Focus Group Research The Good, Bad And The Ugly

Submitted by: Jim Brackin

While focus group research has many advantages, as with all research methods there are limitations. Even with the “right” participants, a perfect environment, and a trained moderator, the eventual success of focus group research in providing useful actionable, insights is fully dependent on the analysis method used to decipher the session. In the past this fell on the moderator to provide a report, which may often be a subjective opinion which lacks a statistical validity. Not surprisingly, as clients want strong, quantifiable results more objective and scientific methodology like linguistic analysis software are being used to provide a more detailed analysis of the group.

The moderator’s mission

Group interviewing involves interviewing a number of individuals at the same time, the emphasis being on questions and responses between the researcher and participants. The reason is obvious: qualitative research provides deep insight into behavioral and emotional responses that can only otherwise be captured using one-to-one in telephone interviews. The moderator’s task is to prompt discussion and let the group members know that it is okay to agree or disagree with others’ responses. Questions must be thoughtfully selected and phrased in advance to elicit maximum responses by all participants. Interviewers or moderators usually ask focus group participants to consider and answer questions, and then to make additional comments after listening to the responses of others (Patton, 1990).

How many people make a reliable focus group?

Researchers disagree about the proper number of participants for a successful focus group. The recommended number of individuals per group is usually six to ten (MacIntosh 1993), yet some researchers have used up to fifteen people (Goss & Leinbach 1996) or as few as four (Kitzinger 1995). Whatever the number chosen, the ground swell of opinion among marketers and researchers alike is that all is not well with focus groups.

A Slate Magazine article, “Lies, Damn Lies and Focus Groups?” challenged the efficacy and value of focus groups for informing product development and marketing. It highlighted the widely documented mismatch between what people say about products in focus groups, and how they actually behave when it comes to making purchases. The difference between the two costs companies millions in inappropriate product development and misguided advertising.

Yet the real concern is the increasing problem of the ‘Focus Groupie’. A term used to describe individuals who spend large amounts of their time contributing to focus groups. Moreover nothing is sacred for these part-time professional opinion givers. Yesterday they were early adopting mobile phone lovers, today cautious supporters of children’s rights, tomorrow who knows? The only thing they have in common is that “after a while the stories don’t seem like lies – it’s more like acting – also it’s quite fun to pretend to be someone you are not”

That is something that all researchers agrees needs to change, even though no one really knows how to change it.

Validity of the Findings

The participants may well be chosen to represent a specific target audience but, as a group of 10 or 12 people, the findings cannot, with any statistical validity, be projected onto the entire population. Focus groups are therefore limited in terms of their ability to generalise findings to a whole population, mainly for the reason that of the small numbers of people participating and the likelihood that the participants will not be a representative sample. Which is why it is important to choose the right analytical tools and look for statistically significant findings from quantitative research that supports the focus group findings.

Conclusion

Focus group research involves organised discussion with a selected group of individuals to gain data about their views and experiences of a topic and is a popular form of qualitative market research used by manufacturers, service providers, political parties, ad agencies, charitable organizations, attorneys, and most other industries to gather consumer input on wide varieties of projects. It is true that focus group research can help gain insights into peoples shared understandings of brands, products and services. The disadvantage is that they can provide insights that are not reflected by a wider audience or the findings can be misinterpreted by subjective reporting.

About the Author: More detail on alternatives to focus groups are featured in a free booklet on market research available to all marketing professionals who wish to improve their response rates. Courtesy of

espconsultancy.com

the marketing research specialists.

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