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How to use this manual
What is formative research?
What do you want to know?
   
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What is not a focus group?
Because of the popularity of focus groups, many things are called focus groups when, in fact, they are not. A group is not a focus group when:

•    It is not convened for the purposes of research.
•    It is not focused on a particular topic of inquiry.
•    It does not include a discussion but a series of questions asked sequentially to each participant.

Recruiting 
To have a good focus group you need to get the right people to participate. Careful thought should be given to how certain subgroups of the population would help inform a specific question. Does age matter, is gender important, is ethnicity important? Do you want a group of strangers or a group of acquaintances? Even within subgroups, distinctions can be made. For example, if you want to pursue the question of how African American young adults perceive condoms, you might consider what factors are related to different attitudes, such as education, socio-economic class, or experience with condoms.

Once you have decided upon a specific group of people, you need to think about how to recruit them. If you want to get a broad cross-section of participants, it may be best to recruit by phone within specific zip codes. That type of recruitment may require that you hire an outside service to help recruit, and may be costly. Alternatives include recruiting via outreach on the street, putting posters in neighborhood settings where the population congregates, or putting ads in specialized local newspapers.

Try to recruit new individuals for focus groups instead of simply “rounding up the usual suspects.” Focus groups using participants that have been in groups before can become predictable and often don’t help answer the questions that your agency has. Getting new recruits can be especially difficult in rural areas or areas with very closed populations. In these cases, you might need to hire professional recruiters or consider alternate research tools, such as in-depth interviews.

Screening
You will need a brief questionnaire to screen potential participants so that you are sure of getting the people you want into your groups. For example, you’ve decided you want to know what African American males and females between the ages of 16 and 22 think about condoms. You also think you will do separate groups of men and women and, for each sex, you will speak with those who have and those who do not have experience using condoms. Your screening questionnaire will then assess age and experience with condom use. If you’re recruiting over the phone or by mail, you will need to add ethnicity and gender to the questionnaire. Ideally, the screening questions should be short and should cover the topics without offending potential participants.

Scheduling 
Always invite more people than you need. It is highly likely that someone will not show up. If you have too many no-shows it will effect the quality of the group. If everyone shows up and you have promised payment, you will have to pay everyone, but release the extra people. Groups of more than 10 people can get unwieldy. Your own familiarity with the population is your best guide for estimating how many extra people to invite. But remember, you are shooting for a group of 8-10 people.One focus group alone is generally not enough to provide adequate information. Try to conduct two or three focus groups with each population. It is also a good idea to have focus groups in different geographic locations in your community so you don’t end up with results that reflect local idiosyncracies.

Discussion guide
Zero in on something and explore it in-depth. By its very nature, a focus group has a limited scope, so you need to decide beforehand what information is most important to get from the group. Start with a written set of questions, then limit the discussion to those topics.

Develop a sequence for questions. Generally you move from ice-breaking exercises and rules to general information on to more specific information. If there is one set of questions that might color future responses, leave those questions until the end. For example, when moderating a group on condom perception, you might want to start with general relationship and interpersonal questions and then proceed to specifics about condom use.

Build in a break. A break part way through a two-hour group may give the moderator time to regroup and make sure nothing was skipped, or it could give observers a chance to cue the moderator to follow up on something that was said. It may also give respondents a needed rest if the topic is particularly taxing. You can always check in with participants and observers along the way and choose to skip the break, but at least plan for one.

Consent and confidentiality
As with any other form of research, you should consider the risks that focus groups pose to participants and inform them of these risks as well as of any anticipated benefits before they participate. You can provide participants a written statement of the purposes of the research of which the focus group is part; the risks and potential benefits; the fact that participation is entirely voluntary; that the session is being taped (or otherwise documented); and that responses will be held in confidence or anonymity, if appropriate. This form can be read to participants or they may read it themselves and then they must sign it. You can also read a consent form and take a voice vote on participation in some cases.

Moderating
Being a moderator is in some ways like being a great dinner party host. The moderator’s role is to ask conversation-starting questions throughout the focus group, to clarify and verify responses, and move to the group along to make sure all issues are explored. The moderator must also have the skill and knowledge to follow relevant but unexpected turns in the conversation.

Although many agencies assume that the moderator should be from the same demographic as the group participants, this doesn’t always need to be the case. Generally, the skill of the moderator is more important than personal characteristics.

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