 'On The Ball' claims that this allows for new
product innovations to find it's

Content Analysis of Focus Group Data
RESEARCH Understanding the Experiences of Adult Learners: Content Analysis of Focus Group
Data Jeff Zacharakis, Marie Steichen, and Gabriela Diaz de Sabates, Kansas State University
Dianne Glass, Kansas Board of Regents ABSTRACT In this qualitative research study, we sought to
better understand the experiences of adult learners in adult education centers. We conducted eight
focus groups with 104 adult education students from 25 adult learning centers. Five groups were
made up of English–speaking ABE students; learners in the three ESL groups spoke Spanish. We
used an iterative content analysis method. Strategic Analysis of Representations Approach (SARA),
to explore data gathered from the tocus groups. Six themes emerged: ... Show more content on
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Specifically, adult student persistence is effectively influenced by four pillars of support: (a) the
extent to which students are able to manage positive and negative forces, (b) support from a school
's staff for students ' sense of self–efficacy, (c) established realistic and attainable educational goals,
and (d) the opportunity to assess progress toward those established goals (Comings, Parrella, &
Soricone, 1999). Also important to adult education completion is the nature of interactions among
students and staff. In a study of 600 literacy and numeracy students in Scotland, Tett, and
Maclachlan (2007) found that learners who networked with other students and who interacted with
their teachers had a more robust learning experience and generally demonstrated more positive life
changes. Kegan et al. (2001) connected learning content and skills with complex meaning systems
that are conceptually grounded in the idea that adults develop their reality and beliefs over time
through a socializing process that occurs in and outside the classroom. After studying the
developmental changes in 41 learners at three adult learning centers over period of 9–14 months,
they concluded that adult learners change in a variety of ways that allow them to consolidate and
elaborate their skills, knowledge, perspectives, and beliefs. The positive effect of adult education on
learners is established in the literature. Kegan et al.

Focus Group Essay
1 INTRODUCTION Focus group is a qualitative technique used mostly in marketing research and
also other areas of research. This technique is used to collect primary data. This document consists
of information about focus group. The main objective of this assignment was to investigate how
focus groups techniques are used to collect primary data about the phenomenon at hand in the real
world. The research method used was Google scholar for academic journals. The campus library
database was also used for more academic journals and textbooks from the Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University (NMMU) different libraries. The main problem experienced in the
completion of this document was that most textbooks about this studied topic were ... Show more
Wiid & Diggines (2009:90) express that "sessions should preferably be recorded (both visual
and audio) so that the researcher can review the sessions later in order to gain further insights".
These tools therefore, assist to keep the already realised needed data and the data that the moderator
was unaware of during the discussion. 2.1.6 Length of group discussion When planning F.G it is
essential to plan the duration precisely as it may play an impact on the data collected. However, just
like group sizes, length of F.G depends on the complexity of the issue at hand. The more complex of
the issue is the more the duration of the discussion is required, but if so then breaks must be taken in
between to let the participants to enliven and produce successful F.G (Malhotra & Birks
2006:161). While on the hand, Seymour (2004:05) being unambiguous reveals that "most focus
groups encompass 90 minutes to three hours of discussion". With the above discussed characteristics
of F.G considered, then one has to scrutinise the advantages and disadvantages of F.G. The
following section discusses the advantages and disadvantages of F.G. 2.2 ADVANTAGES F.G has
its own advantages which can attract this technique to be used. These advantages are discussed
individually beneath. Cost– because discussions are done simultaneously then it reduces the cost
(Wiid

The Use and Importance of a Focus Group
A focus group instrument is used when it is well suited to the subject matter in question by listening
to the opinions of others in a small and safe group setting before they form thoughts and opinions.
An A typical focus group is between 6–12 homogeneous people who share similar characteristics or
common interests. Focus groups generally reveal what each person within the group truly feels on
the subject which provides credibility to the study. The facilitator is key to promoting an accepting
environment where the participants can speak freely without judgment allowing them to answer
each question in their own words and acerbate on each answer. Surveys are good for collecting
information about people's attributes and attitudes but if you need to understand things at a deeper
level then use a focus group. The facilitator's goal is to generate as many and diverse opinions from
as many different people in the time allotted. Although the discussion is free flowing, the facilitator
follows a carefully structured list of predetermined questions that specifically satisfy the purpose of
the subject matter (Christiansen, Johnson, & Turner, 2014). Ideally, participant comments will
stimulate and influence the thinking and sharing of others. Some people even find themselves
changing their thoughts and opinions during the group.
A focus group requires planning. Aside from a facilitator, it is recommended a note taker be present
to record either the subjective comments of the

Focus Group Study
Guide for focus groups Once all participants have arrived, the researcher will explain the purpose of
the study and the methods to be used for data collection. The purpose of this study is to explore
clinical decision–making skills in different levels of expertise in dentistry and factors influencing
these skills. The focus groups will be used for getting more information about various factors that
influence clinical decision making of dental practitioners in different clinical settings. Thank you for
your participation. Your participation is voluntary and the statements made in the focus group
interview have no relationship to or influence on your current or future study or your work and
responsibilities. Your participation in this study will be kept confidential by the researcher. Open–
ended questions will be ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
No names will be used on the transcripts. Participant input will be identified only with anonymous
labels. Are there any questions or concerns? Before we start with the questions, please take a quiet
moment to recall and reflect on your experiences when you make clinical decisions and think about
several factors that may affect your skills in clinical environment. Questions 1. Can you think of any
particular examples that gave you some problems with decision making or which changed your
approach? 2. What factors are likely to influence you to make decisions in clinical practice? (e.g.
difficulty of tasks, dental practitioners, dental patients, environment) 3. How does the factors
(difficulty of tasks, dental practitioners, dental patients or environment) affect clinical decision
making? 4. Do these factors help or hinder you to make clinical decisions? Use probing questions to
facilitate further discussion or participation such as: 1. Does anyone have any other thoughts on
that? 2. Can you provide an example? 3. What else would you like to tell

Focus Group Essay
Professor Wohn IS 375–001 Designing the User Experience 12 November 2014 ASSIGNMENT #3
FOCUS GROUP Transcription: For the transcription, I went with the INTERMEDIATE OPTION
where I only recorded the important sections. There were a few moments during the study where the
conversation got a little off topic. Those parts are not included in the transcription below. Also, the
conversation was very informal, so I did my best to make everyones words sound more proper
without changing the meaning of their statements. *General Introduction and briefing* Is health
important to you? * General consensus is yes, of course health is important (no one chose to
elaborate) How often do you think about your health? * All the ... Show more content on
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Basically any technology that is focused on health. * No * I don't but a few of my friends do * I
don't personally but I worked out with a friend who uses FitBit * They seem interesting, but I've
never tried using one since I don't work out. Maybe if i worked out I would try one Ian, what is
FitBit like and how does your friend like using it? * My buddy on the team uses it and he loves it.
He keeps telling me and Jose to get one. It's basically a digital wristband that he wears on his wrist
all day, everyday and it tracks his activity throughout the day. It also links to an app on his phone
where he can record his food intake and sleep. Wow that sounds awesome! Do any of you ever see
yourselves ever using anything like that? * No, probably not * Actually after talking about it, I kind
of want one now haha but I heard its pretty expensive * Yea it sounds pretty cool * I can appreciate
the device and I like what it does, but I don't see myself ever using it I quickly looked up the price of
FitBit online and found it was roughly between $100–150 depending on the model Yea I'm sure a
device like that would be costly, but how much do you think you would be willing to spend on
FitBit if you really liked the way it worked. * I guess 50 bucks or so If I told you that it costs about
$100, would you still want to buy it? * Maybe

Focus Group Interview Paper
The focus group interviews were located in a classroom in Rowland Hall, on the campus of the
University of California, Irvine. There were four students and a moderator in an empty classroom.
They were strategically placed in a circle, so the participants could all see each other. The students
being seated in a circle made it the prime environment for open dialogue. This particular classroom
was chosen because it was convenient to all the participants in the study due to its proximity to the
classes on campus. The classroom was very quiet and there were no interruptions while the focus
group interviews were in session. The time was not shown so the participants could not be distracted
and they can focus on the questions being asked. The only ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
Each of the focus groups split up and were sent to various parts of the University of California,
Irvine campus to conduct these interviews. The interviews for the "Coping Mechanism for
loneliness and stress with the use of Technology" were conducted at about one o'clock in the
afternoon on August 12th, 2015. Each focus group interview did not have a minimum amount of
time, but there was a maximum time of thirty minutes. The focus group interviews were measured in
five minute intervals to make it easier to analyze and for the moderator to stay under thirty minutes.
All of the five different focus groups were happening simultaneously around the University of
California, Irvine campus. After each interview, the recordings were then transcribed verbatim. In
the transcript, all of these things were noted: behavioral cues, laughter, and pauses were all written
down to make it the most accurate. The moderator did not take any notes during the interview it was
only recorded on the audio

Focus Group Design
Running head: CONDUCTING A FOCUS GROUP
Conducting a Focus Group of XXX Educational Program Graduates By Outstanding DHA Student
Medical University of South Carolina
PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to describe the planning and design of a focus group for
recent graduates of the XXX Program at YYY State University in Northridge (UN). The mission of
the XXX program is to produce graduates that can function effectively in staff, front–line
management and middle management positions for a variety of health care sectors. Insufficient data
exists to determine qualitatively if we have fulfilled our mission. This qualitative research is
intended to ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The letter will be followed with a telephone call by the investigator or research assistant to
determine level of interest and availability. The investigator has chosen to utilize Morgan's (1997)
"rules of thumb" to determine the numbers of participants and groups. The goal will be to have
sufficient participants to create a minimum of three groups of six to ten individuals participating in a
two–hour focus group. The maximum number of groups will be five.
Structure
The unit of analysis is the group and to assure inter–group comparability, the investigator will utilize
a more structured format with high moderator involvement. However, the moderator will be free to
probe deeper into a given topic and allow new topics to be raised as needed. If appropriate, a reverse
funnel approach will be allowed in order to solicit free–flow conversation particularly toward the
end. Under the auspices of the general research question, the questions utilized by the moderator
will be framed around the curriculum content requirements of the Commission of Accreditation of
XXX . Table 1 lists the proposed questions.
Table 1
|CA XXX Curriculum |Focus Group Questions |
|Structuring, marketing, positioning and governing health |How would you characterize your
knowledge of organizational |
|organizations to achieve optimum performance. |structures and has

Focus Group Analysis
The purpose of this focus group is to to identity why members of fraternities and sororities, groups
that contain elements of a primary, intimate, and task group, continue membership after their
organization enters into the storming phase during a particular task or group development. In order
to achieve this, I will need to ask these organizations about their intragroup conflict, membership
perceptions, and why they choose to stay in an organization that they may disagree with. As far as
recruitment, there are two different directions that I could take in order to achieve optimal results.
The first would be to contact all National Panhellenic Conference sororities and North–American
Interfraternity Conference fraternities and ask them if they have chapters struggling with
membership issues or intragroup conflict issues and if they would be interested in having members
from that chapter participate in a focus group to determine why members ... Show more content on
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I will be able to observe the comfort level of the individuals who are talking at any particular time,
and I will also be able to see the reactions of their peers. Both allow for me to have a more in depth
look at the impact the storming stage has on members, regardless of if they choose to leave their
organization. I also will have the participants write down their answers to each question prior to the
session. That way they can prepare and reflect on the group behavior of their organization. After the
focus group, the moderator will tell the individuals what the purpose of the focus group was for.
After we have collected, analysed, and drawn conclusions, we will send those to the chapters and/or
meet with them to discuss not only our findings on why members stay, even during conflict they do
not agree with, but also what solutions their members have to address and solve the intragroup
conflict that is hindering their

The Strengths and Weaknesses of Focus Group Research
Focus groups are a prominent method of enquiry, regularly used within the field of social science
and in particular, qualitative research. The focus group practice involves a number of participants
having an open discussion on a specific topic, set by a researcher. The researcher acts as a moderator
to aid discussion by using probes to collect desirable data. This process is recorded and transcripts
are used to interpret and analyse given information.
Carson et al (2001, p.114) refers to focus groups as "A research technique that collects data through
group interaction on a topic or topics". They also suggest that the central distinctive characteristic of
focus groups is group interaction, which generates a mass of data, which would be ... Show more
Lastly, Auguste Comte (1798–1857), a sociologist and empirical researcher, proposed that the
invariant laws apparent in natural science were also present in matters of social science. Comte
implied that research methods used in natural science were also appropriate to the study of social
science and phenomena. Comte influenced 20th Century research paradigms, which resulted in a
school of thought called positivism. Positivism states that only observable phenomena count as
knowledge. Positivism also promotes scientific research methods and empirical testing of
hypotheses. Positivism encouraged the formalising of quantitative research methods, collecting
numerical data.
However, other philosophical perspectives challenged positivism. Immanuel Kant, (1724–1804), a
philosopher, suggested that there were other ways to understand the world. He believed knowledge
could be acquired through interpretations and experiences. Other perspectives, such as that of Kant,
consequently led to the employment of another school of thought called interpretivism.
Interpretivism promotes subjective understanding of meaningful experiences. Interpretivism
encouraged the formalising of Qualitative research methods to overcome the limitations that
quantitative research possessed.
The use of focus groups as a qualitative and interpretive method of enquiry comprises of a number
of strengths and weaknesses.
One of the most prominent strength of focus groups is the ability to collect both

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Focus Group
Focus group is one of the most popular qualitative research methods for organizations to explore the
feasibility of undecided plans, strategies or products through group discussion. Around 6 – 10 of
people with common or different characters, backgrounds, incomes, genders and ages will be
recruited to form a group. An agenda establishes by researcher will lead the direction of discussion.
The result from the free, in–depth and on purpose discussion can be a reference for determination of
their future plan. Is focus group a good research method or not? It has been already discussed by the
academic community widely. Following there are five literature reviews to evaluate the
characteristics, strengths and limitations of focus group.
There is no lack of definitions about what focus group actually is. As Vaughn and colleagues (1996)
mentioned (as cited in Claudia & Jonathan, 2004), there are two main characteristics of focus group:
a well prepared agenda and questions with a professional moderator and to obtain the perceptions,
feelings and opinions of participants appointed topic. Wilkinson (2004) also gave a simple definition
on it (as cited in Pranee, 2011), "a focus group is an informal discuss among a group of selected
individuals about a particular topic". However, it is easy to mix up focus groups ... Show more
It is welcomed by researchers because of its unique function. These five literature reviews briefly
evaluate the definition, characteristics, preparation, strengths and limitations of focus group.
However, all of them are mainly focus on the traditional focus group, which is a face to face
discussion. In fact with the advance of internet, online focus group also becomes more and more
popular. When comparing traditional focus group to online focus group, their advantages and
disadvantages can be easily observed. Therefore in the future books and articles will probably talk
more about online focus

Focus Group Action Plan
Purpose The purpose of this focus group is to gather information about what important information
about what topics should be included in a community education series about frailty and the
interventions to reducing frailty risk.
Logistics
The focus group will meet on Wednesday, July 11th from 6–8 pm at the Winston Salem Central
Library. This is a public setting and central to all areas of the community. Light refreshments will be
provided, and the room arranged to facilitate conversation (University of Massachuetts, nd).
Focus Group Participants: The focus group participants will be parents, neighbors or friends
recruited by nomination method from a homogeneous group of older adults referred to the facilitator
by peers. The moderator ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Introductions: The moderator introduces herself (Susan Blair, occupational therapist) The assistant
moderator (insert name) who will serve as time keeper and recorder will be introduced at this time.
Each participant will introduce themselves providing name, where they live, if they are retired, and
what they love the most about growing older.
III. Purpose: The purpose of the focus group is to gather information about educating community–
dwelling older adults about frailty risk and that the feedback collected will help design an education
program for older adults who may have decreased knowledge about frailty and frailty risk.
IV. Ground Rules: Participation in the focus group is voluntary, that it is all right to abstain from
discussing specific topics if you are not comfortable, that all responses are valid–there are no right
or wrong answers, to please respect the opinions of others even if you do not agree, to speak as
openly as you feel comfortable, and avoid revealing very detailed information about your personal
health. (University of Massachuetts, nd)
V. Work through the questions: Using strategies, including repeating question, moving around the
circle of individuals, using pauses, using active listening to help clarify individual's responses, and
using neutral comments like "Anything else?" (OMNI,

Focus Groups' Role in Research Essay
It has been decided to focus on to explain on a personal experience whereby focus groups produced
positive or negative information hence anticipated as of other types of research. The importance of
Focus groups providing better, or worse, information this is highlighted by Pitt–Catsouphes et al,
2006 (p.365) who states that focus groups "offers the advantage of creating inductive insight, and
these insights can then be later used in the development of quantitatively instruments such as
surveys", Duarte et al, (2006, pg.202) adds that researchers may still disagree on the members
emphasis.
Four main aspects Focus groups will be discussed. First, a personal experienced researched focus
group conducted in a lecture. Following that, the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Experience has shown that smaller groups may be dominated by one or two members of the group,
while larger groups are difficult to manage and inhibit participation by all members of the group".
This definition could also be supported by Morgan 1997 (p.2) who mentions that "focus groups are
basically group interviewers, although not in the sense of an alternation between a researcher's
questions and the researcher participant's responses. Instead, the reliance is on interaction within the
group, based on topics that are supplied by the researcher who typically takes the role of the
moderator".
A focus group discussion was conduct in our lecture whereby the moderator was testing the public
(students) opinion on a more intimate level toward a sum of different members of Parliament. I
would like to clarify that this was not a classic focus group but a practical one. As it was not a
classical one, the information which was delivered was quite true and some were not of serious
however more of a mockery. There were positive as well as negative. The positive one was that
people where open to express they opinions which were intimate freely, everyone came up with
different opinion that was accurate and the rest of the group seemed to have agreed on, the group
was not undecided.
As for the

The Importance of the Focus Group Method
Focus groups are a form of group interview that make use of the communication between research
participants in order to produce data. Group interviews are mostly used as a quick and easy way to
collect data from several people at the same time and focus groups explicitly use group interaction
as part of the method. This means that the researcher doesn't just ask each person to respond to a
question in turn, but people are encouraged to talk to one another: asking questions, exchanging
stories and commenting on each other's experiences and points of view. The method is mainly useful
for exploring people's knowledge and experiences and can be used to study not only what people
think but how they think and why they think that way.
The reason why focus group method is used is that group processes can help people to explore and
clarify their views in ways that would be less easily accessible in a one to one interview. Group
discussion is mainly appropriate when the interviewer has a series of open ended questions and
wishes to encourage research participants to explore the issues of importance to them, in their own
terms, generating their own questions and focusing on their own priorities. Often when the group
dynamics work well the participants work together with the researcher, taking the research in new
and often unexpected directions.
Group work also helps researchers tap into the many different forms of communication that people
use in day to day interaction. Having

Focus Group Research Paper
TMDEOhio Behavioral Research Focus Group
The TMDEOhio Focus Group will serve as an opportunity to bring a carefully selected segment of
the target audience together for an interactive and spontaneous discussion about traumatic life
events. Group face–to–face interviews will provide an opportunity to visualize members of our
target audience's body language, facial expressions and tone of voice when sharing personal life
experiences in a group setting.
Selection and Recruitment Process The purpose of this study is to gain further insight on the
attitudes and behaviors of women, 25–45, who share common traumatic life experiences. Utilizing
questionnaire respondents ensures the desired target audience participates in the group interviews. ...
Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
I will be your moderator for the evening. Today you will participate in a discussion about life
changes, the skills it takes to transition through life changes and transitional phases. The information
collected today will help TMDEOhio develop successful transition assistance programs for women
living, working and raising a family in Ohio.
Moderator to participants: You were selected to participate in this group because you've experienced
three or more traumatic life situations. You are between the ages 25–35 and you identified yourself
as someone who wanted more information on a program that helps women set and achieve personal
goals.
Moderator to participants: Before we begin I would like to share two FG rules.
Turn phone off or on silent
Value the views and differing opinions of others
Topic: Defining traumatic experiences
Engagement Question 1. What do you think "counts" as being a traumatic experience?
*note for the purpose of this survey trauma is defined as an event more overwhelming that a person
ordinarily would be expected to

Focus Group Techniques Of An Interview
INTERVIEW :
According to Dr. S. M. Amunuzzaman, "Interview is a very systematic method by which a person
enters deeply into the life of even a stranger and can bring out needed information and data for the
research purpose."
Interview can be carried out between two or more than two people. The person taking the interview
is known as the interviewer. The person being interviewed is known as the interviewee. The main
purpose of an interview is to get an idea and view of the person about something. Or one can say for
seeking answers of something from the person. Interview is a very formal concept.
It can be said that the main objective of an interview is to obtain information from the person who is
being interviewed by the interviewer.
There ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In such group discussion and artificial environment is created which may affect person's actual
opinion. This may result in not acquiring a true in depth information.
 Focus group technique of data collection can be said to be an expensive technique of data
collection because it involves lot of logistics and arrangements. Hence a small budget organization
may never be able to use this particular technique.
 As we are aware of the fact that this technique involves a moderator or a sponsor therefore people
present in the group activity might give a biased opinion out of fear. This may not serve the real
purpose of using this technique of data collection.
 Since it's a group activity of 8–15 people there are chances that only few people who are
dominating may not give others a chance to express their opinion. This can be a problem in getting
good results.
 Also since there are so many people sometimes people might give a very generalized opinion
instead of their true opinion out of the fear of speaking in front of

What Is Sharing Circle And Focus Group Discussions Essay
Sharing circle and focus group discussions are similar in that they are commonly used in qualitative
research to explore and construct knowledge about a phenomenon with research participants in
small groups (Redman–MacLaren, Mills, and Tommbe 2014). Also, both methods can be used to
explore experiences surrounding a particular topic within a group of various cultures (Tobias and
Richmond 2016). The choice between focus group and sharing circles largely depends on the
epistemological position of the researcher, the context, and the study population (Redman–
MacLaren, Mills, and Tommbe 2014).
Although the underlying purpose of both focus group and sharing circle discussions are very similar,
the procedures/protocols and cultural principles vary. Focus groups are often regarded as top–down
design approach since participants carefully sampled and numbers restricted to a recommended
number however, sharing circles are more bottom–up design approach with the group size based on
local, social, cultural, and physical conditions (Redman–MacLaren, Mills, and Tommbe 2014). Also,
sharing circles have a sacred meaning in many Indigenous cultures and involves the growth and
transformation bases for the participants the act of sharing the heart, mind, body, and spirit of the
individual and providing the facilitator with the permission to report on the discussions (Lavallée
2009). The methods will be discussed in respect to ceremony, relationship building, and respect
which are key factors

How To Run A Focus Group

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