GETTING STARTED WITH

USER FOCUS GROUPS

Charmaine Scott

Training Officer

Staff Development

Washington University Libraries

St. Louis, Missouri

Poll Question 1

How would you rate your libraries’ experiences with

focus groups?

None

A little

Somewhat experienced

Much experience

Focus groups in marketing

Which one tasted better?

“Steve” (nods, agreement all around)

Steve was delicious…

“Yes. Steve had just eaten…”

Steve sees the sharks when he enters…

Smiling shark: “Eat both squares please”

PROCESS:

1. Purpose

2. Define

3. Questions

4. Recruiting

5. Conducting

6. Analyzing

Poll Question 2

What are you hoping to get from today’s session?

Choose the most important for you.

When to use focus groups

Writing questions

Skills needed by a facilitator

Recruiting participants

Steps in data analysis

1. Purpose

Clarifying your purpose

Choosing the right tool

Assessment method Pros Cons Sample use

Survey via paper, online,

phone; one-on-one

interviews

Private, anonymous, everyone has

same questions, control the answers,

quick to get results; shorten prep time

by using previous surveys; easy to

analyze

Can’t ask follow up questions; self-

reporting may be unreliable; hard

to get people to respond (return

rate); sample size may be hard to

figure

LibQual;

Indirect Costs Survey

Case study

Only need a few participants; have a

holistic view of those participants

Analysis takes time; may not be

applied to whole population

University of Rochester

daily movement study

Content Analysis/Analyze

existing data

Data already exists; fast to gather it;

representative of what is actually

happening

Doesn’t cover potential; could be

outdated; info might not exist; not

sure if reliable methods were used

to gather the data

Analysis of circulation

statistics

Observation

Results are reliable; don’t need to

seek participants

Creep factor—hard to be watched;

the motivation for the observed

behavior is not apparent; no

demographics—not know who you

are observing

Observation of Art

library grad study

room

Focus group

Open discussion’ ideas-free form; can

use to get ideas for survey;

unexpected feedback occurs

Difficulty recruiting participants;

easy to get off topic; difficult to

analyze data; time consuming to set

up and implement

Follow up a survey;

start with focus groups

to decide what to put

on a survey

Tool: Survey

Assessment

method

Pros Cons Sample use

Survey via

paper, online,

one-on-one

interviews,

phone

Private, anonymous,

same questions for

everyone, control the

answers, quick to get

results; shorten prep

time by using previous

surveys; easy to

analyze

Can’t ask follow up

questions; self-

reporting may be

unreliable; hard to

get people to respond

(return rate); sample

size may be hard to

figure

LibQual;

Indirect Costs

Survey

Tool: Case Study

Assessment

method

Pros Cons Sample use

Case study Only need a few

participants; have a

holistic view of those

participants

Analysis takes time;

may not be applied to

whole population

University of

Rochester

daily

movement

study

Tool: Content Analysis

Assessment

method

Pros Cons Sample use

Content

Analysis/

Analyze

existing data

Data already exists;

fast to gather it;

representative of what

is actually happening

Doesn’t cover

potential;

could be outdated;

info might not exist;

not sure if reliable

methods were used to

gather the data

Analysis of

circulation

statistics;

blogosphere

studies

Tool: observation

Assessment

method

Pros Cons Sample use

Observation Results are reliable;

don’t need to seek

participants

Creep factor—hard

to be watched;

the motivation for

the observed

behavior is not

apparent;

no demographics—

not know who you

are observing

Observation

of Art

Library

graduate

student study

room

Tool: Focus Groups

Assessment

method

Pros Cons Sample use

Focus group Open discussion

ideas free-form; can

use to get ideas for

survey; unexpected

feedback occurs--

cascading

Difficulty recruiting

participants; easy

to get off topic;

difficult to analyze

data; time

consuming to set up

and implement

Follow up a

survey;

start with

focus groups

to decide

what to put

on a survey

Use a focus group:

When you want to….

understand motivations and attitudes

provide insights about how people perceive a

situation

Legitimate technique?

Quantitative vs. Qualitative data

Process of disciplined inquiry

Systematic and verifiable

Data Interpretation

Purpose is to understand perceptions

Can not generalize to whole population

INFER

2. Define Focus Groups

Functions:

1. Size

2. Duration

3. Atmosphere

4. Common factor

Size

http://www.cnelson.com/gallery/cart-photos/small-person-or-big-chair

Duration

Scott Kerber, Enterprise Publications at http://www.enterprisepub.com/sports/lady-eagles-soar-to-win-at-logan-view/article_80a31860-66c5-

11e0-98bf-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=image

Open Atmosphere

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/county-499134-human-relations.html?pic=2

Common factor

http://ingesidee.de/page.php?pgid=74&lang=en

Functions:

1. Size

2. Duration

3. Atmosphere

4. Common factor

3. Questions

Stimulate discussion

Question Characteristics

Conversational

One idea per question

Non-threatening or non-embarrassing

Free of bias

From surface to the deep

Easy to answer

More thought needed

Deeper attitudes and perceptions

surface

below

Open ended

• What is your reaction to…?

• How do you feel about…?

• What is your thinking on…?

Introduce a Subject

“Please think back…”

“Please think about…”

“When…”

“Let’s talk about…”

Test Your Questions

1. one or two people

2. typify the audience

3. test for understanding

Write Test Rewrite Test Toss or keep?

Example:

Focus Group Guiding Questions on eLearning

Let’s talk about your Current Usage

• What is your level of expertise with eLearning?

• What do you use eLearning for?

• What do you like about eLearning?

Let’s talk about Usability

• What do you think about eLearning’s interface?

• What improvements do you need?

Let’s talk about Tools in a Learning Management

System?

• What do you like about the tools you are

currently using in eLearning

• What do you not like about these tools?

• Which tools are essential?

Library Service Quality Survey (LibQUAL 2004) Follow up Project

Graduate Students American History

Focus Group Questions:

1. First, we’re interested in finding out about the strengths & weaknesses of

the library collections in American History.

a. How would you say the collections have changed since you started your

program?

i. Have they improved? Remained the same? Weakened?

ii. Does anyone else have a different take on it?’

b. Which collections or resources are indispensable to you? (Why?)

c. Which major resources are we missing that you would use regularly?

i. Do you use Mobius often?

ii. For what kinds of materials do you end up going to Mobius?

Example:

Library Service Quality Survey (LibQUAL 2004) Follow up Project Graduate Students American History

Focus Group Questions:

II. We’re also interested in how we interact with you.

a. What can we do to better support your teaching?

i. Are there any projects in your classes …?

ii. Have you ever considered … ?

iii. How well is the reserve process working for you?

b. What can we do to better support your research?

…Continued from previous slide

Focus group for Domino’s Pizza

“How many of you believe Domino’s

cheese is real cheese made from milk?”

No! No!

No!

The “Reveal”

cows farmer

4. Recruiting

Poll Question 3

If you have participated in a focus group, why did you

do it?

Curious

Incentive was offered

Wanted to give my opinion

Went along with a friend

Never participated

Recruiting – target audience

Homogeneity

Gender

Age

Status

Social connections

Recruiting- finding them

Nomination

Self-selection

Volunteer bank

Class rolls

Past events

Campus groups

Office of Undergraduate Research

Writing Center

Student government

Recruiting Follow-up

Over-invite – 10-20%

Respond a.s.a.p. to each inquiry

Give a contact name

Send reminders

Incentives

Food at session

Gift cards

Class assignment/credit from faculty

Location and schedule

Accessible venue

Comfortable temperature, well lit

Seating allows participants to see each other

Food is permitted

Directions/signage

Time of day

Day of week

Participants Form

Name

Phone

Email address

Program/Major

Year in program

Expected date of graduation

How you would like to be contacted?

Interested in giving feedback in future?

Demographics

Example: participant form

Sign in sheet Focus Group Participants Date _Feb 4, 2010 __________

Sign in sheet Focus Group Participants Date _Feb 4, 2010 __________

Name Program/Major Expected Date of graduation

Email Phone

Interested in future

sessions of library testing?

Y /N

How do you prefer to be contacted--

Email or Phone?

1. Candace xxxxx

Undergrad WGSS Anthro

May 2011 y

2. Daniel xxxxxxx

Undergrad History, Political Science

May 2011 Y

3. “Christal”xxxxxx

Undergrad Econ

2012 y

4. Lisa xxxxxx

Grad/History 2014 y

5. Jenny xxxxxx

Grad/History 2013 y

6. Xiaoyan xxxxxx

Grad/East Asian 2011 y

7. Zach xxxxxx

Grad/Philsophy 2011 Y

8. Nora xxxxxx

Grad/Soc. Work 2013 y

9.

10.

Saturation

Questions about Recruiting?

5. Conducting a session

Poll question 4

How have you been involved with conducting focus

groups?

a. No involvement

b. Participant

c. Moderated

d. Took notes

e. Publicity/recruiting/other role

3 Roles

Host Scribe Facilitator

Host

Name tent/tag

Participant number

Consent form

Demographic form

Scribe/s

Tape record/video

Write (by hand or PC)

Be neutral

Note body language

Ask questions for clarity

Online focus groups--scribe needed?

Facilitator Characteristics

Neutral attitude

Relatable

Active Listener

Characteristics

Facilitator Duties

Guide group discussion to keep it on track

Group dynamics

Process

Content

Manages the Content

Probing questions

Can you talk about that more?

Would you explain further?

Help me understand what you mean.

Can you give an example?

Pause

Wait 5 seconds for response before rephrasing

Rephrase to clarify

What are the benefits of garlic?

Please tell me about the benefits of garlic.

How does garlic help you?

What do you like best about garlic?

http://www.focusgrouptips.com/marketing-research-surveys.html (FocusGroupTips.com)

Manages the group

Experts

Dominant talkers

Shy participants

Ramblers

Redirection

Does anyone think the opposite is true?

Joe, we’ve heard from you. What do you think Sue?

Let’s hear from someone who hasn’t contributed yet.

Scripting

Welcome

Introductions

Purpose

Ground Rules

Icebreaker

Discussion

Windup

Debrief

Facilitator

Scribe

Did they see the same

event? Hear the same

comments?

Preliminary insights?

6. Analyzing the results

Prep data

Transcribe/Type notes

Combine

Clean

Number

Sort by cards

Analysis of Qualitative Data

Coding

Sort

Thematic

Patterns

Synthesize data

Sort categories again

Identify patterns

Insights

Gut reaction

Reporting

Include:

Focus group description:

Goal

audience

demographics

dates

Results

Recommendations

Question set

Present results

Summary

Participants will be able to:

Evaluate whether a focus group is the best source

for the data they seek.

Identify questions to ask for the focus groups.

List skills needed by a facilitator.

Describe three phases to use for data analysis.

Poll Question 5 (2 again)

What did you learn from today’s session?

Choose all that are true for you.

When to use focus groups

Writing questions

Skills needed by a facilitator

Recruiting participants

Steps in data analysis

Poll responses

Charmaine Scott

cgscott@wustl.edu

314-935-7277

QUESTIONS?

Bibliography

Conducting Focus Groups, Center for the Study of Student Life at Ohio State

University, (http://youtu.be/-27WjZVDlbk)

Ingrid Bens, Facilitation at a Glance! A pocket guide of tools and techniques for

effective meeting facilitation, 2nd ed. GOAL QPC, 2008

Ingrid Bens website (http://www.facilitationtutor.com/)

Richard A. Krueger & Mary Anne Casey, Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied

Research, 3rd ed. Sage Publications, 2000

Richard A. Krueger website (http://www.tc.umn.edu/~rkrueger/focus.html)

Video stills from Sharks for Snickers ,

(http://youtu.be/8fvCPvzy-kM)

Video stills from Real Cheese in Domino’s Pizza ,

(http://youtu.be/IgwPw59iqhw)

Richard A. Krueger & Mary Anne Casey, Focus Groups, Sage Publications, 2000 Richard A. Krueger & Mary Anne Casey, Focus Groups, Sage Publications, 2000