Focus Group

Participant Observation
and Archived
Documents
 Key points
01 Focus Group

02 Participant observations

03 Documents as sources of data

FOCUS GROUP
A focus group is form of qualitative research in which a group
of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions and
beliefs and attitude towards a product, a service, concept, adver
tisement, idea or packaging (Henderson and Naomi, 2009).
A focus group is group of individuals selected and assembled by the
researcher to discuss and comment on, from personal experience,
the topic that is subject of research.
 Purpose of focus group
 Exploring: respondents' behavior, experiences, ideas, beliefs,
perceptions, attitude, feelings, and reaction in social setting.

 Generating: hypotheses

 Finding: common language

 Revealing: group dynamism and norms.

 Brain storming: product- ideas/ concepts, communication-ideas/

concepts.......Developing: questions or content for questionnaire.

 Early prototyping
 Types of focus group
 Single focus groups: the classical type of focus group.

 Two way focus group: each focus group alternatively watch

another and discusses their observation

 Dual moderator focus group: one moderator leads the session and
the other takes care that all the topics are covered and ensures
relev ant evaluations in the discussion are explored further.
 Dueling moderator focus group; two moderators take opposite po
sitions.

 Respondent moderator focus group: one of the respondents act a

s a moderator for a temporary period. Other participants focus
grou p; one or more of the client representative( client, copy
writer, desi gner, creative, ....) participates (temporarily) in the
discussion (as t he group member or moderator) covertly or
overtly.
 Mini focus group: group of 4 to 5 members instead of 6 to 12
members.

 Teleconference focus group: via a telephone network.

 .Online focus group: via chat room.

 Techniques used In Focus Group
Projecting technique: Projective techniques allow
respondents to project their subjective or true opinions
and beliefs onto other people or even objects. The
respondent's real feelings are then inferred from what
s/he says about others. Projective techniques are
normally used during individual or small group
interviews.
 Techniques used In Focus Group

Sub grouping: creating sub groups let them work

independently and afterwards confront them with
output and ask reactions.
Self administered questioning: Focus the response to take individua l
independent position before throwing it in the group.

Check lists: confronting respondents with item list of brand character

istics, personality traits, benefits, .... ( carefully timed during focus
group in order give room for spontaneous reactions and questioning)

Confrontation with stimulus materials: product, packaging,

advertising, promotional material ideas and concepts ( verbal and
visual)
Classification of Participant Observer Roles

• Complete participant

• Participant-as-observer

• Complete observer
Taking field notes
• Write down notes as quickly as possible
• Write up full field notes at the very latest at the end of
the day
• Use a tape recorder if you prefer
• Notes must be vivid and clear - you should not hav e
to ask at a later date `what did I mean by that?‘
• You need to take copious notes, so, if in doubt, writ e
it down.
Types of field notes
Mental notes - particularly useful when it is inappropriate to
be seen taking notes
Jotted notes (also called Scratch notes) - very brief n otes
written down on pieces of paper or in small noteb ooks to
jog one's memory about events that should be written up
later
Full field notes - as soon as possible make detailed no
tes, which will be your main data source
Criteria for assessing the quality of a
document
Authenticity
is it genuine?
Credibility
is it free from error and distortion?
Representativeness
is the evidence typical of its kind?
Meaning
is it clear and comprehensible?
Types of documents available for study
1. Official State documents

2. Official company documents

3. Mass media outputs

Official state documents
• From the state, in the form of legislation, reports of
public enquiries:
o FIA report on Sugar, wheat crisis 2020

• Can be a very time-consuming form of research

• Question of credibility because the original report

may be biased
 Official company documents
In the public domain: Not in the public domain:
• company newsletters
• annual reports
• organizational charts
• mission statements
• external consultancy reports
• reports to shareholders
• minutes of meetings
• transcripts of chief executives’
• memos
speeches
• • internal and external
press releases, advertisements
correspondence
• public relations material in printed
• manuals for new recruits
form and on the Internet
Mass media outputs

• Newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, film

• Problem with authenticity when authorship unclear

• Problem with credibility because of the possibilitie

s of image distortion
 References for slides
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w.culi.chula.ac.th/e-Journal/bod/Annabel.pdf
Corbetta, P. (2003). Social Research Theory, Methods and Techniques. London: SAGE Publications.
Gray, D. E. (2004). Doing Research in the Real World. London: SAGE Publications.
Bryman, A. (2001) Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
David, M. & Sutton C.D. (2004). Social Research the Basics. London: SAGE Publications.
Patton, M. Q. (2000). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Method. London: SAGE Publications.
(http://www.who.int). World Health Organization. Interviews. (access 18/07/2005)
Patton MQ. (1987) How to use qualitative methods in evaluation. London: Sage, 108-43.