Conducting Focus Groups What is a Focus Group?

A focus group is a group of individuals, usually six to eight, brought together for a more or less open-ended discussion about an issue. This qualitative research tool provides a subjective, but not statistically valid, understanding of the larger communitys attitudes. Why Focus Groups? In these groups, an objective moderator can encourage participants to freely discuss their feelings and concerns about your school and its plans to create smaller schools. There are several advantages to conducting Focus Groups: 1. Participants will walk away from the interaction with more information about your school; 2. You will gain a deeper understanding of how the participants perceive your school and its plans for the future; and 3. You can use the experience within these smaller groups to prepare for the dynamics of a larger group, such as a town hall meeting. Conducting a series (three to five) of Focus Groups will ensure that you hear from a broad spectrum of the community. Each discussion group should be as homogenous as possible, i.e., the group should include all teachers or all parents, but not a mix. The discussion groups should run no more than an hour and a half. Steps for conducting Focus Groups. 1. Develop a purpose statement for your Focus Groups Having a specific purpose in mind will help you: - Gather the most relevant information; - Better determine the audience you want to invite to your discussions; and - Develop a useful discussion guide. A sample purpose statement might be: To gain understanding of teachers, parents, and community members attitudes toward the plan to redesign our school and to explore potential ways, if any, to encourage higher levels of participation in the school. 2. Determi ne the best participants Ask yourself: - Who has strong ties to your school? - Who are the specific supporters or detractors to embrace? - Who are your communitys opinion leaders, or those who tend to influence others, such as members of the PTA, business owners and clergy?

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Suggested groups might include: - Teachers - School administration and other personnel - School volunteers - Parents - Community opinion leaders, such as business owners, council members, members of families that have long histories in the community, community advocates, clergymen and, of course, those community members that everybody just seems to know. 3. Recruit participants Compile a list of potential participants: - Ask your local PTA president or school staff for a listing of parents; - Ask your local Chamber of Commerce for a list of prominent businesspeople; and/or Keep an eye on stories in your local newspapers to see which people are active in your community. Invite at least twice the number of people youd like to have in each discussion group. (For instance, invite 12 to 16 individuals to guarantee that youll have six to eight participants.) Send a letter of invitation with an RSVP. The letter should: - Be signed by the schools principal; - Describe the reason why the school is conducting discussion groups and the purpose of the discussion groups; - Include a date/time/location for the discussion group; and - Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the RSVP, email or fax number. Conduct follow-up phone calls to confirm attendance. 4. Select a location and times for the Focus Groups This could be your school or another, more neutral, location. (Community centers and libraries often have rooms available for use at no charge.) The room should be: - Large enough to fit everyone comfortably; - In a safe and convenient location (possibly near the high school); and - Be accessible by public transportation. Times should be convenient so people can come without having to leave work early or get home too late. 5. Select a moderator and recorder. The moderator must: - Make sure all topics and materials presented are in context; - Probe participants for feedback and information; - Encourage quieter group members to contribute; - Keep the group on task and get through all the questions without exceeding the time limit; and
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Be perceived by the participants as objective, so the participants feel comfortable sharing their opinions.

A second person should be available to record the comments of the group, either in writing or with a tape-recorder. 6. Create a discussion guide The guide will: - Serve as a road map for the moderator. It should flow from introductions to general, easy-to-answer questions, which can put people at ease. Then, the discussion should move toward more specific, in-depth questions and, finally, closure. Prompt the moderator to follow general questions by specific questions. For example, after the question, What do you like about the high school? the moderator could ask, If you could build a new school from scratch, what would you do to make sure it is the best possible? Remind the moderator to ask probing questions. For example, if someone responds that the current school is good, the moderator could ask, When you say the school is good, what, specifically, comes to mind that makes you say its good?

The guide should not be set in stone. The moderator should be prepared to follow his or her instincts and slip in additional questions or probes as needed.
7.

Prepare materials to use during the research group Use this opportunity to share the values that smaller, more personalized schools offer higher attendance rates, higher graduation rates, safer environments, etc. This can be done by sharing sample communications pieces, such as a short tape of a speech regarding the issue, a mock brochure or flyer, or a newsletter article. The moderator should not present these advantages as facts because it might appear that the facts are the opinion of the moderator. Instead, they should be presented on these types of communication pieces. These communication pieces also will give participants a way to respond to something impersonal, and the participants will be more honest in their critiques than they would be if it were simply an idea or message presented by a moderator.

8. Be mindful of duties for the day of Keep in mind that the participants are volunteering their time to help you, so: - Make every effort to be accommodating; - Stick to your schedule (start and end on time); and Thank them for their help. Other things to remember: - Be sure you have signage that directs participants to the room; - Bring name tags to help the participants and the moderator in their discussion; Bring pens and paper for the participants;
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Try to serve refreshments; Know where the most convenient restrooms are so you can tell the participants; and Be ready to send thank you notes to participants immediately after the discussions.

Analyzing what you learned While not quantifiable, Focus Groups can be very enlightening. To get a sense of the results, first condense and put in order what was said. Then, determine the overall theme or thread of the discussions. Highlight the main findings and note what was positive or negative. If you showed materials to the groups, you should be able to determine how the participants perceive messages and images and ways you can improve your communications based on what you heard. Overall, a summary of the Focus Groups will give you a clearer understanding of how your community feels about your plan and the elements that are important to them. This understanding will help you shape your plan as you move forward.

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SAMPLE MODERATORS GUIDE (2 pages) Moderator introduction, thank you and purpose (1 minute) Hello. My name is __________. Id like to start off by thanking each of you for taking time to come today. Well be here for about an hour and a half. The reason were here today is to get your opinions and attitudes about issues related to [name of school]. Im going to lead our discussion today. I am not here to convince you of anything or try to sway your opinion. My job is just to ask you questions and then encourage and moderate our discussion. I also would like to introduce [name of recorder]. [He or she] will be recording our discussion today for my report. To allow our conversation to flow more freely, Id like to go over some groundrules. 1. Please talk one at a time and avoid side conversations. 2. Everyone doesnt have to answer every single question, but Id like to hear from each of you today as the discussion progresses. 3. This will be an open discussion feel free to comment on each others remarks. 4. There are no wrong answers, just different opinions. Say what is true for you, even if youre the only one who feels that way. Dont let the group sway you. But if you do change your mind, just let me know. 5. Just let me know if you need a break. The bathrooms are [location]. Before we start talking about [name of school], Id like to meet each of you. Please tell me: Your name How long you have lived in this area If you have school-age children and if you have children at [name of high school] What do you think about the local schools? What do you think about [name of high school]? What does it do well? How could it improve? What qualities do you think define a successful high school?
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Groundrules (2 minutes)

Intro of participants (10 minutes)

General questions (10 minutes)

Specific questions (25 minutes)

[Name of high school] currently has [# of students]. Do you think the number of students makes a difference in how well the students do? If yes, why would fewer students be better? If no, why specifically? School officials say they are redesigning their school to create a more personalized learning environment. [Or, insert specific details about your plan.] What concerns do you have about that? What do you like about that? What would you like school administrators to consider as they move forward with this plan? How should school administrators involve the community in this plan? Take a few minutes and study this [brochure, flyer or other product]. What does it tell you about the changes planned for [name of high school]? How do you feel about what it says? Does this information make you think differently about the plan to redesign [name of school]? If it were your job to advise school administrators, what advice would you give them on their plans? Thanks for coming today and talking about [name of school]. Your comments have given me lots of different ways to see this issue. I thank you for your time.

Present materials to gauge reaction (15 minutes)

Closing question (10 minutes) Closing (2 minutes)

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MODERATOR DOs AND DONTs

Do Make everyone feel welcome Speak in a loud, clear voice Be flexible Include everyone in the discussion Leave enough time for people to answer questions (enjoy the silence!) Vary your style of asking questions to get a variety of answers Probe for clarity Allow diverse opinions to emerge

Dont Talk too much Let one person dominant the discussion Fail to stay neutral on the issue Ask more than one question at a time Ask yes or no questions (instead ask open-ended questions) Go over the allotted time Forget to thank people for participating

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SUGGESTED TIMELINE Two months before Focus Groups Outline objectives of Focus Groups and draft purpose statement Decide how many Focus Groups you plan to hold Decide which groups of individuals you want to invite to discussions Choose moderator

One month before Focus Groups Draft discussion guide Develop materials to share in Focus Groups Send invitations to potential participants Reserve location(s)

Three weeks before Focus Groups Begin to make follow-up calls to invitees Finalize discussion guide Finalize materials to share in discussions Choose a recorder for the discussions

Two weeks before Focus Groups Continue follow-up calls to invitees

One week before Focus Groups Do a walk-through of the location to determine table and chair needs, necessary signage

Week of Focus Groups Confirmation calls with participants Additional recruiting of participants if necessary Plan for refreshments if possible

Week after Focus Groups Write a summary of the discussions Send thank you notes to all participants

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SAMPLE INVITATION LETTER Date Name Address Address Dear [Name], [Name of school] is looking for ways to improve and needs your help. We would like to cordially invite you to join us in a group discussion to talk about education issues in our community, specifically our plans to redesign our high school. We want to hear your opinions and ideas for creating a better school for our students and our community. Date Time Location The group will consist of about seven other people like you and a moderator. Thank you for considering being a part of this discussion. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at [phone number]. Sincerely,

Name Title ................................................................................................................................................ RSVP Name: _________________________________________________________________ Best telephone number to contact me: _______________________________________ ___ Yes, I can participate in a research group discussion at [time] on [date]. I will see you at [location]. ___ No, I cannot participate in this research group discussion. Please let me know if you have other dates and times available. ___ No, I am not interested in participating in any research group discussion. ** Please return RSVP in the self-address, stamped envelope included. **
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