“Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes”

On a side note (a bit of a tangent from the blog I posted only minutes ago), I conducted my first focus group yesterday and by all accounts it was rather successful. I chose to have the ANU student focus group first as I already had some level of familiarity with the people and focus group environment, so it was a case of ensuring that I was comfortable just as much as they were! But obviously I kept a cool head and gave nothing of my nerves away- or at least I would like to think so.

One of the benefits of holding two focus groups is that it becomes a more extensive learning experience, as I can identify areas for improvement and then institute them with the second group. One thing that I found difficult was finding the balance between trying to include people and respecting their potential desire to remain quiet. For instance, one of the participants remained unspoken for a majority of the focus group, whether it was because he did not want to contribute or because he was intimidated by some of the dominating personalities in the group. So at one point I directed a question specifically at him, and while he was happy to answer, it made me think; what if he did not want to participate with this line of questioning for a particular reason, and by singling him out I have made it awkward and uncomfortable for him. I don’t think that was necessarily the case here, but it is definitely something that could occur with more sensitive topics. Therefore, I would recommend spending some time at the start being particularly perceptive of how people are interacting and communicating to get a sense of their personality, which would allow you to gain a better distinction between reading whether a participant is uncomfortable or just shy.

The food is also quite important. I provided some chips, popcorn, chocolate, lollies and biscuits. It all went, which was an achievement in itself, but I found that towards the start the participants were more interested in eating the food than actually engaging with the discussion. Therefore, I think it would be a good idea to let people talk amongst themselves for the first ten minutes, introducing each other etc. and then as the moderator I would then begin talking them through the information sheet and nature of the project. That would give at least fifteen minutes for participants to eat and therefore they will not be as interested in the food when it comes time for discussion.

Another point is to keep the recorder on until people begin to walk out of the room. This is something I would not have thought of previously, but I found that once the focus group had officially finished, participants were debriefing with each other across the table. In doing so, some really insightful comments were said which were not captured on record (and so there was me scribbling franticly trying to write down what was said).  

I am holding the UC focus group tomorrow, so you will hear from me soon with a more detailed blog summarising my focus group experience, where I’ll be making sure I work on my weaknesses as a focus group moderator to enrich the experience and subsequently provide a higher quality of data. And then it is full steam ahead with coding my findings into a presentable analysis.