The practical organisation of focus groups :
The practical organisation of focus groups Organising focus group interviews usually requires more planning than other types of interviewing
Arranging venue
Organise participants
Organise setting
Equipment
Organise yourself
Venue:
Venue Focus group meetings can be held in a variety of places, for example, people’s homes, in rented facilities, or where the participants hold their regular meetings if they are a pre-existing group.
Neutral locations can be helpful for avoiding either negative or positive associations with a particular site or building
Try to avoid noisy settings or places where you might be interrupted
Participants:
Participants It is not always easy to identify the most appropriate participants
Try to strike a balance between ‘similarity’ and ‘difference’
Participants need to feel comfortable with each other. Meeting with others whom they think of as possessing similar characteristics or levels of understanding about a given topic, will be more appealing than meeting with those who are perceived to be different
Try to avoid friendship groups or ‘cliques’
Setting:
Setting Try to arrange the venue to be as informal and relaxing as possible for participants
Arrange seating in a circle before people arrive
Place your recording device in a central position (e.g a low table in the centre of the circle)
Test your recording device before people arrive to find the best position
Equipment:
Equipment Voice recorder
Notepad and pen
Sticky labels (for name tags)
Spare paper/pens
Familiarize yourself with your recording device before the group starts
Test your recording device before people arrive
Organising Yourself:
Organising Yourself Prepare a script to introduce yourself, explain the work you’re doing, deal with issues of confidentiality, toilets and fire escapes
Rehearse it!
Keep all your focus group materials together at all times.
If possible, have a ‘focus group bag’ or folder and put everything into it
Arrive at least 30 minutes before the time you asked participants to attend