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Focus Research Methods

The following summary of research methods is designed to answer basic questions about our techniques and to help you decide which method best suits your needs. Please feel free to call FOCUS at 952.854.4188 or email us at info@focus-research.com with any questions you have about how we can serve you.

Focus Groups/Virtual Focus Groups/Brainstorm™ Threaded Discussion/ Contactgroups™/Medigroups™/Interviews

Focus Groups [web page ]
A focus group consists of a group of a people and a moderator discussing a subject or set of subjects in-depth. Focus groups typically last 2-3 hours. The best size for a focus group is 7-12 people. Focus groups can include meals, on-site surveys, or product demonstration. If it is not necessary to protect participant anonymity, focus groups may be videotaped, audiotaped, or observed from a client room (with one-way glass). Focus groups are sometimes used to prepare for surveys or to add depth to information gained in surveys and follow up on key issues.

Focus groups are useful as a primary source of research, because:
  • They yield more in-depth information than surveys.
  • They are more suitable for gaining large quantities of information or input from professionals in a field or other highly targeted population.
  • Once one gets people in the room, there is a 100% response rate.
  • They make people feel included and/or respected in a process.
  • They allow people with grievances to blow off some steam and feel heard.
  • They can be a tool for creating consensus or brainstorming.
  • They can build webs of personal contact.
  • They usually cost less than surveys, because, even though more is spent per person, much less needs to be spent on advertising, postage or telephone costs, or follow-up.

Virtual Focus Groups [web page ] [top]
Virtual focus groups, while no replacement for traditional face-to-face meetings, can sometimes provide significant advantages. Basically, they are focus group discussions that take place online with the use of special technology that allows many people to converse in an orderly fashion at the same time and see what is written by the other respondents and moderator.

When and Why a Client May Prefer to use Virtual Focus Groups

Virtual focus groups may be performed instead of in-person focus groups, because they can:
  • Provide fast results.
  • Involve people from different geographic locations in one group.
  • Involve people who may not be able or willing to attend an in-person group.
  • Save money in transportation, refreshment, and rental fees.
  • Yield an instant and complete transcript at no extra charge.
  • Allow respondents to evaluate banner ads, copy, icons, concepts, or graphics within the discussion or by means of a short qualitative survey conducted during the focus group.

Brainstorm™ Threaded Discussion[web page ] [top]
A threaded discussion is a moderated online (email) discussion among multiple participants. FOCUS's Brainstorm™ threaded discussions can take place over days or weeks. They can involve ten people or tens or people. Participants can contribute to the discussion from wherever they are whenever they can in any time zone as much or as little as is appropriate. Ideas can be developed collaboratively as people build on one another's reactions. The moderator will provide periodic summaries and keep the discussion on-track.

Why Clients Would Want to Hold a Brainstorm™ threaded discussion

Because it allows you to:

  • Save time and money, since there are no transportation, accommodation, refreshment, or video-conference costs.
  • Gain in-depth information from multiple sources.
  • Get respondents to work out ideas and respond to one another.
  • Allow people to create as a team.
  • Provide an effective mechanism for planning, product design, and campaign development.
  • Give leaders a chance to weigh-in on important subjects.
  • Give people at different divisions or levels a chance to be heard.

Contactgroups™ and Medigroups™ [web page ] [top]

Contactgroups™ and Medigroups™ are similar to focus groups, except they bring back the same participants several times over a period of months or years for research and marketing purposes. Medigroups™ are also an additional service that pharmaceutical or device manufacturers can offer patients if their product is used: a support group with a contact person who relays questions, problems, and requests directly to the company.

Why Clients May Wish To Fund Contactgroups™ or Medigroups™

Because it allows you to:

  • Add to the value of your product with surprisingly little outlay of money.
  • Encourage brand loyalty.
  • Hear first and respond quickly to problems, concerns, and questions.
  • Follow a group who uses your product over time.
  • Recheck early findings or follow up on findings from other research, including surveys.
  • Have on-tap a highly targeted group and cost-effective mechanism through which you can distribute marketing materials.
  • Perform ongoing informal research with a relatively stable population.
  • Develop further products to meet the needs you will hear about from a specific population.
  • Contribute to your company's image as a caring firm that offers a
    direct touch.
Interviews [web page ] [top]

Interviews are goal-oriented, one-on-one meetings for in-depth questioning and answering. They usually range in length from half an hour to two hours. They are sometimes performed in series of interviews with the same person or with different people. They do not always require incentives, because they are often used to gain information from a professional or a person with a highly specific body of information or interest in a situation, company, condition, or project.

Why Clients Would Want Interviews

  • Because they are concerned with confidential, sensitive, or
    proprietary information.
  • Because they want to gain a lot of information from 1-30 specific people.
  • Because they want very specific information or quotations from someone.
  • Because they want to prepare for a monograph, white paper, focus group, study, or trial.
  • Because they are dealing with complicated information that needs
    detailed explanation.
  • Because they want to have a focused conversation with only one person at a time.
  • Because they want to hear people's stories, experiences, ideas, suggestions, questions, or breakthroughs with minimal pressure and distraction.
  • Because it is hard to coordinate the schedules of busy professionals from whom they want input.
  • Because they want to show respect for and build a relationship with someone, or make sure a person feels duly heard.

 
 
 
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