Focus+groups

=Focus Groups=

Group: Brian Richardson, Chaz Luke, Erik Hill, Frank Jumawan, LeeAnna Kobayashi

Overview
The goal of a focus group is to gather their perceptions, opinions and attitudes about an idea or project. It is a qualitative method. The group is not necessarily a random sample, and often the members are chosen because they fit specific criteria.

The interaction should be more like brainstorming. You are looking for useful interaction between the members of the group.

While focus groups are normally done face to face, it is also possible to do them online

How to Start
The focus group ought to be between x and y people. If the group is too small, the group can become more like a one-on-one interview. If the group is too large, it becomes impossible to have a focused conversation. The first thing you need to do is determine what you want the group to help you with. You do not want to ask questions that are too open-ended. You want the group to focus. You need to determine who should belong to the group. A focus group is not a sample of a population - it is a group of people selected to serve your purposes.

Best Practices
The focus group ought to small enough for engaged discussion and large enough so that one person does not dominate. Allow the people in the group to interact, especially if the interaction is positive.

Things to Avoid
Don't control the discussion so that the group simply repeats what you want them to say. One criticism of focus groups is that the results are cherry picked to support a conclusion that has already been decided upon.

The focus group wanders off the topic. A small number of people in the focus group dominate the discussion. The researcher interprets the focus group data as if it represents the larger population.

Use by an ETEC Student
The primary goal of a focus group is to gather feedback in a small group to critique and suggest improvements. The discussion should be focused on a particular object or topic, and the questions ought to elicit responses that point towards improving the object. For an ETEC student, a focus group would be a way to improve their project.

Annotated Resources
Focus Group (2010, February 27). In //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_Group  Krug, S. ( 2005) //Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability//, 2nd Edition. New Riders Press.

Nottingham-Spirk Design Associates (2007) Focus Group Research: Premium Salad Dressing Packaging [Video file]. Retrieved from []

The Presentation
What is Focus Group? Discuss the Article Example of a Focus Group - view the ETEC video
 * What did you like about this video?
 * Does the music fit with video?
 * Did you think that the pacing of the video was too slow?
 * Does the video make you want to become a teacher? How would you improve the video?
 * Do you think the colors used in the video conveyed the right message?
 * Did the gymnastics theme work? What other themes might also work, or work better?