Focus Groups

• A small group of people (usually no more than 10) is brought together to engage in a directed discussion about a specific topic. The purpose of a focus group is to collect information and to use the interaction of the group to “multiply” the information of individual group members.
• Form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards an issue, concept or idea.

Advantages

• Useful in obtaining detailed, in-depth information
• Open-ended questions give the participants freedom to express a variety of opinions and ideas
• The process allows further probing of answers
• Sessions can generate a lot of information in a short time

How to

• One interviewer with a small group
• Use a small set of questions (5-8 questions)
• Should last about 45 to 60 minutes
• Conversational and loosely structured
• Go to the location of the focus group (especially for low-income populations)
• Best to meet with an existing group or meeting of target population
• Interviewer is flexible and able to add questions as they go
• Setting up the focus group takes time but can build from key informant interviews
• Questions are open-ended such as –