Volume 7 | Issue 1 Article 24 1-1-1989 # Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research Janet Mancini Billson Rhode Island College The term "focus group" has become a household word, as researchers study values, attitudes, product preferences, political leanings, and other reactions to a complex society through controlled, guided, small group discussions focused on a particular topic. The current popularity of focus groups in the public and private sectors suggests a recent invention. However, focus groups were promulgated as a viable research technique in the classic sociological work, The Focused Interview (1956), by Robert K. Merton, Marjorie Fiske, and Patricia L. Kendall. As a form of qualitative research, the focus group is a good example of a sociological method that has been adopted in the corporate world and in applied settings. The focus group uses standard principles of group dynamics and relies on orthodox principles of research design to achieve legitimacy and validity. Conducting focus groups is an ideal opportunity for sociologists to practice their profession and to make data-driven recommendations for political, social, economic, and consumer change. Richard Krueger points out in Focus Groups that they are appropriate for gathering in-depth information from past, current, or potential consumers, program participants, voters, organization members, etc. Focus groups tap the subjective world of respondents (their perceived needs, interests, concerns) rather than the objective world of measured behavior. Focus groups can also be used as heuristic devices prior to staging larger-scale quantitative research projects; they can also be used in concert with quantitative methods, or as a way of helping explain findings from a survey or poll. Focus groups enable us to see not only what people think, but how they think. Krueger’s emphasis in this book is on non-profit agencies and organizations. He states in the preface that “Focus groups can improve the planning and design of new programs, provide means for evaluating existing programs, and produce insights for developing marketing strategies” (15). He seldom refers to such private sector applications as product testing, evaluation of corporate services, or the testing of political waters—all of which are common uses of the focus group method. For this reason, the book is limited in its usefulness. Many of the time frames for conducting the groups and preparing reports, for example, would be unacceptable in the private sector. Relationships with clients, fee structures, and the nature of reports also vary according to type of client. Krueger’s attention to the construction of interview questions is laudable. However, I question his assertion that questioning routes should include five or six questions, and certainly no more than ten. In my experience, clients are usually looking for feedback on a variety of concerns; ten to fifteen major questions with appropriate probes can effectively guide a group through two hours of intensive discussion. Krueger’s stand towardVolume 7 | Issue 1 Article 24 1-1-1989 # Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research Janet Mancini Billson Rhode Island College The term "focus group" has become a household word, as researchers study values, attitudes, product preferences, political leanings, and other reactions to a complex society through controlled, guided, small group discussions focused on a particular topic. The current popularity of focus groups in the public and private sectors suggests a recent invention. However, focus groups were promulgated as a viable research technique in the classic sociological work, The Focused Interview (1956), by Robert K. Merton, Marjorie Fiske, and Patricia L. Kendall. As a form of qualitative research, the focus group is a good example of a sociological method that has been adopted in the corporate world and in applied settings. The focus group uses standard principles of group dynamics and relies on orthodox principles of research design to achieve legitimacy and validity. Conducting focus groups is an ideal opportunity for sociologists to practice their profession and to make data-driven recommendations for political, social, economic, and consumer change. Richard Krueger points out in Focus Groups that they are appropriate for gathering in-depth information from past, current, or potential consumers, program participants, voters, organization members, etc. Focus groups tap the subjective world of respondents (their perceived needs, interests, concerns) rather than the objective world of measured behavior. Focus groups can also be used as heuristic devices prior to staging larger-scale quantitative research projects; they can also be used in concert with quantitative methods, or as a way of helping explain findings from a survey or poll. Focus groups enable us to see not only what people think, but how they think. Krueger’s emphasis in this book is on non-profit agencies and organizations. He states in the preface that “Focus groups can improve the planning and design of new programs, provide means for evaluating existing programs, and produce insights for developing marketing strategies” (15). He seldom refers to such private sector applications as product testing, evaluation of corporate services, or the testing of political waters—all of which are common uses of the focus group method. For this reason, the book is limited in its usefulness. Many of the time frames for conducting the groups and preparing reports, for example, would be unacceptable in the private sector. Relationships with clients, fee structures, and the nature of reports also vary according to type of client. Krueger’s attention to the construction of interview questions is laudable. However, I question his assertion that questioning routes should include five or six questions, and certainly no more than ten. In my experience, clients are usually looking for feedback on a variety of concerns; ten to fifteen major questions with appropriate probes can effectively guide a group through two hours of intensive discussion. Krueger’s stand toward