Our client partners depend on this feedback to make critical business decisions—and the role of the moderator is significant in managing this process. It would be a mistake not to mention the many other considerations that go along with designing a focus group. Group dynamics are a funny phenomenon. In focus groups especially, the moderator must be hyper vigilant to ensure that each voice is heard.
It can be common for some participants to be more vocal than others, and it is essential to keep this in check. Alternatively, it is not always necessary for every participant to elicit a response to every question. Participants are the experts—and understanding their vantage points is imperative. Create conditions that make them feel empowered.
Spend time building rapport with each participant to enhance comfort and ease. Their perspective is the hero. Highly skilled moderators have the ability to effortlessly guide the group, often through body language and even without words.
Eye contact matters. In this blog, we take a look at the differences between online and traditional focus groups, the benefits of focus groups in qualitative market research, and examples of when they might not be so useful. Traditionally, focus groups take place in person, usually at a facilitated location. In an online focus group, users login to a secure site where they are interviewed via webcam - but of course, there are pros and cons to both options.
Online methodologies are also a good way to interact with younger audiences, which means they will continue to grow in popularity in the future. However, one the other hand, one of the biggest benefits of focus groups in a traditional setting is that respondents tend to have a more natural rapport, which encourages a more flowing dialogue. So, online or traditional, what is it that makes focus groups so popular with researchers time and time again?
Well firstly, one of the main benefits of focus groups is that they offer an in-depth understanding of the participants.
Additionally, because of the constant interaction and rapport between respondents, focus groups also encourage better group discussions and increased interaction. Less time equals less payout. Shorter or mini-focus groups of 4 to 6 people are growing in the industry. It allows more exposure and time-per-participant for the moderator and client viewers. Splitting minutes among 10 to 12 participants becomes much more difficult.
This is the standard length of a focus group. If you were to inventory all of the focus groups being conducted across the U. The reason is they offer the ability to cover a lot of content. Even with a minute introduction and minute wrap-up that is still 95 minutes available to cover core objectives.
Great for the market research firm, not always great for the participants. Many moderators prefer this length because it gives them the opportunity to get participants warmed up, helps them build rapport, and gets them into a rhythm in the last hour to pull out insights. This length requires hire payout and often leads to a little fatigue towards the end of the group. At Drive Research, we've seen a lot of success with minute focus groups. They offer the flexibility to host 3 groups in one evening , , and p.
They also offer ample time for the moderator to build rapport with participants before getting to the most important parts of the discussion. There are three principal ways we locate the people who participate in Focus Groups. One is to use lists of contacts that clients provide us with. Normally this approach is used when the participants are very difficult to find due to unique specifications and the client organization wishes to use their own customer or prospect lists as a source for recruiting.
The second way to recruit is to use a database that local recruitment facilities have developed over time. These are people who have agreed in advance to participate in focus groups if they qualify, based on the specifications. The recruitment organizations maintain these lists in their computers and call on them when needed for participants in studies. The third, and least desirable way, is to advertise for participants in local newspapers, on the radio or at high traffic shopping locations.
This is generally used only when the other two methods are unable to locate sufficient numbers of qualified participants. Why do people participate in Focus Groups? Many people feel that since they themselves would not go to a Focus Group that others like them would not attend these sessions either.
There are three main reasons why people come to Focus Groups. One reason is to earn extra money; participants are paid. The amount they are paid depends on the type of group they are in and the difficulty associated with recruiting them. Another reason to attend Focus Groups is because people like to give their opinions about various topics; they find it interesting meeting and chatting with their peers about subjects of interest.
For many it also is a break in their routine and a fun way to spend an evening. A third reason people attend focus groups is to learn about the research technique or the topic being discussed.
Often focus groups can be very helpful to people who are seeking additional information about a subject. They can talk with others about various aspects of the subject, gathering much useful information. Many business and medical professionals attend focus groups to help them keep up with new developments in their field; often the groups will address topics that represent new products or services which will be introduced in the future.
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