Introducing Regulatory Impact Analysis into the Turkish Legal Framework Improving Transparency, Consultation and Communication of RIAs March 2009 Session 7B The Use of Focus Groups

Selecting focus group participants Similar experiences or backgrounds Should not know one another before the focus group Between 6 and 10 participants –To make everybody speak Not statistically sample but representative of the population of interest –Relevant characteristics

Deciding how many focus groups are needed According to budget and time available, the heterogeneity of the target group, and how difficult it is to obtain participants More focus groups are recommended if it is likely that there will be very different experiences or perspectives on the topic (even among people with similar characteristics)

Preparing for the focus group session Usually last from 1 to 2 hours A skilled moderator A record of the responses An interview guide (e.g. checklist) with key points to cover A comfortable and quiet setting around a round table and light refreshments.

A flexible and focused moderator to encourage an open discussion of the questions to keep the discussion focused on the major issues, –but follow novel, or unexpected topics which might yield fresh insight on the issues to probe the participants to achieve a deeper understanding of their views and experiences to manage dominant participants to bring out quiet participants to keep the time schedule

Typical Agenda Presentation of the moderator Ask how many of the participants who have participated in focus groups before. A short introduction on why the focus group is being conducted, and what the results will be used for Indicate the timing of the agenda Indicate if discussions are being recorded, –Access to analyze of results (recommended) –results of the focus groups made public (not recommended) Ask participants to introduce briefly themselves Divide agenda on questions or issues that need to be covered during the focus group. –Only a few open-ended interview questions, written at a general level, are needed to focus the group discussion. Probing sub-questions can be used to get more detail.

Analyzing focus group data Summary of discussions –verbatim transcription of the recording, –notes taken from listening to the recording, –notes written during the focus group by the moderator and/or assistant moderator. Identification of overarching themes related to the questions and the range of perspectives expressed by the participants.

Common considerations in analyzing results Words and cluster similar concepts –Arrange responses on a continuum or in categories. –Consider nonverbal communication related to the words, such as body language and the intensity expressed by the speed, volume, or pitch of speech Patterns –Do participants change or reverse statements after hearing from others? –What comments were offered by more than one participant? –What themes were supported or rejected by more than one participant? –What issues or questions were especially easy or difficult for the group to resolve?

Common considerations in analyzing result (2) Specificity of responses –Give more weight to responses that are specific and based on experiences than those that are vague and impersonal. –Give more weight to responses in the first person rather than hypothetical third person. –Note ‘quantifies’ to be double checked

Reporting results Information about participants (number, representativity, etc.) Key themes in the data should be presented (and patterns) Direct quotes and impact data Report in terms of the percentage to understand the range of perspectives on the topic of interest. Stress the qualitative and not quantitative of the findings