My friend Bob Hamrick has another thought on the subject-

Dan:

Here's the first place I'd look if I was thinking about focus groups/ 
consumer research:

Jim Chastain
Reality Check
314.909.9095
Realitycheckinc.com

Jim does a good job of describing his unique approach to consumer  
research on his site so I won't screw it up by paraphrasing it. He  
did several sessions for SHS when I was with them. The one I remember  
best was for an asthma medication. Instead of simply asking our group  
of people with asthma what they thought or how they responded to  
predictable questions, he used a series of innovative approaches. At  
one point, he told them to imagine they were going on a trip with  
their asthma, and who/what would they take along? Their answers gave  
us an incredible window into how the dealt with their disease. Most  
notably, not one respondent even mentioned taking their doctor(s)  
with them. They saw the disease as their own, individual struggle  
that only occasionally came into contact with the medical profession.  
It was an insight that made a difference in how we talked to the  
audience, and wouldn't have happened under the question-response  
format most sessions use.

I highly recommend him.

Bob Hamrick.



On Apr 1, 2008, at 7:55 AM, [log in to unmask]  
wrote:

> A few thoughts on Pat McDermott’s bad experience with focus groups:
>
> Focus groups can be a very effective way of getting at a focused  
> topic or questions and can provide a unique and valuable  
> opportunity to capitalize on the synergistic thinking of a group of  
> people. It is not always the best tool to use; the best tool  
> depends upon the kind of information you want to elicit.
>
> That being said, Ms. McDermott’s group made several choices which  
> made success difficult (based on my years of experiences of leading  
> and participating in focus groups):
>
> Choose an experienced focus group leader. They didn’t choose  
> someone to lead the focus group who had experience leading focus  
> groups (leading a focus group is a skill that takes training and  
> practice) and therein lies the major stumbling block to their efforts.
> An experienced focus group leader would have helped the  
> organization determine what they wanted to know, and in an  
> iterative process would have developed a small group of focused  
> questions which would have been turned into a focus group script.  
> That does not appear to have happened.
> They asked a “mix of people [some who knew our organization, some  
> who knew museums, some who knew the communities we served];” That  
> is too much of a mix; the group should have been more targeted and  
> perhaps split into three groups.  The focused questions would have  
> been different for those who knew the organization than for those  
> who did not know the organization. While the questions may be  
> similar and have some overlap, because of the different knowledge  
> levels of the group, the groups should not have been mixed.
> “They got bogged down in a long discussion about school programs  
> the museum should offer” A good focus group leader would not have  
> let that happen. It’s that simple. Someone without experience would  
> not realize how to keep the discussion on the targeted questions,  
> make sure everyone has a chance to comment, not let any one person  
> dominate, and keep track of time so the discussion does not bog down.
> Teachers – a tough but solvable problem. Sometimes you have to go  
> to them and do a focus group within their time constraints. Or you  
> may need a short questionnaire to help determine the questions for  
> the focus. You do not want to mix this group either. That is, high  
> school teachers don’t have the same content or logistic needs that  
> elementary teachers have.
>
> Focus groups can be helpful and effective, but you need to know  
> what kind of information you need and from whom. Then you can  
> determine whether the focus group would be a good choice for  
> collecting information.
>
> Dale
>
> Dale Jones
> Making History Connections
> www.makinghistoryconnections.com
> [log in to unmask]
> 14011 Ardara Ct.
> Glenwood MD 21738
> 443-472-2670 or 410-489-7968
>
> Affiliated with Qm2: Quality Management to a Higher Power
> Visit www.qm2.org for briefings on nonprofit leadership,  
> management, and organizational change
>
> ========================================================= Important  
> Subscriber Information:
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/ 
> museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the  
> listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to  
> [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read  
> "help" (without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail  
> message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message  
> should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>


=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).