Click to edit Master title style,Click to edit Master text styles,Second level,Third level,Fourth level,Fifth level,*,FOCUS GROUPS,:,AN INTRODUCTION,Presented by Kathryn S.Mueller,METHODOLOGY,SOURCES:,King,A.J.&Lonnquist,M.P.l992.of Action,Learning from the Literature:Fifty Years,Research.,U.of Minnesota,Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement,Minneapolis,MN.,Krueger,Richard A.and Jean A.King.1998.,Involving Community Members in Focus Groups.,Thousand Oaks,Ca.:Sage Publication,Inc.,Krueger,Richard A.l994.,Focus Groups.,Thousand Oaks,Ca:Sage Publications,Inc.,Krueger,Richard A.&David L.Morgan.1998.,The Focus Group Kit.,Thousand Oaks,Ca.:Sage Publications,Inc,Morgan,David L.l998.,The Focus Group Guidebook,.Thousand Oaks,Ca.:Sage Publications,Inc.,Are Focus Groups for you,?,Are You:,A socially-oriented person;i.e.,a“people person,A good listener?,Able to see patterns in what different people say?,One that enjoys getting out into the real community?,Able to think on your feet?,A good observer of human interactions:both verbal and non-verbal?,Able to record conversations and interactions?,Able to establish rapport with people?,Able to accept diversity of people,opinions,values?,Discreet in listening,hearing and sharing information?,Able to make people feel comfortable and trusting in sharing their thoughts?,Able to control your own verbal and non-verbal expressions?,Fascinated by new,old or controversial ideas emerging?,One who enjoys hearing stories?,What is a focus group?,A type of qualitative research technique,involving group discussions or group interviews wherein a trained moderator guides the discussion of topics or ideas in order to generate meaningful information.,A group of participants(typically 6 to 8),who come from a similar background,brought together in a comfortable,permissive,real-life environment in order to promote mutual insight and elicit impressions,novel ideas and solutions to problems.,A method of listening to people and learning from them.,What do we mean by“qualitative methods?,Research methods that use interpretive description(words)rather than statistics(numbers)to analyze underlying meanings and patterns of social relationships.,Methods involve:,-,(1)exploration and discovery,(2)context and depth (look behind peoples thoughts and experiences),(3)interpretation(providing an understanding of why things are the way they are),Types of Focus Groups,FULL GROUPS(6 to 10),MINIGROUPS(2 to 5),TELEPHONE GROUPS(RARE),EXAMPLES OF FOCUS GROUPS RESEARCH,A LARGE CHRISTIAN,DENOMINATION,WANTED TO KNOW IF IT SHOULD ESTABLISH A NEW CONGREGATION IN AN INNER-CITY ZONE,A PRIVATE HOSPITAL IN A METROPOLITAN AREA WANTED TO EXTEND ITS SERVICES IN CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THE CITY,A LARGE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION WANTED TO INCREASE ITS ACTIVITIES IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY.,AN ISD WANTED KNOW WHY ITS HIGH-SCHOOL-BASED DRUG PREVENTION PROGRAM WAS MORE SUCCESSFUL AT SOME SITES THAN AT OTHER SITES.,A GRADUATE STUDENT WANTED TO UNDERSTAND THE EXPERIENCES OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH LOWER GRADE-POINT AVERAGES.,USES(CONTINUED),A,CORPORATION WANTED TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF THE NEW EMPLOYEE CHILD CARE CENTER THAT IT WAS BUILDING.,A COUNTY MEDICAL PROGRAM WANTED TO LEARN WHY SOME NEW PARENTS ATTENDED FREE CHILDBIRTH CLASSES WHILE OTHERS DID NOT.,A LARGE CORPORATION WANTED TO TEST THE REACTION TO A NEW PRODUCT.,A MAJOR UNIVERSITY WANTED TO USE THE BEST APPROACH T0 RAISING FUNDS FOR A NEW MUSEUM COMPLEX-,A CAPSULE HISTORY OF FOCUS GROUPS,CAN BE DIVIDED INTO THREE PERIODS:,(1)SOCIAL SCIENCE ORIGINS:EARLIEST WORK CARRIED OUT PRIMARILY BY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS IN BOTH ACADEMIC AND APPLIED SETTINGS,-RESEARCH BY SOCIOLOGISTS EMORY BOGARDUS AND WALTER THURSTONE IN THE 1920S,-ROBERT K.MERTON AND PAUL LAZARSFELD IN DEPT OF SOCIOLOGY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY,*collaboration just before WWII,*contributed to war effort via focus groups,Merton and two students in l946 write The Focused Interview,*becomes book in l956;coined“focus groups,HISTORY,(continued,),(2),THE MOVE TO MARKETING,:,FROM ROUGHLY 1950 THROUGH 1980S USED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN MARKETING RESEARCH,(social scientist created shift:move to other methods),SOCIOLOGISTS AND POLITICAL SCIENTISTS DRAWN MORE TO SURVEY RESEARCH,ESP.LARGE-SCALE,NATIONAL SURVEYS,MARKETING RESEARCHERS DEVELOP“GROUP DEPTH“INTERVIEWS,*INTENTED TO UNCOVER CONSUMERS PSYCHOLOGICAL MOTIVATIONS,EXAMPLE:THE BOXED CAKE MIXES,THE NO-NOISE VACUUM CLEANER,History(Cont).,(3),Current Uses,:,-Widespread Methods Such As:,Social Marketing(ex:for public health),Evaluation Research(needs assessment),Academic Research(research questions),Product Marketing(New product ideas),Quality Improvement(Interventions),Political Campaigns(l988 Bush-Dukakis,Presidential Race-the,Willie Horton,Ad),History:Current Uses,(continued),-Positioning studies:to find the most effective way to reach target audience,Habits and usage studies,Attitude Assessment(toward a program,community,or to gauge morale),Idea generation to stimula