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Subject PSYCHOLOGY

Paper No and Title Paper No.3: Qualitative Methods

Module No and Title Module No 19: Focus groups

Module Tag PSY_P3_M19

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Learning Outcomes
2. Introduction
3. Focus Group Discussion
3.1 Nature of Focus Group Discussion
3.2 Points to consider while conducting the focus group discussion
4. Origins of the Focus Group Methods
5. Role of Moderator in Focus Group
6. Role of note taker.
7. Advantages and Limitations of Focus Group
8. Analysis of Focus Group data
8.1 Analysis choices
8.2 Points to remember while analyzing focus group discussion
9. Summary

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Learning outcomes:
After studying this module, you shall be able to
 Learn the nature, purpose and the manner in which Focus Group Discussion is conducted,
and utilize it as a method of Qualitative Research.
 Analyze the focus group data.

Focus Group Discussion (FGD)

A focus group is a qualitative method of data collection involving an interview led by a
moderator with a group of individuals with a shared experience, known opinion or any other
socio-demographic variable brought together to explore the facets of any issue. The size of the
group is approximately 6-10 individuals and the interview is generally conducted for duration of
2-3 hours.
Focus Group Discussion can be called as “collective conversations with a purpose” as it makes
interaction possible between the members. The primary aim of focus group discussion is to
describe and understand the meanings of a specific issue from the perspective of the participants
of the group. (Liamputtong, 2009). Focus Groups provide a dynamic scenario which allows its
members to construct their social reality as it stimulates discussion among people and bring to
surface responses that otherwise might lay dormant. It is particularly useful for understanding
opinions and attitudes of society on controversial and taboo topics. Such discussions may enable
participants to clarify their own views with regards to any pertinent issue by the virtue of
engaging with others. It brings in light the commonalities and differences in the members of the
group that is why it proves useful for exploratory researches and pilot study. It can also be used
for investigation more developed research work.
The questions asked tend to be open-ended which sparks a trail of discussion among members,
thus creating a situation similar to everyday reality minimizing the artificiality inherent in one on
one interview. The discussion is generally audio taped (after obtaining the consent of the
participants) to be transcribed for identifying recurring themes for the purpose of analysis. As
focus group discussion incurs expenses to the participants in terms of time and travel, some
monetary incentive is generally given.

Nature Of Focus Group Interview:

According to Merton et.al (1990) focus group interviews differ from similar others due to four
basic features:
• The persons being interviewed are known to have been involved in a particular situation
for e.g. read a pamphlet, taken part in a psychological experiment or a political rally, etc.
• Hypothetically significant elements of the situation have been content analyzed by a
social scientist to arrive at a set of hypothesis that is potentially consequential to the situation.
• Researcher then makes an interview guide, which structure the process by setting forth
criteria of relevance for the data to be obtained in the interview.
• Finally the interview is focused on the subjective experiences of the person exposed to
the pre-analyzed situation and their responses to the situation help test the preformed hypotheses
and formulate new ones.

STEPS IN CONDUCTING THE FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

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Before the focus group discussion begins, the facilitator should

obtain the socio-demographic information of the participants
such as their age, gender, occupation, education and other pertinent information. The type of
information to be gathered depends on the FGD topic. Once this is done, this sequence of steps is
carried out:
• A brief introduction is given in which the purpose and scope of the discussion are
explained to the participants.
• Participants are asked to introduce themselves to the group.
• The discussion is structured around the key themes using the probe questions prepared in
advance.
• It is important to ensure that all the participants take an active part in the discussion,
which can be accomplished using variety of tactics.

Points to Consider while conducting the Focus Group Discussion:

Researcher generally should conduct at least two or three discussion on the same topic with
different samples to ensure higher representativeness of opinion. The number of discussion
required varies with the research question and also depends on how many population subgroups
are considered (Morgan, 1988). This points to the level of subjectivity involved, which is
logically expected in qualitative method.
• At least two hours of running time should be provided, shorter time would indicate
unsatisfactory methodology.
• Generally, 6- 10 members are considered to be the ideal size for a group. Too many
would create chaos, inhibiting some members and too few would minimize the range of opinions.
• It is better for the members to not have met prior to the meeting, unless there is a strong
need for the case to be otherwise.
• Members should also be diverse in terms of various demographic variables as this aids in
the obtaining of wide range of opinions. However, practical issues should also be taken to
consideration.
• A Focus Group Discussion guide, which broadly specifies the themes to be discussed can
be utilized.
• Logistical arrangements such as the invitations, transportation, venue, seating
arrangements, etc. should be given due consideration.
• Name Tags can be utilized to facilitate remembering of names if the cultural norms do
not state otherwise.
• Refreshments can be provided as a gesture of appreciation to the participants who had
taken their valuable time-off.
According to Dennis etal. (2012) focus group discussions have three major uses:
• Pilot work for research to identify and study significant issues.
• To collect verbal data on a specific issue which can be analysed in many ways. This
aspect of research is much debated and recently qualitative researchers are showing inclination to
naturalistic conversational sources.
• To discuss and conclude the results with the people who are the subjects of the study.
That is, discussion of research findings.

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Logistical Seating Arrangement In Focus Group Discussion Session.

ROLE OF THE MODERATOR:

Though the discussion is generally kept flowing by participants themselves it is important to

have a researcher as the moderator for pragmatic reasons. The interviewer must be skilled with
groups both to facilitate communication and deal with problems that may arise in due course from
conflicting opinions. The moderator should use various techniques to encourage respondents to
debate topics and issues, to challenge opinions expressed by others, to identify areas of consensus
and disagreement, and to collect examples with which to illuminate concepts.

Ideally, the moderator should not lead the discussion but steer it along productive lines. Formal
direction is restricted to guide the goals of the participants and to amending the starting, direction,
and closure of the group discussion. According to Flick (2009), topical guiding also includes
raising new questions and making the discussion address deeper questions and extend of specific
issues. Other than this, the dynamics of the conversation could vary from reflecting the
interaction to using probing questions, speeding up a slow discussion, or balancing the relation of
dominance by deliberately involving those participants who did not get an ample chance to speak
rather the reserved ones. The interviewer can also use visual aids such as charts, images, or texts
to further stimulate the discussion. In general, the interviewer should be “flexible, objective,
empathic, persuasive, a good listener” (Fontana & Frey, 2000).
As too much of heterogeneity in the sample might prove unmanageable and chaotic, an
underlying shared attribute enables researcher to mark similarities and identify potential
discrepancies.

The major duties of the moderator of the group are (Gibbs, 1997):
• Giving details about the aim and purpose of the focus;
• Making sure the members feel safe and comfortable and the discussion has a positive
impact on the members;
• Using some probes to bring up new debates or to increase focus on an topic;
• Giving all participants a chance to speak up (by not letting a vocal few to dominate and
encouraging more participation from the more reserved members).
• To focus on the different opinions of the members so that they are prompted to discuss
the differences of the opinion;
• Inhibiting the drifting of the discussion from the main topic of discussion
• The researcher should also have the ability to appear non-judgmental and opinionated. He
or she needs to be familiar with the topic, should speak the language of the participants and also
be sensitive to cultural background of the participants. An assistant moderator can also be
employed if required.

Role Of Note-Taker (Assistant Moderator)

Apart from the moderator, another experimenter takes Field notes. These should capture
information on:

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Note Taking
The assistant moderator must take notes. The moderator
himself should not do note making
Field notes are sometimes not interpreted immediately. One may not rely on memory of the
events but rather try to take written notes with consistency and clarity.
Assistant moderator can quote the participants if there are statements that eloquently express and
illustrate an important point of view. They can also write the name or just the initials of the
participants following the quote. Mostly, it is not possible to note whole quotes and one can note
key points and use three periods “...” to denote missing part.

Field Notes should include the following:

1. Key points and themes for each question are noticed by various different members of
discussion. They may be mentioned only once but it should be in a way that gets attention. When
the discussion is over the assistant can tell the members the themes for their confirmation.
2. Follow-up questions which can be asked should be written in field notes. These are
questions that are important point in the discussion of a question. These can also be request for an
example of an abstract but important topic of the discussion. The assistant moderator could
answer to such requests at the end of the discussion.
3. Characteristics of the participants.
4. Themes that seem to emerge in the responses to the key questions
5. Subthemes that indicate a point of view held by several participants with common socio-
demographic characteristics
6. Description of participant enthusiasm.
7. Body language and Nonverbal cues by the participants that are not recorded in the tape
recorder. It is not necessary is the discussion is video recorded.
8. Overall mood of discussion.
The experimenter should consider using a standardized recording form for notes.

Origins Of The Focus Group Method:

The earliest use of focus groups can be traced back to 1926 when psychologists Emory Bogardus
and Walter Thurnstone used group interviews to develop survey instruments. Bronislaw
Malinowski, pioneering social anthropologist, wrote in his diaries about group conversations
among native Trobriand Islanders but did not specify the procedures. As a research method
“focus group Interviews” were developed by sociologist Robert Merton and his colleagues
Patricia Kendall and Marjorie Fiske. In the year 1941, inspired by Paul Lazarsfeld, who headed
Office of Radio Research, Merton and colleagues used FGD to examine the effectiveness of radio
broadcasts intended to improve morale of soldiers during World War II. (Merton, Fiske and
Kendall, 1990). The details of this method entitled ‘The focused interview’ (Merton & Kendall
1946) were published in the American Journal of Sociology, which has now become a classic
paper (Conradson 2005).
Morgan (1998) has classed the evolution of focus group techniques into three periods:
• Prior to WWII, used largely by social scientists
• During and after WWII prior to 1970’s, primarily in the field of marketing and business
when its use faded to obscurity in social sciences. This continues to remain as an active area for
the use FGD.
• Most recently, with a paradigm shift towards the qualitative domain in the social
sciences, use of focus group discussion has once again gained momentum.

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In the 1980’s health researchers pioneered the use of focus

groups in social action research, especially to study family
planning and sexual attitudes and behavior with regards to HIV/AIDS. 1990’s saw a growth
popularity and literature on the method in variety of disciplines including education, feminist
research, and media studies. (Wilkinson, 1998).

Advantages of Focus Group Discussions:

• Being in a social group situation leads to higher levels of motivation than in isolated
scenarios of interview or filling up of questionnaire.
• Membership in a group on and of itself can be empowering as it gives voice to the
participants.
• It is more economical compared to the qualitative interview, as multiple participants are
interviewed simultaneously.
• The USP of FGD is its dynamic nature which allows for interaction and formation of
reality for the participants. Group processes allows members to explore others point of view and
clarify their own.
• It not only stimulates the present reality of the participants but also aids them to recall
past events and formulate future opinions and attitudes.
• Its flexibility as a method has contributed to its growing popularity. FGD can be used
alone as a qualitative data collection tool or in combination with other quantitative techniques.
They can be used in psychology laboratories or in the field; to study social world or as an attempt
to change it in social action research. (Wilkinson, 1999).
- The advent of the Internet technology has greatly facilitated the conduction of Focus
Groups. Virtual Focus Groups have become popular not only in market research but also in health
and social sciences.

Limitations of Focus Group Interviews:

• Focus groups don’t represent the typical beliefs, attitudes, ideas, or opinions of the usual
population as they do not utilize random sampling techniques for data collection.
• They are expensive in terms of time and energy to organize, run and analyze the data. It
requires a lot of effort in organizing for a group of strangers to assemble at a particular location
on same time.
• Very few issues can be tackled in a session and hence only limited number questions can
be addressed.
• Note taking proves problematic due to the constant shift in the group dynamics.
• While interpreting the data, difficulty appears in the form of differences in the dynamics
of the groups and problems in correlating data of different groups. Identification of individual
speakers and the differentiation between statements of several parallel speakers proves difficult.
• As the role of researcher is minimized with respect to the direction of discourse and the
twists and turns can hardly be predicted, the data collected is comparatively less rigorous than a
directed laboratory experiment.
• Compared to qualitative interview the data obtained from FGD is shallower. Social
desirability might play a higher role in group scenario leading to suppression of honest opinion be
the members.
• Moderator Bias: intentional or inadvertent biases from the side of the moderator can
greatly impact the participant’s responses. Personal biases of the moderator may even influence
the participant to reach certain assumptions or conclusions about an idea or product.

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• As in any group discussion, one or two outspoken

members tend to dominate focus group interview. This may
even lead to the manipulation of the views of the weaker members views making the outcome
extremely biased.
• Focus group tends to go completely out of control while discussing sensitive and
controversial issues.

Analyses Of Focus Group Discussion

The researcher can chose how to analyze output of the focus group discussions. This might be
qualitative, ethnographic or based on systematic content analysis. The group members are not
randomly selected; they are purposively selected. Transcription is the first stage of data analysis
and a fully detailed one will facilitate the further steps of analyzing the data. This is a time
consuming process and requires a lot of attention and skill. The method of analyzing the data
should have been thought well before depending upon the theoretical framework and research
question .The two ways of going about analyzing it is CONTENT ANALYSIS and
DISCURSIVE ANAYSIS. Researcher have also used thematic analysis and grounded theory for
analyzing FGD data? You should therefore not limit your section to just two of these.

Content Analysis
Content analysis is a commonly used approach to analyzing qualitative data, which includes focus
group data as well. It entails coding participants’ open-ended conversations into close, objective
categories, which summarizes and systematizes the data. The categories can be derived from the
data itself or from the previous theoretical framework of the researcher. The main goal of this
procedure is to illustrate each category by means of representative quotations from the data.
One particular advantage of this method is that it allows for translation of qualitative data into
quantitative one. This is achieved by means of counting the number of responses falling within
each category and then summarizing the number of responses for each category. Therefore it
provides useful summary and offers an overview of the range and diversity of the participant’s
ideas. In addition to that, it also offers easy comparison with other similar studies undertaken.
The main disadvantage is that a great deal of detail is lost which means that it could be hard to
select quotations which are both representative of the categories and compelling in nature and
hence one loses a sense of naturalistic conversation of individual participants- especially – the
interaction between the participants which is an integral part of focus group data.
In addition to this there is also a range of coding problems associated with content analysis in
regards with what the participant’s addresses to him/herself or to others in a conversation. In
other words, it is unable to deal with inconsistencies in expressed beliefs or apparent changes of
opinion during the course of the focus group.

Discursive Analysis
The discursive analysis presents the collaborative production and negotiation of ideas about the
cause of any topic in discussion. It is epistemologically very different from a content analytic
approach that sees ideas about a cause as internal ‘cognitions’. It also important to note that
although discursive analysis has an affinity with narrative methods from a discursive perspective,
a narrated story – or other contribution to a discussion – is never just stand alone. Rather, it is a
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form of social action, produced for a specific purpose such as

to amuse, inform, illustrate or explain within the particular
interactional context of a particular focus group discussion.

The main advantages of undertaking a discursive analysis is that it takes the fullest possible
account of social context within which the statements about any cause is made. Therefore, it does
not treat such statements as unitary, static or non-contingent, and hence it preserves both a sense
of individual participants and particularly the details of their interaction, which here becomes a
central analytic concern. If video data are available, a broader analysis of the group dynamics
within which particular conversations are located becomes a real possibility.
The disadvantages of this analysis is that it does not easily permit either summary overview of a
large data set, or a detailed focus on the lives of individuals outside the focus group context. Only
a very small sample of data can be analyzed in detail in this way, and traditional concerns about
representativeness, generalizability, reliability and validity may be difficult to counter.

Grounded Theory Analysis Of Focus Group Data

This technique of analysis was first used by American sociologists Glaser and Strauss in 1967 in
their work on the “Awareness of Dying” in 1965. They used investigation method. They did not
have a hypothesis in mind and continuously compared the analyzed data. According to them by
using this method the theory will be truly grounded in the data. That is why they called this
method “grounded theory” (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). In general the aim of this method is to
obtain a theory which explains how certain aspect of the social world “works”.

Strengths of grounded theory analysis:

An effective approach that helps in building new theories and understand new phenomena
An elaborate and systematic method of data collection, analysis and theorizing
The obtained theory and hypotheses are useful in further research into the topic
Data needs to be collected over time, and at several levels, to make sure the results are significant

Weaknesses of grounded theory analysis:

Large data to be analyzed
Data collection and its analysis is time taking and needs to be very precise
To decide when the categories have reached saturation and that the theory is developed enough, is
a tough task
Practically it is unlikely to start research without any pre-existing theoretical ideas and
assumptions
Requires a lot of experience and patience

Grounded theory data analysis consists of looking out for concepts behind the actualities by
looking for codes, then concepts and finally categories.

1. Codes: coding is a type of content analysis. The goal is to realize and develop a basic topic of
the data. When the researcher is analyzing the data, the interviewer realizes that the interviewee
makes use of certain words and phrases that bring up a point of interest or importance in the
research; they are recorded in a short phrase. If the same point is mentioned again in similar
words and is recorded again.

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Open Coding: form basic categories of topics about the issue to

be studied from the data collected.
Axial Coding: It comprises of categorizing data in new ways after open coding.
Selective Coding: it includes the integrating of the groups of the axial coding model. Conditional
propositions (or hypotheses) are given in this phase.

2. Concepts: the analysis of codes it done and codes with common theme are grouped.

3. Categories: concepts are then grouped and regrouped to explore further higher order
commonalities called categories.
Grounded theory analysis method helps in categorizing and finding themes in focus group data.
Often the hypothesis that is created is about the opinions that the members of the focus group
discussion share or disagree on.

Thematic Analysis Of Focus Group Discussion Data

This method includes an analysis of the major themes requiring the researcher to notice a
restricted number of themes to give enough description of what is happening in textual data of the
focus group. This is easy to do superficially but a set of themes which describe in depth what is
going on in the data is more demanding to achieve. This method is much less dependent on
theory. The method includes coding of the data – line by line or every two or three lines together–
to indicate the contents of small quantities of the data. Codes are brief descriptions of small
chunks of data. There are no ‘rules’ to say precisely how this is done but the more ‘conceptual’
the codes are the better. The codes are a level of abstraction away from the data. From these
codes the researcher tries to develop or identify the themes which describe the major features of
the data. Eventually the researcher tries to find out which codes cluster together to form themes in
data. Each theme needs to be carefully defined and differentiated from other themes. As the
analytic ideas develop, the researcher may re-check the data or the codes in order to maximize the
fit between the data, the codes and the themes.
Thematic Analysis is useful when:

The data collection is complete;

There are no strong theoretical perspectives to drive the analysis
The data consist of detailed textual material such focus groups,
The data are rich in the sense of being full of detail and information such as will occur in in-depth
interviews and materials taken

Advantages:
It tends to generate research findings which are readily understood by the general public and
policy makers it has been criticized in terms of lacking a consistent and transparent formulation.

In sum, there is no single canonical or even preferred way of analyzing focus group data. Rather,
data can be analyzed in a number of ways each of which has particular benefits and also
particular costs. Therefore, method of analysis chosen depends centrally upon the particular
theoretical framework of researchers and the kind of research question that they hope to address.

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Important Points To Remember While Analyzing The Data Of Focus

Group.

When analyzing group data a researcher must consider the ACTUAL WORDS spoken by the
participants and the MEANING of those words. A variety of words and phrases are used and the
analyst needs to determine the degree of similarity between the responses. Secondly, the
CONTEXT is very essential which is examined by finding the stimulus- a question raised by the
moderator or a dialogue from a fellow participant and then interpreting the speech in relevance to
the environment. The comment is analyzed with the tone and intensity of the response. Thirdly,
the researcher should take note of the INTERNAL CONSISTENCY- subjects of the focus groups
sometimes change and at times even contradict their initial stances after interacting with other
participants. When there is a change in opinion, the researcher basically checks the course of
discussion to find clues that could explain the shift. Another point to remember is FREQUENCY
AND EXTENSIVENESS, some issues are d more discussed and also certain comments are made
more frequently. These issues would be of more importance or of chief interest to members of
discussion. In addition to this, the researcher must consider the INTENSITY with which the
participants talk about any particular topic. Participants often use phrases or words which show
the intensity of feelings. Intensity is often expressed in tone of voice, speed, etc. so it can be
tough to notice intensity with transcripts alone. There are individual differences when it comes to
expressing intensity it can be shown in speed or excitement while speaking or even as slowly and
deliberately talking about the topic. Lastly, FINDING BIG IDEAS is one of the essential
requisites for which a researcher must refrain from discussions in order to have an extra day for
major ideas to percolate.

Analysis Choices
ANALYSIS TYPE Memory based analysis Note based analysis Tape based analysis
Transcript based analysis
DESCRIPTION Moderator analyzes based on memory and past experiences and gives
oral debriefing to client Moderator prepares a brief written description based on summary
comments, field notes and selective review of tapes Moderator prepares written report based
on an abridged transcript after listening to tapes plus field notes and moderator debriefing Analyst
prepares written report based on complete transcript. Some use of field notes and moderator
debriefing
ORAL OR WRITTEN REPORTS Usually oral report only Usually oral and written report
Usually oral and written report Usually oral and written report
TIME REQUIRED PER GROUP Very fast
Within minutes following the discussion Fast
Within 1-3 hours per group Fast
Within 4-6 hours per group Slow
About 2 days per group
PERCEIVED LEVEL OF RIGOR Minimal Moderate Moderate to High
High
RISK OF ERROR High Moderate-depending on quality of field notes Low Low

SOURCE: Systematic Analysis by Richard A. Krueger, University of Minnesota

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Summary
 Focus group discussion, a qualitative research method involving group of people, allows
for social construction of reality.
 The dynamics of discussion gives more insight to issues, which may not be evident in a
single participant interview.
 The method was mostly used in market research but now it is also utilized by
psychologists and other social researchers.

 The moderator plays an essential part in steering the discussion to obtain purposeful data,
hence he/she should have the requisite skills.
 The data collected using the focus group methods can be analyzed using content or
discursive analysis depending on the researchers need and the topic.

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