How to Plan and Conduct a Focus Group

© 2016-2021 Walden University, LLC 1

How to Plan and Conduct a Focus Group Program Transcript

SHERRY: The goal of a focus group is to collect in-depth information about the perceptions and behaviors of a small non-representative sample of a population. Focus groups take careful planning. In this program, we'll show you how to plan and conduct a focus group.

So, what is a focus group? A focus group is a research method used for collecting qualitative data to gain a deeper understanding of a particular issue or topic.

We convene a selected group of six to eight people with a specific demographic background, and then lead them in a semi-structured conversation about a particular issue of interest.

The conversation lasts about one to two hours and Is recorded for analysis later. But before you begin, you need to be clear about your objectives.

Start by identifying what you intend to cover with your focus group. Maybe you want to understand the feelings of a certain demographic on a given topic– their needs, their behaviors, or their knowledge. Maybe you want to find out what people think about an idea you are considering, like a new initiative for your community.

It all depends on the research question you want to answer. In the focus group that I'm conducting, my research question is, why is the rate of breast cancer screening so low among African-American women?

So whose experiences or attitudes do you want to explore? It's important to be clear on the population you need to sample. In my focus group, I want to explore the views of African-American women aged 30 to 50.

It's also important that I set up enough groups to provide complete information to reach what we call saturation. It's helpful to offer an incentive to people to sign up. You don't have to pay them, and you certainly don't want them to come just because of the money, because that might bias what they say.

But people are giving up their time to join a group, so it's respectful to offer something in return, like a gift card to a grocery store. The next thing is to find your group members.

One approach is to recruit people out in the community. For example, you might recruit at a community event as you hand out a flier, advertising your focus group. Another approach is to recruit by phone. But you will need a list of names to call.

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For my focus group, I obtained two lists. One from my pastor at church, and the other from a local community center. And then I start calling.

Try to find people who are alike enough to have common ground, yet diverse enough to stimulate discussion. You can achieve this by carefully considering the background and experience of each potential group member before you make your final decision.

Once you have your focus group, you need someone to lead it– A moderator. An effective moderator has a full plate of responsibilities.

When did you first learn about breast cancer screening?

You need to know something about the topic of the research, keep the conversation on track, and know how to listen. It's important to relate to members of the group regardless of their age, their interest, or their backgrounds.

You also have to be able to calm down anyone who tries to dominate the conversation, and encourage the shy ones to talk. It also really helps if you can read body language. And, of course, you have to stay on schedule.

That's a lot, which is why some researchers employ a trained moderator, but many of us lead our own groups. Leading a group and collecting data at the same time is hard work. Some moderators can do it, but it's best to have a partner that can help you, like my research assistant, Maria.

MARIA: The research assistant has a lot to do, and it's all important. I greet people as they first come in, and help them get comfortable. I keep an eye on how they interact. I read their body language. Keep track of time for the moderator. Ask questions as the discussion wanders.

What are some of the barriers for women like you regarding your ability to get breast cancer screening?

And perhaps most important, I make sure that the focus group data is collected. I'll be making an audio recording, but I'll also take notes.

SHERRY: It's important to find the right place to conduct your focus group. Everyone needs to feel comfortable and safe. Office workers do well in a conference room but others won't.

For example, moms with kids will want a space for child care. Teens might prefer a more relaxed setting, like a pizza shop. It can be great for an after school focus group. Comfort is key.

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MARIA: Provide refreshments. Make sure you have water on hand. Snacks, too. Also, there has to be a restroom nearby– for women and men. If you plan your focus group carefully, the chances are that things will go smoothly.

For example, send out clear directions to everyone in advance. And if you can, call all the group members the night before to remind them you want a full turn out.

Most of the focus group is unscripted, but you do need to script a few things, such as the questions you want to ask. Sherry has been working on the questions for our focus group for a while now.

Since this is qualitative research, our questions are designed to give us rich, thick data. We've tested them on a couple of non participants, so we know they're easy to understand and culturally sensitive.

SHERRY: In addition to the questions I want to ask, I also script the points I want to cover before we start. The script comes in handy and helps keep me focused. Hi, everyone.

PARTICIPANTS: Good morning.

SHERRY: I want to welcome you all today. Thank you so much for giving up a couple of hours of your time to participate in this research. I'm excited about this study and look forward to our discussion today. Just a few housekeeping items before we get started.

We want this to be a casual discussion, but we do need it to be respectful. We all hold valid opinions, and that's the point of our focus group today. We want to learn from all of you. I may stop the discussion if we start veering off track.

This is the consent form that you read and signed before coming into the room. It says that our discussion here today is completely confidential. Your name, nor anything about your identity, will appear anywhere in the study findings.

As health professionals, this is something we take very seriously. Upholding confidentiality is an important part of our professional conduct, and I intend to behave ethically and with integrity.

About halfway through our discussion we'll stop for a short break. Restrooms are located across the hall to the left. Finally, I ask that you turn off and silence your cellphones.

MARIA: The script also contains a closing statement with details of what happens next in the research process, such as how people get their incentives– like the grocery gift card– and, of course, a big thanks to everyone for participating.

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SHERRY: So everything is all set up for your focus group to run successfully, and you're ready to start. The space is inviting. There are snacks and drinks. Hi, everyone.

PARTICIPANTS: Hello.

SHERRY: You've welcomed everyone, you've got your script, and you're ready to ask the first question. You go to turn on the audio recorder and it won't work.

This is exactly what happened to me in my first focus group, and I didn't have an assistant to help me. So it's good to have an assistant, and to double check your recording equipment ahead of time.

We're here to talk about mammograms, and what women of color think about them. Because as you may know, about 70% of all white women get their mammograms as recommended, but only about 40% of women like us. So what's going on here?

PARTICIPANT: Well, I can tell you, for one thing the clinic is all the way across town, and that's a long way for me. I have to go get child care because they don't have any there.

SHERRY: Every moderator has their own style, but most researchers agree on the basic principles, like everyone's opinion is important. However, sometimes you have to restrain people who get over enthusiastic.

OK. Transportation is an issue. That's clear. What about the rest of you? Do you have easy access to public transportation to reach the imaging center?

ANN: Yeah, we have some buses, but they're real old,

TINA: Oh man, they're smelly. I hate when you get inside the bus and it is ripe. One time I had to take a 20 minute bus ride downtown, but it felt like the longest ride of my life.

ANN: Well, yeah, there's that, but I was going to say that the older buses break down a lot, so–

TINA: Like scream at your city councilmen, right? Like, hey, fix this thing already. What are my taxes for?

SHERRY: What we're you going to say, Ann?

ANN: The buses– you know my friend Tricia? She almost–

SHERRY: Can we please let Ann finish her thoughts, and then we can listen to what you have to say, Tina.

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ANN: It's just that it seems that there ought to be some way to help people get to the center. You know, a shuttle bus or something like that.

SHERRY: There are also people who hold back. Maybe they're shy, or uncertain about how and when to speak. A good moderator involves them and pulls them into the discussion

ANN: She was really rude to me, so after that experience I refused to go back.

SHERRY: Does anyone else have another story they'd like to share? Something similar to Ann's experience? How about you Maggie? Earlier you mentioned that you wouldn't use this imaging facility even though it's not far from where you live. Can you tell us some of the reasons why your family members don't like the facility?

MAGGIE: The facility's OK, I guess. We just don't talk about it much, that's all.

SHERRY: You mean your family doesn't talk about the facility, or something else?

MAGGIE: We don't talk about the screenings or breast cancer.

SHERRY: Was there something about the facility you didn't like?

MAGGIE: Well, I used to take my nana there every year to get her screens, and they weren't real nice to her there. And then she got the cancer, and she passed away really fast.

SHERRY: If she were still here, what do you think your nana would say about breast cancer screenings, Maggie?

MAGGIE: I think she would say to stop moping around, and to get to the clinic to get your screenings. She waited too long to get her screens and look what happened.

SHERRY: If you were to get screened, would you consider using the imaging facility we've been talking about today?

MAGGIE: I think I'd give it a try at least once.

SHERRY: Ideally, everyone feels comfortable enough in a focus group that they openly share their points of view. When that happens, time flies, so watch the clock. And when it's time to end, use your script.

I want to thank everyone, and explain what happens to the information you've given us today. We're going to create a transcript. That's a document containing

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everything that you've said, and we'd like to invite each of you to read it, and check it for accuracy.

This is called member checking. We're happy to change anything you said if you'd like us to do that. But, of course, we won't change what anyone else has said.

In theory, qualitative researchers continue to collect data until no new information arises. At this point, the data is set to be saturated.

In practice, most major themes have emerged after three focus groups. So you may want to end your first group asking for help, gathering people for the next group.

MARIA: Here's a flier about our next group for anyone you know who might want to be a part.

SHERRY: This is a technique called snowballing. You get members from one group to connect you with new people.

MARIA: Our next step will be to analyze the data and figure out the main things that were expressed in the group. A second or third group may add to those themes or even contradict them. That's OK.

The idea is not to come up with any generalizable truths. We just want to understand the different ways that people think about this topic.

SHERRY: Well, that's it. Our time is up. So thank you all, and have a wonderful rest of your day.

PARTICIPANTS: Thank you.

SHERRY: If you have any questions, just give me a call. The number is on the paperwork.

A focus group takes practice, so you may not master it on your first try. Working with an experienced researcher to conduct your first focus group is a great way to learn this method of collecting information.

Leading a group takes oral communication and social skills. It takes on-the-spot reactions, and the ability to read people. Focus groups are a time-tested way to explore the stories behind the faces, and the meanings behind the numbers.

You can do them after a quantitative study to get deeper understanding of your results. You can also do them before a quantitative study to discover variables or factors you want to measure.

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When done right, a focus group is a powerful way of collecting qualitative data.

How to Plan and Conduct a Focus Group Additional Content Attribution MUSIC: Creative Support Services Los Angeles, CA Dimension Sound Effects Library Newnan, GA Narrator Tracks Music Library Stevens Point, WI Signature Music, Inc Chesterton, IN Studio Cutz Music Library Carrollton, TX

Halfway Point

© 2016-2021 Walden University, LLC 1

Halfway Point Program Transcript ANNIE PEZALLA: Hello again, and congratulations on making it this far in the course. You're about halfway through qualitative reasoning and analysis. And now is a good time to stop, to pause, to take a deep breath, and to take stock of where you've been in the course, where you are right now, and where you're going for the rest of the time in this course, and perhaps even beyond.

ANNIE PEZALLA: So thus far in the course, you've been socialized more into this new language of qualitative research, and learning more about the rules of this new playing field. You've also been asked to make sense of phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. And that's really the heart of qualitative research. And we've asked you to begin to really develop your ideas, your own personal research interests, in terms of a qualitative research inquiry.

ANNIE PEZALLA: So now, at this point in time in the course, we're going to ask you to turn to qualitative data collection, analysis, and interpretation. You'll do that by using the scholars of change videos, the transcripts, and the interview data that you've collected from one of your colleagues. So using all that qualitative data, we'll ask you now to start practicing those skills of data analysis.

ANNIE PEZALLA: Thus far also in the course, the discussions have focused pretty heavily on some of these new textbook concepts. From here on out though, the discussions are going to be a bit different. We'll ask you to use these discussions in a much more flexible way. To check in with your faculty member and ask him or her how you're doing, and to collaborate with your colleagues, share your struggles, share your insights, and to use that collaborative effort moving forward.

ANNIE PEZALLA: Also, be sure to take advantage of the resources outside this classroom, particularly within the Center for Research Quality, and the Doctoral Capstone Resources Webpage. We thank you, and we wish you luck, on the rest of your time in this course, and onward.

From Content to Coding

© 2016-2021 Walden University, LLC 1

From Content to Coding Program Transcript [MUSIC PLAYING]

SUSAN MARCUS: Hi. My name is Dr. Susan Marcus. And today, we're going to be looking at the process of going from content to coding for qualitative data analysis.

So what you're seeing now is a transcript of an interview done with a graduate student about her experience with social change and the meaning of social change. And we're going to prepare this transcript for coding. So the first thing to do is to go to Layout and line numbers and add Continuous line numbers. And see how they appear down the left-hand column so that when we start the process of moving this content onto our Excel spreadsheet, you'll be able to, if need be, go from this spreadsheet back to the transcript and locate where you are.

The next thing to do is to locate the questions that are going to be analyzed. Now, this interview was about 32 minutes long and has a number of questions. For the purposes of this demonstration, we're going to focus on the first four questions. But it's really hard to find them in the text. So I'm going to highlight those questions and number them.

So for example, if we look down here, we can see here's the very first question. Could you tell me what program did you graduate from at Walden? And I'm going to highlight that. And here is the next question– and what year? And that's really part of the first question, finding out when they were in graduate school.

So let's scroll down to find the next question. And you'll notice that as I'm scrolling down, I can see in the content that she and the interviewer are having a conversation that's sort of a side conversation relevant to understanding the interviewees experience. But it's not about the first question or the next question that we're looking for.

So here we are. So here's our second question. And I'm going to highlight that. And then I would do the same for the rest of the questions that I'm going to be transferring.

And now we have the same document with all four questions highlighted. You can see here, for example, why it's important to highlight so that when the question is embedded in something that the interviewer is saying, it's easy to see. You can also see here below at 4a where the interviewer asked, "can you give me some examples," that's an example of the interviewer asking a probing question which is related to the question above.

So here, the interviewee answers the question. And then the interviewer follows up and says, well can you tell me more about it? Can you give me more examples? We want to make sure that when we're coding, we have those two questions clearly identified.

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So now we're going to go to our next document– an Excel spreadsheet. So you're using the most current version of Excel. So even if you're using a PC, that it should look fairly similar to what you see on your video. And what we want to do is prepare this so we'll be able to easily move both content and questions into the spreadsheet.

So I'm going to set up a template. And it looks like this. In the first box up here, I'm going to put Q because the first line is going to hold the question. In the second row right underneath, I'm going to identify this as where we'll put the line numbers, then the interviewees actual response, and then columns for where we're going to put our codes.

You do have to spell correctly. So in your spreadsheet, you'll be doing the same thing. You'll also notice that I'm going to put a column in here called memo. Memos are a very important part of the qualitative data analysis process. Here, because you're going to be doing multiple things at once, this is a great place to put very short notes which you can expand and place in your analytic memo notebook.

So now let's just adjust this so it becomes more user friendly for the data analysis process. We're going to go under Page Layout and adjust the orientation so we're in Landscape. In fact, I'll make this a little bit bigger so it's easier to see.

Now, the response is each of the participants actual content. So we're going to make that a little bit bigger. And then some room for your coding here. And then your memo notes here. And then I'll just create a line so that I'll be able to distinguish each question and each question's response.

So the only other thing to do here before we start is to label the tabs of the sheet for each participant. So in this worksheet you'll be having each participant's answers in each of the tabs. And I'm going to save it just onto the desktop for now. And we'll save it as First Cycle. OK.

So the next step here is using the two documents at once– moving from the Word document back and forth between the Word document and the Excel document. Let's go back to our Word document and go back up to the top. Now we're going to be moving the questions and the content from the interview transcript to the Excel coding sheet.

And the process of doing this is a bit laborious. But it also prepares you for looking at the transcript and the interview in finer, more component parts. So instead of looking at the document holistically and the feeling that it creates, you're looking at each of the little bits of text to see what individual meanings might come through.

So this is the process. We Copy and Paste the questions above the template. And if I merge these cells for the question, then I can highlight each question so that as I add the content, the questions will still be visible.

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And here is the follow up question. But it still belongs with question 1. So we'll put it in the same line.

Now let's move the content underneath the question. So I go back to the interview document and I Copy and Paste and put the content there. Now you can see that this would be a little bit hard to read. It runs past the column. So I use the Wrap Text function. And now the text is all in one place.

I also want to remember to put the line numbers for where the text was located. So it starts here. And you'll see that's line number 9. So I'll put that here. And I'll do this for all of the content for each of the questions that we'll be examining.

Here it's interesting that the interviewee has mentioned a date that she graduated and then corrected herself a little bit later on. So I'm going to put both pieces of data in there and adjust it and put the line number in. And then I note that as I'm looking for the next question or the next piece of text that the interviewee tells an interesting story about her experience with Bill Clinton at the graduation ceremony. Now it's not pertinent to the interview. But as the researcher I think to myself, well that's kind of interesting.

So as a memo, I'm going to put a note– "interesting story about Bill Clinton at graduation." So if it becomes relevant to the data analysis or my reflection later on, I'll know what part of the text it came from and what I was thinking about at the time.

So it looks like that's about it for the first question. That was pretty straightforward. Now we're going to get into some of the meatier parts of the interview. So I scroll down and find the next question about social change.

And again, here, we see that the question was asked, the interviewee was a bit confused, and the interviewer had to clarify. And we can see that right here is where the actual answer starts. So I go to my Excel spreadsheet and Copy and Paste so now I've got the next question ready to go.

I place the question just like we did before. I merge the cells, highlight it, and then start to put the text in. So she answers the question, "yes, it was." And I put that here. But then she explains in more detail.

Then here we have the interviewer having a conversation about the degree. So we have to scroll through and see if the interviewee is saying something else that's relevant to the question. And she is. She tells a little story on the side which is relevant to the question. Not directly addressing it, but we want to put that in as well.

OK. So this should give you a good idea of the process that it's going to take to get from moving your content into the Excel spreadsheet. And you can see what I end up with is units of conversation for each question.

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And now here's an example of what a finished coding spreadsheet looks like. We've transferred all of the questions that we're going to be analyzing and all of the content for this particular interviewee. We would do the same for each person that we interview.

And again, as I said earlier, it's a little bit laborious. But you can see now we've got a good working document. We've moved from the individual transcript to moving the data and the questions to our coding sheet. And now we're ready to begin the coding.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Halfway Point

© 2016-2021 Walden University, LLC 1

Halfway Point Program Transcript ANNIE PEZALLA: Hello again, and congratulations on making it this far in the course. You're about halfway through qualitative reasoning and analysis. And now is a good time to stop, to pause, to take a deep breath, and to take stock of where you've been in the course, where you are right now, and where you're going for the rest of the time in this course, and perhaps even beyond.

ANNIE PEZALLA: So thus far in the course, you've been socialized more into this new language of qualitative research, and learning more about the rules of this new playing field. You've also been asked to make sense of phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. And that's really the heart of qualitative research. And we've asked you to begin to really develop your ideas, your own personal research interests, in terms of a qualitative research inquiry.

ANNIE PEZALLA: So now, at this point in time in the course, we're going to ask you to turn to qualitative data collection, analysis, and interpretation. You'll do that by using the scholars of change videos, the transcripts, and the interview data that you've collected from one of your colleagues. So using all that qualitative data, we'll ask you now to start practicing those skills of data analysis.

ANNIE PEZALLA: Thus far also in the course, the discussions have focused pretty he

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