Research Group

Research Group

Focus Groups - What Do They Accomplish?

Focus groups are useful in generating new product ideas or evaluating of new product concepts in very early stages of development before a great deal of time, effort, and money are expended. Some industries leap ahead by preparing a prototype, which is then evaluated by a focus group.

In addition, focus groups also evaluate existing products to assess quality, whether all the features are necessary or if others ones are needed. Much information can be garnered by employing focus groups, as long as management realizes that information is based on small, non-probability samples that can limit the ability to generalize the results to an entire target market.

In general, what can be garnered in one session are: users' attitudes, beliefs, desires, and reactions. This market research data can then be integrated with the goals of the organization.

The group consists of:

• The moderator (sometimes called the group leader or instructor): who guides, prompts, nudges, and stimulates discussion and elicit reactions from the participants.

• The participants: generally 8 to 12 past, present, or prospective clients, customers, and others interested users paid to give their opinions about a service, product, or some entity that needs to be evaluated.

Materials Needed.

• Index cards and markers for making nametags for focus group participants.

• A table and enough chairs for the moderator, recorder, and focus group members.

• A seating chart for the moderator.

Main presentation of the item to be evaluated:

1.      Decide what you want to learn. For example: Let's assume that a commercial bank is about replace and install newer ATMs and they want to make sure that the screen colors are appealing.

2.      Write a script for the moderator to follow (use bullet points and questions, both annotated as to the time allotted for each).

3.      Management either hires a skilled moderator or appoints an articulate individual within the organization to rehearse and follow closely the bullet points in the script.

4.      Tape the sessions and have one or more people take good notes.

5.      When possible, in addition to the prototype, use visual aids such a graphics and charts, slide shows, or videos.

Action and Interaction:

When all the participants have been seated, the leader welcomes the focus group by thanking them for agreeing to participate in this activity.  Tell the participants that they will be asked to give their opinions on the colors only.

Tell the focus group that the only rules are (1) no opinion or idea expressed is judged foolish or even outlandish, and (2) all participants in the group will have a chance to share their opinions.

Re-emphasize that no idea is "off the wall."

Pre-closing activities:

The moderator asks selected individuals if they are satisfied with the interaction among themselves. Often some members may volunteer information that might have been overlooked during the course of the session. An experienced moderator will keep the session lively and flowing, by stepping in with pointed questions.

"That is a fantastic point you just made! Can you expand a bit more?"

"What makes the screen gaudy? Is it the pink, the red, or the blue?"

If interaction is poor, the value of the conclusions drawn from the focus group may be questionable.

Closing the session

Thank the focus group participants for their contribution. Give praise with general remarks such as: "You were just wonderful. Two or three of you kept this thing jumping, and I thank you for that. I loved your input! The moment you see the screens and the colors you helped us choose, you'll feel proud that you pointed our bank in the right direction."

Conclusion

Focus groups (sometimes called study groups or research groups) are useful not only in large businesses and in small businesses, but also in the professional occupations, too. The pastor of a church may use them to evaluate his sermons; a comedian can have his performance evaluated; politicians, accountants, and others as well.

About the Author

Retired. Former investment banker, Columbia University-educated, Vietnam Vet (67-68).
For the writing techniques I use, see Mary Duffy's e-book: Sentence Openers.
To read my book reviews of the Classics visit my blog: Writing To Live

---

Using Focus Groups in Research $28.8

Evaluating Labour Market Programmes for Groups at Risk $52.1 Description not available.

Five Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them (Paperback) $10.76 Description not available.

Numerical Simulation of Turbulent Flows and Noise Generation (Hardcover) $236.55 Description not available.

Report of the African Commission`s Working Group on Indigenous Popula (Paperback) $24.7 Description not available.

The Survey of American College Students (Spiral) $68.5 Description not available.

Focus Groups (Paperback) $51.28 Krueger (emeritus, U. of Minnesota) and Casey (consultant, focus groups) offer an updated, easy-to-read handbook for focus group organizers and leaders. The authors state in this fourth edition that the basics of focus group research haven`t changed in...

Academic Library Cataloging Practices Benchmarks (Paperback) $88.61 This 254 page report presents data from a survey of the cataloging practices of approximately 80 North American academic libraries. In more than 630 tables of data and related commentary from participating librarians and our analysts, the report gives ...

Report of the African Commission`s Working Group on Indigenous Popula (Paperback) $24.7 Description not available.

Research Library International Benchmarks (Paperback) $94.05 The 200-page study is based on data from 45 major research libraries from the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, the UK, Italy, Japan, Spain, Argentina, and other countries. The report presents a broad range of data on current and planned materials, sala...

Materials for Sustainable Energy (Paperback) $64.6 The search for cleaner, cheaper, smaller and more efficient energy technologies has to a large extent been motivated by the development of new materials. The aim of this collection of articles is therefore to focus on what materials-based solutions can...

Microsoft Office Access 2007 Productivity Software $189.99 Microsoft Office Access 2007 allows you to collect, filter, sort group informationProductivity software has an intuitive interface and interactive designProgram includes researched and helpful templates to get started quickly

Diversity and Groups (Hardcover) $127.7 Diversity results from the constellation of individual traits, characteristics, identities, experiences, and knowledge that individuals bring to a group. This volume helps to promote research on diversity in groups by identifying and integrating variou...

Schoolwide Action Research for Professional Learning Communities $37.05 Discover how Whole-Faculty Study Groups (WFSGs) use collaborative action research to involve an entire professional learning community in improving staff and school performance.

The Theory and Practice Of Group Psychotherapy (Hardcover) $48.75 In this completely revised and updated fifth edition of group psychotherapy’s standard text, Dr. Yalom and his collaborator present the most recent developments in the field, drawing on nearly a decade of new research as well as their broad ...

---

---

Group Dynamics: Research and Theory $9.73 Group Dynamics: Research and Theory

Focus On Group Theory Research $254.95 Focus On Group Theory Research

Small Group Research : A Handbook $17.14 Small Group Research : A Handbook

Small Group Research: A Handbook $13.48 Small Group Research: A Handbook

Research in Social Group Work $7.54 Research in Social Group Work

Handbook of Small Group Research $8.9 Handbook of Small Group Research

Group Dynamics Research and Theory $4.45 Group Dynamics Research and Theory

Readings In Reference Group Theory And Research $13.99 Readings In Reference Group Theory And Research

Qualitative Research and Evaluation in Group Care $11.51 Qualitative Research and Evaluation in Group Care

International Focus Group Research $28 A practical guide to conducting focus group discussions in health and social science research.

Advanced Focus Group Research $33.51 Buy and sell [Advanced Focus Group Research] at great prices.

Advances In Group Work Research $22.12 Buy and sell [Advances In Group Work Research] at great prices.

Group Rationality In Scientific Research $39.88 Buy and sell [Group Rationality In Scientific Research] at great prices.

The Handbook For Focus Group Research $34.39 Buy and sell [The Handbook For Focus Group Research] at great prices.

Developing Focus Group Research $145.95 Buy and sell [Developing Focus Group Research] at great prices.

The Handbook Of Group Research And Practice $103.86 Buy and sell [The Handbook Of Group Research And Practice] at great prices.

---

Casio G Shock Review LRG Lifted Research Group DW-6900 Unboxing