On this page I'm sharing some of the handouts I use most often in class.

1) 10 Classic Questions from Henderson (1994) - although this was used primarily in marketing research, you'll find the questions to be easily adapted to many other situations.

1. If you were in charge, what kinds of changes would you make?
2. What would it take for this (product) to get a gold star? If this product received an award, what would it be?
3. If you were the moderator, what would be the next question you would ask the group?
4. What would you tell a best friend or family member about this product?
5. Assume this product could talk, what would it say about itself?
6. If you could change one thing about this product, what would you change, and what's the main reason that one thing needs changing?
7. What would it take for this to get an A?
8. Can you tell me five positive things about this product, no matter how small that positive thing is?
9. If you were responsible for selling 1000 units of this product, what key point would you stress in the ad campaign?
10. What do you need to know about this product in order to accept or reject it?

(from Volume 3 of Focus Group Interview Process - sage publication)

 

2) Categories of Questions and their purpose

Opening Questions -- Participants get acquainted and feel connected

Introductory Questions -- Begins discussion of topic

Transition Questions -- Moves smoothly and seamlessly into key questions

Key Questions -- Obtains insight on areas of central concern in the study

Ending Questions -- Helps researchers determine where to place emphasis and brings closure to the discussion.

 

Example: Community Health Care Programs

Opening - Tell us you name and where you live.

Introduction - Describe a healthy person

Transition - When you think of Heart Health, what comes to mind?

Transition - Think back to the past several years. Have you made any changes in your diet, exercise, or personal habits? Tell us about them.

Key - What prompted these changes? Follow-up prompts - friends, family, and neighbors, written information, media messages, medical advice, physical health, personal desire to change

Key - Which of those mentioned was most influential?

Key - Tell us about the things you tried but discontinued; the changes you tried to make but were not successful

Ending - We are trying to help people make healthy changes. what advice do you have for us?

 

3) In general avoid asking "why".

"Why" questions imply a rational answer, one developed by thought and reflection. Unfortunately, these questions present problems, because in real life, people make decisions based on impulse, habit, tradition, or other nonrational processes. When asked "why", respondents provide answers that seem rational or appropriate to the situation. Unfortunately, the answers received may not be reliable. The answers may sound good, seem reasonable, and, on the surface, appear to be right. In fact, that's why these answers are often given, because they sound good and seem reasonable. The participant has "intellectualized" the answer, speaking from the brain and not from deeper forces that motivate behavior.

Moreover, the "why" question has sharpness or pointedness to it that reminds people of interrogations. This sharpness raises defensive barriers, and the respondent tends to take a position on the socially acceptable side of controversial issues.

(from Vol 3 of the Focus Group Series - sage publishing)

 

4) Theoretical Saturation is a process of adding additional cases (or focus gorups) until you have reduced variation and uncovered the range of experiences. You have essentiallly discovered what there is to discover. The actual number is unimportant, but each case should aid the researcher. When additional interviews or observations do not yield new insights, the researcher has reached the point of "theoretical saturation". Glaser and Strauss (1967, pp 61-62, 111-112).