If you are reading this article, you probably think that writing the outline for your focus group is not easy at all, to help you below you will find the guide that answers the question: what are the main elements for writing a Focus Group?
Summary
In fact, this is one of the phases in which both beginners and experts encounter problems, and perhaps the most critical of the entire process of preparing a good focus group.
When you put in the effort to develop questions, it's not enough to just make them interesting: you also need to think about how they can help you achieve the objectives of the survey:
you have to formulate them in such a way that they generate participation and discussion
You need to be able to estimate how much time you can devote to the answers so as not to risk leaving behind important questions, especially since the timing of group discussions is much longer than that of interviewing individuals taken individually.
As participants answer questions, what they say can spark new ideas for others as well as for you, and their comments can provide insights that trigger memories or thoughts in you, aiding in deeper exploration of perceptions.
In truth, writing a focus group outline isn’t even just about developing, formulating, and planning the right questions—in the sense that asking questions isn’t the only way to get the answers you need.
This is because, as we will see, there are circumstances and situations in which deciding to proceed in a way that is too simplistic and linear risks being highly limiting.
Who is the moderator?
The researcher who conducts a focus group interview is called a moderator . Both the quality of the discussion and the usefulness of the data collected depend on the quality of his work.
Therefore, it is a good idea for the moderator to also be the same person who is responsible for drafting the outline for the focus group, so that he or she can tailor it to his or her own needs (for example, those related to his or her personality and communication style), as well as those of the client.
Therefore, in this guide to writing the outline for the focus group I address the moderator directly, assuming that he or she is always the one in charge of writing the outline.
The moderator's duties
As a moderator, your role is to direct the discussion with the goal of obtaining in-depth, qualitative group data about the perceptions, attitudes, and experiences that selected individuals have on a given topic.
To do this, you need to encourage discussion and keep the group focused on both the required activities and the on-topic topics.
Exercising too much control on your part can run the risk of leaving too little room for participants’ points of view.
Conversely, too loose control can cause the discussion to be less focused on the topic you are investigating, or group dynamics to adulterate the quality of the data collected.
Careful observations of group dynamics, timely interventions at key moments, and positive reinforcement for insights help keep participants focused.
All this, however, requires timeliness and the ability to improvise when conducting the focus group.
Detailed, calibrated and careful preparation, in addition to being essential for the success of a focus group that has scientific rather than amateur value, allows you to reduce the degree of uncertainty and inconsistency of the results collected, as well as the dependence on the aforementioned skills, which are more related to the conduct of the discussion and which remain fundamental for the success of the process.
As already mentioned, in the design of the focus group the drafting of the outline is a particularly critical phase, so without further ado I will proceed to indicate and analyze the key elements for good preparation.
Carefully plan the initial stages of the focus group
Focus groups should begin after some introductions with a clear statement about the purpose of the session, your role as moderator, and possibly a preview of what to expect from the session.
It is also essential to establish some guidelines (e.g. people should try not to interrupt or talk over each other).
This initial brief explanation will set the tone for the session and influence what follows, so it is worth investing time in carefully planning how to word it, even if you try to appear as spontaneous as possible.
You may want to make it clear that there are no “right” or “wrong” answers, that what you want to hear are their ideas, and that your requests will be aimed at exploring this, not forcing them to say anything other than that.
In focus groups, it is especially important to make it clear that disagreement is acceptable and that there is no pressure to reach consensus. You might also emphasize that your hope is that one person’s words will serve as a stimulus for new and different ideas in others and in yourself.
It is important that they gain confidence in the process and are encouraged to actively debate the issue.
It is also essential to gain authority in the eyes of the participants, of course without this implying that you communicate an authoritarian attitude on your part (despite the common root, there is a world of difference between being authoritarian and being authoritative).
The initial part is used to create a relationship of trust with the interviewees. Among other things to do at the beginning, there is also that of saying if you are being audio-video recorded, reassuring that you operate in compliance with the privacy law, obviously!
Breaking the ice
Some (if not all) participants will presumably find themselves in a situation that is new to them, and this, depending on their personalities, may lead them to withdraw into themselves and be less involved.
To overcome this important obstacle, you could prepare an exercise to break the ice, which in technical jargon is precisely called "ice-breaker".
It essentially has a threefold objective: to create a relaxed and playful atmosphere (of course, how carefree you want it to be also depends on the context you need to create); to provide the starting point for a relaxed presentation between the moderator and above all (if necessary) between the participants; to lower interpersonal barriers.
A simple idea could be, for example, to go around the group and ask each person in turn to say their name and a little about their cultural background or experience on the topic of the research.
Outline the path you want to follow
The classic structure of a focus group involves the use of the so-called "funnel" model (in English funnel technique, also called inverted pyramid), which follows an order in the questions that goes from the general to the most specific, and in general they will be open questions, even if towards the end you may also want to use closed questions.
Starting from the general helps to make participants feel more at ease from the initial stages, but above all it serves to insert a product or in any case the object of discussion in a broader context.
Once this is done, participants may move naturally towards subsequent stages, otherwise your task will be to gradually lead them towards the exploration and deepening of the most crucial aspects, ensuring that as many visualizations and perceptions as possible are generated along the way.
You will have to choose in advance which questions and exercises to do together, in what order and how much space to dedicate to each of them.
Typically, a 2-hour focus group will require around ten questions and exercises, with more time dedicated to intermediate and final stages than to introductory stages, which tend to neglect depth in order to focus instead on contextualization and the creation of a cooperative and relaxed environment.
The estimate of the time needed for the entire process must be considered in excess, so as to be able to react to any small unforeseen events.
Of course, variations on the funnel structure are also permissible. A small variation at the beginning, for example, could consist of asking participants to write down the answer to a specific question, which will be taken up again only later, when the session is approaching its more advanced stages. In this way, you will be able to verify whether there has been a change of opinion among the participants, and better understand how this may have been influenced by the group dynamics.
The initial writing exercise can of course also respect the order of the funnel, and therefore concern a more general question.
For example, you can ask for free-association writing on a topic, which can generate insights into individual feelings and raise questions for discussion.
Be careful when formulating questions
Questions and instructions must be clear and concise, so as not to disperse the attention of the participants and to better focus them on the central object of the requests.
Use simple language and pay particular attention to avoiding technical terms, especially if you are used to using them spontaneously in everyday life.
When directing your answers, limit yourself only to preserving their relevance to the requests, while carefully avoiding the use of examples, mental images or implications that could influence the participants' perceptions and limit their creativity.
It aims to get them to talk about their emotions or feelings rather than their rationalizations, since despite what they might think about themselves, people typically make decisions based on impulses, habits, social pressures, or other irrational processes.
Finally, be receptive to sensitive or stigmatizing topics, and if you feel it is ethically correct to explore them, find ways to do so in a respectful manner that makes people feel comfortable.
In this sense, it may be useful to employ projective techniques, which you can read about later.
Don't write a track that's too restrictive
You must constantly be aware that the focus group format does not simply seek to obtain answers to a series of questions, but rather to explore a specific topic in depth.
Therefore, during the discussion you must always be sensitive to any risk of deviation from the set objectives.
An experienced moderator never loses sight of the position of the focus group with respect to the path outlined in compiling the outline.
At the same time, however, it is also necessary to maintain a certain flexibility.
Give yourself the freedom to vary the questions, give yourself the space to improvise and not come across as forced.
Interviewees can give you all the information you need without having to answer questions in a strictly ordered manner.
However detailed your "script" may be, you may still need to resort to variations on an ad hoc basis, for example when, as often happens, interviewees have difficulty understanding the concept being asked of them.
This is also why it is essential to leave room for flexibility. And if we really want to say it all, the best focus groups are the conversational ones, which follow the flow of the interviewees' comments, rather than the slavish sequentiality of the points.
In this sense, it is also essential to take notes on additional questions that may be useful to ask later and that have been stimulated by the considerations of the participants themselves.
Furthermore, you cannot necessarily predict whether interviewees will have much or little to say about a topic, whether critical issues will be raised or not, whether the discussion will die prematurely, or whether dysfunctional group dynamics (with respect to the aims of the research) will be created that will require your intervention, perhaps through adjustments to the schedule.
Focus groups are a tool designed to be intentionally interactive and random, we cannot know what interesting areas will emerge that need to be explored, and this is precisely where their strength, their usefulness, lies.
Therefore, the outline you compile, although (I want to reiterate this firmly) it is essential to plan it with precision, must still be thought of as a dynamic document, which can also be modified during the process.
The important thing is that the discussion is fluid, rich in exchanges and above all not repetitive. No one likes to be asked the same questions over and over again. The moderator should never lose the thread and rhythm of the discussion.
Use exercises and indirect questions to stimulate imaginative thinking
Direct prompts such as probing (comments or questions intended to elicit more information without directing the response) are valuable tools for guiding discussion or clarifying particular aspects of it.
However, it is the use of indirect questions or exercises that allows us to go a little deeper than the rational comments of the participants.
To stimulate imaginative thinking, you can also use group activities, such as role-playing games or team debates.
In the first, focus group participants are asked to pretend to find themselves in a particular, imaginary situation, which they must face by playing a predefined role.
The unique advantage of role-playing games is that they put people as close to a real situation as possible, allowing for the gathering of invaluable information.
Team debate, on the other hand, is a variation of role-playing, in that participants are given a topic and are expected to do their best to support a particular point of view, either in contrast to or in complement to that of the other team, and not necessarily in line with their own real positions.
When successful, projective techniques and group activities are often the most illuminating part of a focus group, but of course they must be used with caution, because they are time-consuming and require a certain degree of experience and expertise both in planning and in the subsequent interpretation of the results.
Conclusion
It is important to ensure that there is sufficient time at the end of the focus group to recap the research objectives, and then proceed with a summary of what has been done and what has emerged.
Afterwards, we evaluate together whether nothing important has been missed along the way, or whether something relevant has been overlooked.
In this regard, it can also be useful to ask for honest feedback on your work from participants and any external observers, but to do this you must be prepared to receive criticism, and you must do everything possible to ensure that everyone feels comfortable expressing themselves in this sense.
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