Focus groups can also be used to field test interventions or educational materials (brochures, videos, ad campaigns) BEFORE you’ve spent a lot of money.

NOTE: You might want to hire a facilitator or trade with someone from another agency to lead the focus group. Groups that are charged with giving feedback on programs should NOT be led by the same person who leads the program. Similarly, in groups where you would like honest feedback about an agency or materials, it might be best to NOT have anyone from that agency present in the group.

		The police department approached Tim’s agency to help them start an educational program for first-time offenders, sex workers, johns and people convicted of lewd acts. They conducted a focus group of female sex workers to find out if they’d want this kind of program. “Unfortunately, most of the sex industry workers’ reaction was negative. They really didn’t care, they were in it for the money, and they didn’t think they would change their behavior. The sex workers are very savvy about the criminal justice system and they know that there’s no stick to really prevent them from plying their trade. ”Did they scrap the program as a result of the focus group? No. “It brought us back to reality and caused us to re-evaluate our own expectations of the program so that we don’t set ourselves up for failure. And it helped us look at it more realistically from the sex industry worker’s perspective. We knew we wanted to focus more on the johns and lewd acts, but politically, the police have to sell the program as prostitute abatement.” Tim also knew from experience that the women might have different reactions in the focus group to show camaraderie and support for their friends. “A lot of time the workers put on a really tough act, yet we know from working with them privately that many of them do express a desire to quit the business.” These workers are happy to say, “I’m HIV negative.” Central Valley AIDS Team, Fresno

While it may seem like this focus group was unsuccessful, the agency used it to scale back expectations. Focus groups that give negative or indeterminate results can also be followed up with individual interviews to find out if the group setting hampered free discussion.

However, some settings and populations are not conducive to focus groups. Conducting a group outside, or with drug users who are waiting to shoot (or have just shot up), or with distraction close by (in a bar) may not be the best way to get information. In these cases, individual interviews or observation might be more helpful.

NOTE: Conducting more than one focus group to answer the same questions is a good way to test whether your group represented the community norms well. Groups can often be overwhelmed by one dominant person, and comparing two or three gives a more accurate picture.

Further reading on focus groups can be found in Appendix 3 of the Resources section.

Good Questions, Better Answers --  � 1998 California Department of Health Services and Northern California Grantmakers AIDS Task Force  -- http://www.goodquestions.com