The hosting organization carefully selects participants for the study to represent the larger population theyre attempting to target. Example focus group discussion fgd session plan focus group discussion with lead firms to assess marketbased solutions time. Depending on the research objective, the focus group can be used alone or in conjunction with other methods. It is a systematic and purposeful interactive oral process. A qualitative framework for collecting and analyzing data. Abstract focus group discussion is frequently used as a qualitative. Serves as a comprehensive guide to focus group discussions, a qualitative research methodology that involves a focus on specific issues, with a predetermined group of people, participating in an interactive discussion. Pdf the purpose of this article is to demonstrate the usefulness of focus group discussions fgds in family. Does anyone know how to analyze focus group discussion. Guidelines for conducting a focus group surveys assume that people know how they feel. Relocation of congolese refugees in lunda norte, angola unhcr 19, july, 2017 3 breakdown by sex and age group of focus group discussion participants.
In another scenario, a member of the group can be asked to act as the moderator temporarily. Abstract the efficacy of focus group discussion as a qualitative data collection methodology is put on the line by. The final decision or result in a debate depends on voting while in a gd, the group reaches group. With the heterogeneity of the individuals and also the small sample size, the discussions get restricted. How to conduct a successful focus group discussion atlan. Here the exchange of ideas, thoughts and feelings take place through oral communication. Focus groups, or focussed group interviews, are facilitated group discussions in which an interviewer asks a series of questions of a group. There can be two focus groups being studied at the same time, where one group watches and reacts to the discussion of the other group. What focus group discussions are and when to use them 1. In a debate, a speaker can speak either for the topic or against the topic whereas in a gd, the speaker can express both. You need to document the findings of your recent focus group in order to communicate the results to your marketing team. Saldana j 2016 the coding manual for qualitative researchers. Because focus groups are a variety of qualitative research, the. Plan the study plan your study with the input of your strategy team, stakeholders, and research experts so that collaboratively you determine.
The group s composition and the group discussion are carefully planned to create a nonthreatening environment in which people are free to talk openly. Pdf using focus groups in social research researchgate. Codes can be merged using this software, or relationships. Martin gilbraith is an experienced facilitator and previous chairman of the international association of facilitators. The purpose of the study is to examine insert topic of study. Challenges associated with focus groups are most often attributed to two main factors.
It is a form of qualitative research where questions are asked about their perceptions attitudes, beliefs, opinion or ideas. Focus group data can be used to collect information for many purposes, such as conducting a needs assessment or evaluating a program. Some of the focus groups advantages are as follows. How to conduct focus groups interaction design foundation. Turn taking early skills summarising education scotland. There will likely be times in your life when you will be working in a group, possibly many times. Insights from two decades of application in conservation. Use this group when clients ask you to conduct a focus group and invite those who ask.
Once all your focus groups are complete its time to do a metaanalysis. The researcher here acts only as the observer, noting the behaviour of the group members. This brief includes a basic overview of focus groups. In focus group discussion participants are free to. Conducting focus group discussions the purpose of focus group discussions is to gain knowledge about a particular topic or need by interviewing a group of people directly affected by the issue. At a recent iaf meeting martin gave his overview of the focused discussion method orid developed by the ica as part of their technology of participation. The focus group fg has been actually employed by marketing, and is becoming importanct also in other areas. There are many potential focus group scenarios, for example women who are waiting to see their health care providers in a family planning clinic discussing contraception. Depending on the research objective, the focus group can. Effective focus group questions that spark discussion. Focus group discussion is frequently used as a qualitative approach to gain an in. Focus group discussions allow members of the focus group to build on each.
Focus groups can help clarify such perplexing information. Debate is competitive in nature while group discussion is a cooperative group process. Pdf split and merge split and merge pdf files on any platform brought to you by. Introducing focus group discussions request pdf researchgate. Part of the understanding qualitative research series. The exchange of ideas takes place in a systematic and structured. The method aims to obtain data from a purposely selected group of individuals rather than from a statistically representative sample of a broader population. In a brief time the moderator must create a thoughtful, permissive atmosphere, provide ground rules, and set the tone of the discussion.
Key findings the main findings from data generated by the focus group discussions are summarized below. We created the focus group report template to help you communicate the findings of a focus group quickly and efficiently. Today researchers have a variety of choices in analyzing focus group data, and these generally fall into two basic categories. Pdf split and merge discussion open discussion deprecated. The unit or department at the university of arizona is conducting a program assessment under the supervision of insert responsible party, director, etc.
Focus group, qualitative research, group interview, data collection. The discussions in the focus groups can be kept under control. Focus group weaknesses as with any research method, focus groups are not without weaknesses. The key difference between onetoone interviews and focus group discussions is that the. Steps for conducting focus groups or individual indepth. Hennink and others published introducing focus group discussions find, read and cite all the research you need. As the project manager and facilitator of a focus group, your job is to fully engage the members to get their honest feedback. The women will be similar to the women who will be participating in the project and will be compensated for their time and travel to the venues of the focus groups discussions. Analyzing focus group data the analysis and interpretation of focus group data require a great deal of judgment and care, just as any other scientific approach, and regardless of whether the analysis relies on quantitative or qualitative procedures. Focus group discussion overseas development institute.
The key difference between onetoone interviews and focusgroup discussions is that the. In the focus group discussions, approximately 75 to 100 women will be gathered in groups of 10 to 15 to discuss the issues. Focus group discussion a focus group discussion fgd is a good way to gather together people from similar backgrounds or experiences to discuss a specific topic of interest. How do you feel about combining work, school, and your social life. Larger or combined categories leaders may wish to combine categories.
Focus group discussions can be applied at any stage of the project or programme. The group discussion board tool appears in the my groups section and on the group homepage. Combining individual interviews and focus groups to. For people to be engaged they first need to feel relaxed and comfortable in their surroundings. The use of focus groups is a research method that is intended to collect data, through interactive. Th e course does not aim to cover all the aspects of interviewing and focus groups, but rather it is designed to provide an overview of these methods, as well as some practical tools. In this chapter, i will focus on the importance of the focus group method, its history, and its benefits and pitfalls. Sound conversational use words participants would use are easy to understand are clear are short. The goal of todays meeting is to understand if the internal communications and news you currently receive is effective, relevant and valuable to. Focus group discussions are facilitated discussions, held with a small group of people who have specialist knowledge or interest in a particular topic. Key themes and ideas from all reports should be brought together. For supporting focus group materials such as recruitment tips, invitation email templates, consent.
Evaluating the efficacy of focus group discussion fgd in. Keep in mind that the outcome of the focus group is crucial for designing the survey instrument and. A great deal of the skepticism about the value of focus groups probably arises from the. Below is a summary of the information in the consent form that focus group organizers and facilitators should use to make sure participants understand the information in the consent form. When respondents are relaxed, they will open up and talk more. These groups are a method particularly suited to preliminary research where some timeecon. Compare and contrast exercises should be carried out between groups. Introduction to conducting focus groups office for coastal. Definition of a focus group focus group discussions fgds are defined as semi structured group discussions, which yield qualitative data on the community level by facilitating interaction between participants.
Disable group discussions you cant delete a group discussion board without deleting the group, but you can make the tool unavailable. The group members then provide a response to the question, and a discussion ensues. The group of participants is guided by a moderator or group facilitator who introduces topics for discussion and helps the group to. A focus group discussion is a qualitative data collection method that engages 6 to 12. Faculty sample focus group discussion guide page 1 of 6. Once the focus group discussions have been transcribed, analysis can begin. Ideally, focus group discussions seek to get an enhanced understanding of the subject matter, through interaction from a target group smithson, 2007.
Extension richland county, the ohio state university 1495 w. Focus group definition a focus group invites a small group of people to open discussions for research. The ideas and the opinions flow freely without any rules and the regulations to follow. An effective tool for involving people in measuring quality and impact judith a. Turn on focused inbox, and move items between focused and other folders, includes instructions for outlook 2016, outlook on the web, hotmail,com, mail and calendar for windows 10, and outlook 2016 for mac. Focus group discussion guide university of washington. They are helpful for adding meaning and understanding to existing knowledge, or getting at the why and how of a topic. During an fgd, a researcher and assistant facilitates a discussion with a small group of people using predetermined questions. I am looking for successful and better ways step by step of analyzing qualitative data from focus group discussion. You may have to lead a discussion as part of a school assignment or you may be responsible for leading a. Steps for conducting focus groups or individual indepth interviews 1. The questions and the manner in which the focus group is facilitated will vary based on the type of participants. Villard extension agent, 4h youth development, chair and associate professor ohio state univ. You need to present your findings in a concise, professional format.
In the discussion three of them have said they have done home delivery as they were referred from chc wangoi on the pretext of having complications and operation may be required. As with any research study, the first stage in conducting a quality focus group is to. They are used to find out the perceptions and attitudes of a defined group of people. A focus group discussion involves gathering people from similar backgrounds or experiences together to discuss a specific topic of interest. This is because there is no designated leader in the group and the discussions are made natural. The focus group needs to be appropriate for the type of participants in the group. Th ese techniques are commonly used in policy research and are applicable to many research questions. The groups composition and the group discussion are carefully planned to create a nonthreatening environment in. Focus group interviewing richard krueger 4 beginning the focus group discussion the first few moments in focus group discussion are critical. One or more participants provisionally take up the role of moderator.
Evaluation briefs no centers for disease control and. Group discussion is an important activity in academic, business and administrative spheres. But on reaching home they have safe delivery by anm who stays in their. The results of the focus group interviews helped us design parent lounges that met the unique needs of parents who often spend days, weeks or even months in the hospital with a sick child. The aim is to gain insight into a groups attitudes, enablers and barriers to behaviour.
Sometimes it takes listening to the opinions of others in a small and safe group setting before they form thoughts and opinions. The focus group discussions revealed five primary barriers to census participation. Focus group discussion conclusions blora district, central java november 2009 laura paler columbia university 1 main points there is a high demand for better government in blora, but ordinary citizens do not feel empowered to bring about change. What you want to learn when you need to have that information how youll apply what you learn your budget. At the simplest level, a focus group is an informal discussion among a group of selected individuals about a particular topic wilkinson 2004.
Does anyone know how to analyze focus group discussion qualitative data. Sample focus group discussion guide what follows is a sample focus group discussion guide that can be used to collect information from faculty about their interactions with entering students. For example, email from people you email frequently appear in the focused inbox and newsletters that you delete immediately go to the other inbox. Heong the focus group discussion fgd is a rapid assessment, semi.
The groups composition and the group discussion are carefully planned to create a nonthreatening environment in which people are free to talk openly. Consent forms for focus group participants are completed in advance by all those seeking to participate. The purpose of conducting focus groups is to collect information from a small group. This type of group restricts participants to 45 members instead of the usual 610. Focus group discussion is frequently used as a qualitative approach to gain an indepth understanding of. Focus group discussion is frequently used as a qualitative. Focus group discussion guidelines focus group discussions, or fgds are a qualitative research method. Icebreak after having greeted the participants, the facilitator asks them to. A simple report should be made of key findings after an individual focus group.
Evaluating the efficacy of focus group discussion fgd in qualitative social research william boateng, phd department of sociology university of saskatchewan 1019 9 campus drive, saskatoon sk. Purpose guide this guide is designed to provide you with an overview of the steps required to conduct a focus group discussion fgd including the resources required, and instructions about what. Full range of group discussion skills responding using language effectively and confidently building on contributions questioning challenging early skills summarising in discussion, learners will progress from turntaking and articulating ideas, thoughts and feelings to responding, questioning, challenging, summarising and building on the. Dec 04, 20 this guide is designed to provide you with an overview of the steps required to conduct a focus group discussion fgd including the resources required, and instructions about what you do with the information when you have completed the fgds. The main difference is the group has a specific, focused discussion topic. Less people in a group, less ideas and opinions are generated. Focus group discussions should be used when you need to understand an issue at a deeper level than you can access with a survey. Her father was a manual worker and her mother a housewife. Focus group discussion at chucchepati site, kathmandu facilitated by iom 29th july to 31st july, 2015 introduction six focus group discussions were held at chucchepati site over the course of three days with the objective of finding out the return intention of the site residents. How to manage your focused inbox in outlook for ios.