Term 2 - 2020/2021
Qualitative Methods in Media &
Communication (CM2006)
WEEK 4
Focus Groups - Dumitrica & Pridmore
- Introduction
• Focus Groups: Is a directed conversation on a specific topic, issue or concern (or a set of
these) with a small number of participants
• Focus group moderator – to keep this ‘focus’
- When and why should you use focus groups to collect your data?
• Focus groups have often been seen in line with or connected to interviews, often even
being described as ‘group interviews.’
• Although any conversation is a collaborative process, the involvement of multiple people
means that a more dynamic but less controllable set of interactions will take place.
• This is the both primary advantage and disadvantage of focus groups – it is potentially
more productive in terms of relevant data but also more uncontrollable.
• A focus group is an interactive conversation-based meeting usually conducted with
about six to twelve participants
• A focus group lasts for 30 minutes at a minimum to two hours at a maximum, with
average focus groups lasting between one hour and 15 and one hour and 30 minutes.
• There may be stimulus material introduced in the focus group, for instance a video or a
picture, to prompt ongoing conversations related to the researcher’s overall research
question, but this is not necessary.
• A focus group can benefit significantly from the ‘group effect’, but this requires the
researcher as moderator to engage in particular ways with focus group participants and
understand how to draw out the best responses from their participation.
• The use of focus groups is that they can be designed to include voices of persons with
limited power.
• Focus group participants are more likely to reveal more about their perspectives
particularly if there are others in the group that share a similar perspective. This allows
for a researcher to have a better sense of the complexities of behaviour and motivations
of participants as well as learn a bit more about how much these persons might have a
consensus around the topic which is being studied
Laura Sehnem
Qualitative Methods in Media &
Communication (CM2006)
WEEK 4
Focus Groups - Dumitrica & Pridmore
- Introduction
• Focus Groups: Is a directed conversation on a specific topic, issue or concern (or a set of
these) with a small number of participants
• Focus group moderator – to keep this ‘focus’
- When and why should you use focus groups to collect your data?
• Focus groups have often been seen in line with or connected to interviews, often even
being described as ‘group interviews.’
• Although any conversation is a collaborative process, the involvement of multiple people
means that a more dynamic but less controllable set of interactions will take place.
• This is the both primary advantage and disadvantage of focus groups – it is potentially
more productive in terms of relevant data but also more uncontrollable.
• A focus group is an interactive conversation-based meeting usually conducted with
about six to twelve participants
• A focus group lasts for 30 minutes at a minimum to two hours at a maximum, with
average focus groups lasting between one hour and 15 and one hour and 30 minutes.
• There may be stimulus material introduced in the focus group, for instance a video or a
picture, to prompt ongoing conversations related to the researcher’s overall research
question, but this is not necessary.
• A focus group can benefit significantly from the ‘group effect’, but this requires the
researcher as moderator to engage in particular ways with focus group participants and
understand how to draw out the best responses from their participation.
• The use of focus groups is that they can be designed to include voices of persons with
limited power.
• Focus group participants are more likely to reveal more about their perspectives
particularly if there are others in the group that share a similar perspective. This allows
for a researcher to have a better sense of the complexities of behaviour and motivations
of participants as well as learn a bit more about how much these persons might have a
consensus around the topic which is being studied
Laura Sehnem
