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Deciding If Focus Group Interviewing Is the Right Method
Once you determine the purpose, you can begin thinking about what methods
to use. People come to us and say they want to do focus groups. After
talking with them about the purpose of their study and the resources they
have, we sometimes recommend that they use another method of data collection
that is better suited for their situation. Just because someone wants
to do focus groups doesn't mean it's a good idea.
Before launching a focus group study, it may be helpful to think about
when focus groups work well and when they don't.
When to Use Focus Group Interviews
Focus group interviews should be considered when:
* You are looking for the range of ideas or feelings that people have
about something.
* You are trying to understand differences in perspectives between groups
or categories of people. Often, people in power see a situation or issue
differently from those who are not. Professional people (medical, educational,
scientific, technical, business, legal) often lose touch with the very
people they are trying to serve. And top management often sees issues
differently than frontline providers do. These differences can cause major
problems, particularly when they aren't recognized and understood.
* The purpose is to uncover factors that influence opinions, behavior,
or motivation. Focus groups can provide insight into complicated topics
when opinions are conditional or when the area of concern relates to multifaceted
behavior or motivation. Under what conditions would a health care provider
admit a mistake? What factors influence a new mom's willingness to have
a home visit from a public health nurse?
* You want ideas to emerge from the group. A group possesses the capacity
to become more than the sum of its parts, to exhibit a synergy that individuals
alone don't possess.
* You want to pilot test ideas, materials, plans, or policies.
* The researcher needs information to design a large-scale quantitative
study. Focus groups have provided researchers with valuable insights into
conducting complicated quantitative investigations. What words do people
use to talk about this issue? What do they see as the range of options
for answering a question?
* The researcher needs information to help shed light on quantitative
data already collected.
* The clients or intended audience places high value on capturing the
comments or language used by the target audience.
When Not to Use Focus Group Interviews
Focus group interviews should not be considered when:
* You want people to come to consensus.
* You want to educate people.
* You don't intend to use the results but instead want to give the appearance
of listening.
* You are asking for sensitive information that should not be shared in
a group or could be harmful to someone if it is shared in a group.
* You need statistical projections. Findings from a focus group study
can't be used to make statistical projections. There aren't enough participants
involved, a'nd sampling isn't done in a way to support projections.
* The environment is emotionally charged, and a group discussion is likely
to intensify the conflict. This is likely to occur in situations where
the people are polarized on an issue, trust has deteriorated, and the
participants are confrontational.
* The researcher has lost control over critical aspects of the study.
When control is relinquished to other individuals or groups, the study
may be prone to manipulation and bias or just poor practice. The researcher
should maintain control over critical aspects such as participant selection,
question development, and analysis protocol. This will be a constant challenge
when conducting focus groups in a participatory mode within communities.
For more discussion on this, see Involving Community Members in Focus
Groups (Krueger & King, 1998).
* Other methodologies can produce better quality information.
* Other methodologies can produce the same quality information more economically.
* You can't ensure the confidentiality of sensitive information.
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