Effective Focus Groups

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Signpost Series by Barry Creasy

Published in 2007, Effective Focus Groups is a 40-page step-by-step guide to planning and using focus groups as part of a public consultation exercise. The book’s layout allows easy reference, and includes the use of icons to highlight tips, important information, and decision points. The following areas are covered:

• The definition of a focus group –including recommended size and duration
• Reasons for holding a focus group (and how it relates to other dialogue methods)
• Saturation – how many focus groups to use
• Participant mix, sampling, and how this affects the design
• Planning a focus group exercise
• Question construction, including stimuli other than spoken questions
• Moderation skills (including techniques for discouraging dominant participants)
• Recording and reporting a focus group
• A brief outline of related ways of collecting information from a group
• Bibliography – a list of further reading