6B - Pilot Focus Groups

From the pilots that I have conducted it the focus groups were the biggest surprise. Perhaps as I had never even taking part or lead one before but I think they will be very useful data gathering tools.

The focus group was a great way to get lots of different thoughts and ideas, these gave a lot of insight to my Inquiry. There was a constant flow of knowledge and ideas. I also felt people let go as they had the support of others. The ideas that did emerge were also able to expand and gain deeper understanding due to the constant voices developing it.

There are a few issues that may arise, the main concern I have is the transcript. I will be recording these and taking notes like the interviews however it can be an issue when picking out voices. I feel when doing them 'for real' I will get the focus group to make sure before they speak to say their name so I can identify the speaker. Also to try not to talk over one or another, we had this issue at the pilot as everyone got so passionate and wanted to voice their opinion but I had to remind them to speak one at a time to avoid this. Like interviews typing up the transcript will be time consuming so its something worthwhile to think about when conducting a time management plan. I also feel it may be hard to get a certain group of people together at a given time so also another thing to think about when making a time schedule.

A few other points that may be of concern are that one person in the group becomes dominant, ideally you want everyone to contribute evenly. This didn't happen during the pilot but is worth while to keep in mind. Also you don't want anyone to feel pressured into behaving in a certain way so will also be something I will keep my eye on for future reference.

I think the focus group will provide my Inquiry with lots of insight and could be a powerful took for collecting qualitative data. I will need to ensure it is managed correctly in order to get the best out of it.