========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: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 JonesMaking History Connections14011 Ardara Ct.Glenwood MD 21738443-472-2670 or 410-489-7968
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