Voevodins' Library _ "Focus Groups" 3rd edition / Richard A. Krueger & Mary Anne Casey ... Interview, People, Discussion, Decision Making, Development, Single-Category Design, Multiple-Category Design, Double-Layer Design, Broad-Involvement Design, Audience, Written Plan, Questioning Route, Categories of Questions, Opening Questions, Introductory Questions, Transition Questions, Key Questions, Ending Questions, Campaign, Strategies for Selecting Participants, Sampling Procedures for Focus Groups, Moderating Skills, Moderator, Discussion, Head Nodding, Question, Analysis Strategies, Long-Table Approach, Using the Computer to Help Manage the Data, Rapid Approach, Sound Approach, Principles of Reporting, Written Reports, Narrative Report, Top-Line Report, Bulleted Report, Report Letter to Participants, Oral Reports, Styles of Focus Group Research, Telephone Focus Groups, Internet Focus Groups, Media Focus Groups

Voevodins' Library _ "Focus Groups" 3rd edition / Richard A. Krueger & Mary Anne Casey ... Interview, People, Discussion, Decision Making, Development, Single-Category Design, Multiple-Category Design, Double-Layer Design, Broad-Involvement Design, Audience, Written Plan, Questioning Route, Categories of Questions, Opening Questions, Introductory Questions, Transition Questions, Key Questions, Ending Questions, Campaign, Strategies for Selecting Participants, Sampling Procedures for Focus Groups, Moderating Skills, Moderator, Discussion, Head Nodding, Question, Analysis Strategies, Long-Table Approach, Using the Computer to Help Manage the Data, Rapid Approach, Sound Approach, Principles of Reporting, Written Reports, Narrative Report, Top-Line Report, Bulleted Report, Report Letter to Participants, Oral Reports, Styles of Focus Group Research, Telephone Focus Groups, Internet Focus Groups, Media Focus Groups Voevodin's Library: Interview, People, Discussion, Decision Making, Development, Single-Category Design, Multiple-Category Design, Double-Layer Design, Broad-Involvement Design, Audience, Written Plan, Questioning Route, Categories of Questions, Opening Questions, Introductory Questions, Transition Questions, Key Questions, Ending Questions, Campaign, Strategies for Selecting Participants, Sampling Procedures for Focus Groups, Moderating Skills, Moderator, Discussion, Head Nodding, Question, Analysis Strategies, Long-Table Approach, Using the Computer to Help Manage the Data, Rapid Approach, Sound Approach, Principles of Reporting, Written Reports, Narrative Report, Top-Line Report, Bulleted Report, Report Letter to Participants, Oral Reports, Styles of Focus Group Research, Telephone Focus Groups, Internet Focus Groups, Media Focus Groups

Voyevodins' Library ... Main page "Focus Groups" 3rd edition / Richard A. Krueger & Mary Anne Casey

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	The Composition of the Group The focus group is characterized by homogeneity but with sufficient variation among participants to allow for contrasting opinions. By homogeneity, we mean participants have something in common that you are interested in, such as the following: * An occupation. (You want to explore professional development needs of practicing dentists in the state.) * Past use of a program or service. (You want to evaluate an educational program, comparing the experiences of people who completed the program in the past year with groups of people who dropped out of the program.) * Age. (You want to talk to teenagers about smoking. You conduct some groups with 7th graders, some with 9th graders, and some with llth graders.) v Gender. (You want to talk to men who have had false positives on prostate screening tests to find out how this affected their quality of life.) * Family characteristics. (You want to talk to women who have had babies in the past year to get help in designing a program for new moms.) There are at least two reasons we are concerned about homogeneity. One is for analysis purposes. The other is the participants' comfort- the degree to which sharing will be influenced by differences in participants' characteristics. Think about your analysis when considering group composition. If you want to compare and contrast different types of people's views, you must separate these different types of people into different groups. For example, it is much easier to analyze differences between users and nonusers when they are in separate groups than if they are mixed together. So if you are interested in similarities and differences between or among different types of people, separate them and conduct a series of groups with each type of group. Related to this, it is a fallacy to assume that any one individual can "represent" his or her neighborhood, race, gender, or culture. Each person speaks for himself or herself. When asked, however, these individuals may attempt to offer insights about the opinions of the entire group, and the degree to which they have similar opinions may vary greatly. If you want to capture the opinions of a certain group of people, then you'll need to conduct a sufficient number of focus groups with that particular category of people. A focus group of diverse people is not sensitive enough to pick up trends of subcategories of people. The other reason (besides analysis) that we consider homogeneity is the degree to which these factors will influence sharing within the group discussion. We want people to feel comfortable to share. Some mixes of participants do not work well because of limited understanding of other lifestyles and situations. For example, care must be exercised in mixing individuals from different life stages and styles unless the topic clearly cuts across these life stages and styles. Recently, we were conducting focus groups with women who were pregnant. We wanted their help in designing a health and education program for new moms. Our only screens were that they be pregnant and from the participating county. We had teenagers who didn't want to be pregnant in the same groups with forty-year-old women who were ecstatic about being pregnant for the first time. The young women tended to be quiet and deferred to the others in the group. In hindsight, it would have been better if we had held separate groups for the teenage moms. You strive for a balance between having enough variation within the group to get contrast and yet not so much variation that participants are inhibited and defer to those whom they perceive to be more experienced, knowledgeable, or better educated. At times it is unwise to mix genders in focus groups. Men may have a tendency to speak more frequently and with more authority when in groups with women-sometimes called the "peacock effect"-and this can irritate women in the group. A related topic is the involvement of both husband and wife in the same focus group discussion. There is a tendency for one spouse to remain silent and defer to the talkative spouse. Even if the silent spouse disagrees, it appears that he or she is reluctant to comment even when such comments are solicited from the moderator. As a result, we have found that focus groups of four married couples turn out to be a discussion of four people with four rather silent partners.

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