Using Focus Groups In Counseling Profession

Flexible and inexpensive, focus groups consist of six to ten participants (Hartman, 2004, p. 408). Additionally, a moderator guides the discussion among its panel members that allows researchers to observe real-time verbal responses and nonverbal cues (Hartman, 2004, p. 402; Cooper & Schindler, 2014, p. 160). Focus groups moderators also have the ability to introduce new ideas to gain a greater understanding of concerns from respondents (Hartman, 2004, p. 402). However, a concern with focus group is the lack of anonymity due to the face-to-face participation.

Focus groups: Discussion of selected members (a mix of parents, teachers, academicians and psychologist) in a focus group will help the company gain insight about what the customers are think and how they perceive the product (Kotler, 2000). This will also help in identifying any gaps between the product presently available in the

This paper introduces focus group methodology, gives advice on group composition, running the groups, and analysing the results. Focus groups have advantages for researchers in the field of health and medicine: they do not discriminate against people who cannot read or write and they can encourage participation from people reluctant to be interviewed on their own or who feel they have nothing to say.

Within a focus group, participants often debate and question each other’s viewpoint – which is important for this research study as one will be able to see biases and whether specific factors drive viewpoints. While considering the advantages of a focus group, one must also take into account the disadvantages of a focus group, which include: the amount of time it takes to organize; the amount of time it takes to record and transcribe the session; the likelihood for participants to interrupt each other; the possibility of having a number of participants being more assertive and dominant than others; more potential of discomfort; and finally the cost of conducting a focus group (Bryman,

The planned data collection method is a focus group, which emerged in the 1940s by Merton and Fiske (Cohen & Crabtree, 2006). This study will use focus group as a primary data collection (Millward, 2012). Cohen and Crabtree (2006) defined focus groups as “data collection method, [where] data are collected through a semi-structured group interview process.” According to Greenbaum (1993), the focus group has been used since the late1960s. A focus group is “a qualitative research (…) you do not obtain results with percentages, statistical

A focus group is generally more useful when outcomes of research are very unpredictable and the researcher is looking for more open feedback. Because of the open conversation among group members, topics and discussion are more free-flowing and it helps the researcher to analyze the market trends and consumer need for the particular

There are advantages and disadvantages to using focus groups. Advantages are that focus groups can be used to collect in-depth information about delicate subject matters in the efforts to develop health services, health interventions, or to improve care. Focus groups can also encourage participants that would be silent to voice their opinions. Another advantage of focus groups leads to some “hidden” or “unexpected” information that may be very valuable and have major implications for developing health programs that are appropriate to the target population (Focus Groups, pg. 91). Disadvantages of focus groups include: 1) prevalence cannot be stated; focus groups give details about the variety of views only and 2) since focus groups use a

Focus groups are a form of group interview that make use of the communication between research participants in order to produce data. Group interviews are mostly used as a quick and easy way to collect data from several people at the same time and focus groups explicitly use group interaction as part of the method. This means that the researcher doesn’t just ask each person to respond to a question in turn, but people are encouraged to talk to one another: asking questions, exchanging stories and commenting on each other's experiences and points of view. The method is mainly useful for exploring people's knowledge and experiences and can be used to study not only what people think but how they think and why they think that way.

The three focus groups will allow people to feel empowered and express their opinions freely, and participants will be able to query one another and explain their answers amongst the group. (Neuman et al, 2012) They will be held in three different locations throughout the city and three different research team members will facilitate based on their personality traits, and a pretest will be employed prior to the sessions. (Masadeh, 2012) The focus groups will host a diverse group of individual volunteers and will be advertised throughout Toronto and in varying institutions, workplaces, and hubs to ensure this. This group will comprise six to twelve people, depending on the response rate. Focus groups can have limitations such as: the possibility if groupthink, existing polarization effects, the effects of the moderator, time consuming and few topics can be

A focus group instrument is used when it is well suited to the subject matter in question by listening to the opinions of others in a small and safe group setting before they form thoughts and opinions. An A typical focus group is between 6-12 homogeneous people who share similar characteristics or common interests. Focus groups generally reveal what each person within the group truly feels on the subject which provides credibility to the study. The facilitator is key to promoting an accepting environment where the participants can speak freely without judgment allowing them to answer each question in their own words and acerbate on each answer. Surveys are good for collecting information about people’s attributes and attitudes but if you need to understand things at a deeper level then use a focus group. The facilitator’s goal is to generate as many and diverse opinions from as many different people in the time allotted. Although the discussion is free flowing, the facilitator follows a carefully structured list of predetermined questions that specifically satisfy the purpose of the subject matter (Christiansen, Johnson, & Turner, 2014). Ideally, participant comments will stimulate and influence the thinking and sharing of others. Some people even find themselves changing their thoughts and opinions during the group.

The focus groups and mail surveys provided invaluable data for this study. From a data collection stand point, both methods were cost effective, flexible, and appropriate. Moreover, both create the potential to collect factual (data specificity)

Focus Group can be defined as a group of individuals brought together, led by a moderator or a facilitator, to gather specific information from the interactions of the group about an subject(Marczak & Sewll). The motive behind this process is that, the individuals in the group can express and elucidate their views in a very simple manner(Sim, 1998) on a very

Four focus groups were held. The setting for the data collection was at an elementary school classroom. The researcher does not justify the use of the specific setting to the reader. It also did not states the impact the setting had on participant in terms of their emotions and participation level, it only stated that there some challenges. Observations and personal experience is an important avenue through which data can be collected (Holloway, I. and Wheeler, S. 2002). Therefore, it would have been essential for the researcher to highlight how participants responded to the focus group interviews and how the participants were observed.

A focus group provides the ideal setting from which to gather unbiased, authentic and in-depth information. However, a focus group is only a success if the moderator creates a suitable setting for directing, recording and analysing discussions in a natural and unbiased manner. Planning, directing and recording focus groups does not create problems for researchers, but analysing information takes a great deal of time and expertise.

“A focus group is a common qualitative research method used by companies for marketing purposes. A focus group typically consists of a small number of participants, usually around six to twelve, from within a company 's target market. The consumers are brought together and led through discussions of important company and brand topics by a moderator.” (SmallBusiness, n.d.) Researchers will usually design the focus group based on the research question. There are four main characteristics researchers consider when designing focus groups: