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Are Focus Groups Less Expensive & Time Consuming Than Interviews?

Hello Curious Learner,

First, what are focus groups?

In simple terms, focus groups are facilitated discussions between 3-12 participants, ideally no more than eight, where a facilitator poses a question and the participants engage in a discussion about their opinions and views in relation to the question asked.

It seems easy but in reality what often happens is that participants will answer the question without engaging in a discussion with one another; as a result, one might unintentionally conduct a group interview rather than a focus group. In order to truly conduct a focus group, the facilitator needs to foster interactions among participants since these interactions are focal points of both data collection and analysis.

Most people don’t realize this and simply see focus groups as less expensive and less time consuming than interviews because many participants come together at once. Yes, you might save some money in staff hours, travel expenses, etc., as well as time organizing one meeting for a small group. However, these possible savings should not be the main reasons for choosing focus groups as a method for data collection, especially because you might spend more money and time once the data is collected. Let me explain…

First, audio recordings of focus groups tend to be more costly for transcription, and usually require more staff time for verification of transcripts’ accuracy. Second, given that interactions between participants are central to the analysis of focus group data, you need to spend more time making sense of intricacies in how people interacted, e.g., what comments triggered certain feelings or stronger responses among participants.

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Most importantly, focus groups need to be appropriate for everyone around the table. Here are some questions you may ask when deciding whether or not to use focus groups:

- Is my research topic one that focus group participants will be comfortable discussing with peers without feeling ashamed? Will they be okay with the lack of privacy?

- Am I comfortable, as a facilitator, with the focus group setting and participants? Will I be able to foster a discussion rather than carry a group interview?

- What strategies will I use to engage people if it doesn’t happen naturally in the group?

Focus groups are intense in many ways; thus, saving money and time should not be the main reasons for choosing them. Be savvy and educate yourself before moving forward! Here are some of my go-to readings on focus groups:

Successful Focus Groups: Advancing the state of the art by D.L. Morgan

Focus Groups: A practical guide for applied research by R. Krueger and M. Casey  

Doing Focus Groups by R. Barbour

Talk soon,

Maira