Description:

A Focus Group is a planned and facilitated discussion session which has been set up with a targeted group of participants identified by having something in common – perhaps part of the Aimhigher target cohort, participants in an activity, or stakeholders in it. 6-10 participants is usually considered optimum number for a Focus Group – large enough to get a range of views but small enough to be able to manage the discussion and ensure everyone participates whilst keeping it informal and relaxed.

Focus Groups elicit mainly qualitative information – to describe, explain or characterise issues on a theme. Focus Groups can be good for providing in-depth perspectives on a particular issue but not so useful if you want to generalise or be able to quantify the prevalence of the views across a whole population.

How used in Aimhigher:

In Aimhigher, Focus Groups have been used to collect views on how particular activities are working (for example, evaluation of the OU mentoring scheme included Focus Groups with mentors and mentees. Focus Groups have also been used to look at the different types of benefits for pupils for learners, for example Focus Groups were held with pupils involved in Ainhigher Associates (the groups showed the different ways in which individuals might benefit although were not representative of all pupils). Focus Groups can also be used to add in-depth commentary on what young people think about different issues to complement other types of research (for example, information from Focus Groups was collected as part of research into attitudes to university fees which also included a quantitative survey). 

Advice on the Method:

In order to work well Focus Groups usually require quite a lot of preparation, which would not only include targeting people to take part, but also planning the session, and choosing the venue. The Focus Group Planning Checklist gives tips and advice on these aspects.

Focus Groups usually last around an hour (1.5 hours maximum). A script should be drawn up in advance to provide a planned structure to the session. Usually the checklist has been developed around the Focus Group questions, and includes other information to be shared with the group such as the objectives of the study, how the results will be used, and ground-rules for the discussion that follows. The script should set out the main areas/questions for discussion and the group should spend roughly equal time on each point. To work well you should only have at most 5-6 key themes/questions so need to think about the most important aspects of the topic you would like the group to focus on.

Usually Focus Groups require an experienced facilitator to guide the discussion and to ensure good participation by all and a focus on the themes under question. Group exercises or ‘flash cards’ can be useful to get people to focus and help facilitate the discussion.

Because it’s hard to facilitate and take notes, it’s useful to have a note-taker sitting alongside the group. Another option would be to record the discussion although this can be off-putting for some people. If you want to use quotes from the participants you need to get the participant’s permission to do so.