{"id":3518,"date":"2024-07-15T11:49:54","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T10:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/listening\/?page_id=3518"},"modified":"2024-07-31T13:43:07","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T12:43:07","slug":"focus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/listening\/focus\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus Groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a glance<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Group conversation<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Focus groups are an established method of group conversation often used in research projects, marketing, consultation, and engagement. Through a guided discussion participants share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences on a specific topic. Focus groups can also be used to generate ideas and prioritise options.<\/p>\n

Focus groups are a rich source of data providing a breadth of perspectives, with the group dynamic allowing discussion, idea generation, experience sharing and debate among participants. The interaction between group participants can lead to deeper insights and more nuanced understanding.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

About this approach<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Useful for talking with<\/h5><\/div>

Anyone in Dorset with a shared interest and\/or experience in a particular topic or issue.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Purpose of this type of conversation<\/h5><\/div>

To enable a group of people to discuss a specific topic or issue in a structured way. The sharing of experiences and interaction between participants is a key asset of focus groups.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Type of conversation<\/h5><\/div>

This approach uses a moderator to lead a guided group discussion with around six to eight participants. A topic or issue is explored in depth using questions or prompts \u2013 these should be open-ended to encourage sharing.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Training requirements<\/h5><\/div>

A trained facilitator is recommended to lead and moderate a focus group discussion. A variety of training options are available, including free online courses. A moderator should be able to create a comfortable environment for participants, ensure all are able to contribute, and be confident supporting group dynamics.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Budget requirements<\/h5><\/div>

Variable depending on project scope and availability of in-house moderation skills. If delivering in-house consider re-imbursement of participants time and expenses, venue hire, and the resources required to collect, transcribe and analyse focus group data. External agencies often offer focus group facilitation, data collection and analysis, but this will increase costs.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Time commitments<\/h5><\/div>

Focus groups have an upfront administrative and organisational commitment \u2013 ensure you schedule sufficient time to recruit participants, manage the invitation process, arrange venues and equipment and develop your focus group questions (including a test run).<\/p>\n

The focus group itself should be relatively brief \u2013 between one or two hours, plus travel time for participants. Running more than one focus group is recommended to gather a range of views.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Focus Groups<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Where we’ve used this locally<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Focus Groups<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Resources<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/i>Bitesize guide to focus groups – NHS England<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/i>Focus groups – GOV.UK<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"100-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3518","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/listening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/listening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/listening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/listening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/listening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3518"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/listening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3614,"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/listening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3518\/revisions\/3614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourdorset.org.uk\/listening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}