Focus groups
Focus groups are a useful technique for generating ideas and exploring the breadth of views on a topic. The method can not measure the prevalence of a view, for that a quantitative survey is required and focus groups are often used alongside surveys, either to develop the questionnaire or to help interpret the findings.
Focus groups bring together a small group of people (generally about 8) to take part in a facilitated discussion on a particular issue. Usually participants will have things in common to help them feel more relaxed, for example, they may be the same gender, age, socio-demographic or professional group. For any project several groups are usually run so that a cross-section of people has been involved. It is especially important that representatives of the different types of people who might be affected by the subject are included even though the number included is not statistically representative.
Focus groups enable understanding of the range of potential attitudes, behaviour or responses to specific policies and programmes. As with in-depth interviews, a loose topic guide ensures the researcher covers the topics of interest to the project but allows people to express themselves in their own way.
Focus groups can be reconvened to enable participants to consider information and reflect on their views. They can also be used in conjunction with other techniques to provide a broader evidence base and are often the cornerstone of other techniques, such as deliberative research, dialogue events and surveys.
Some people have been experimenting with on-line focus groups but currently, in our view, there is no substitute for getting people together physically to stimulate thinking and facilitate exchange of views.
We audio record the discussions and analyse them using social research analysis techniques drawing out the themes relevant to the project objectives. This ensures that no data is lost and that our findings are as robust and actionable as possible.