1. Conducting a Focus Group
Birud Sindhav
Associate Professor of Marketing
College of Business Administration
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE 68182

3. Focus Group Basics 6-12 participants and a moderator Roundtable
One-way mirror, client viewing room
Audio-Video recording
Discussion Guide
Strength: Energy generated by participants feeding off of each other’s comments
Emergent themes
“Swiss Army Knife”

4. Moderator’s Role You are there to moderate, not to guide!
Make sure no one dominates
Ask interrupters: “hold your thoughts for a moment”
“The jumbled conversation will be difficult to hear on the tape”
Gently nudge those who are silent for participation. Read their body language
(After watching Bob sharking his head in disbelief or seeing that he is gently smiling) “Bob, you seem to disagree with Jeff’s comment. Could you tell us why?”
Keep discussion focused on the topic, yet, preserve its spontaneous nature

5. Introduction: Let them know at the outset that…
the aim is not to find out how much they know about the topic, rather, to find out their POBA (Perceptions, Opinions, Beliefs, Attitudes)
People have different views
Respect other’s opinion and do express your own
Need honest opinions rather than bland positive comments
No right or wrong answers
Do not cut others off
Confidentiality concerns

6. Moderator’s Goals Produce Informality Produce Participation
Produce Opinions

7. Moderator’s Goals: Produce Informality
Go around the table, let them introduce themselves
Use informal words
Use “oh” to acknowledge what you heard. Use idiomatic and slang terms
Example:
“The objective of today’s focus group is to discuss how we can go about increasing diversity on campus”
Versus
“We will chat about how to have more minority students on campus”

8. Moderator’s Goals: Produce Informality
Be Informal at the very outset
“Hope I am not keeping you from the nice weather outside”
Include pauses and hesitations
Body language of the moderator
Snapping fingers, waving hands
Provide food/drinks (to be consumed during conversation)
Display warmth and empathy, laugh with the participants!

9. Moderator’s Goals: Produce Participation
Ask questions requiring elaboration at the start of the new topic
Rephrase what they said to make sure you understand them and to demonstrate your interest

10. Moderator’s Goals: Produce Opinions
Do a quick poll
Ask them to cast a vote
Ask them to rank
Ask them “What if” questions
If need be, take a brief break

11. Moderator’s Goals: Produce Opinions
When the talk is slow moving and involvement level is low, ask for evaluations: “What do you think about the UNO policy of not accepting the core courses if done at Bellevue University”?
If you want to slow down the discussion, ask for descriptions.
If participants seem hesitant, ask projective questions: “What if a business etiquette class is mandatory at the business school?”
If the discussion is drifting in an unwanted direction, use mms, laugh, ask new question, ask question to a new person

12. Note Taking Reproduce a sitting chart with names
Contains quotes, paraphrased quotes, summary points, themes, questions, big ideas that affect the study, observation on body language
Test the recording equipment beforehand. Keep extra tapes, microphones, batteries, and extension cord handy.

13. Standardized Report Taking Form
Date:
Location:
Names, and Category of Participants
Moderator Name
Comments and Observations
Notable Quotes
Summary and Key Points