FOCUS GROUPS BOOK

5. Ques?ons to get answered:
Some0mes your objec0ve in a focus group will be to test informa0on. Other 0mes it will be to
find out from the group what else they need to know to make a thoughgul and full
determina0on about how they feel.
This is accomplished by simply asking aRer a focus group par0cipa0on and through the use of
the wriHen ques0ons below what else they would like to know to make their determina0on.
Beware: do not ever start a presenta0on out with what else do you want to know ques0ons.
The reason being that if you start out asking what informa0on the focus group does not have,
you will go down a path of hypothe0cals ignoring the well thought out material that you did
include in your presenta0on. The result will be that you never truly test what was in your
narra0ve presenta0on, but begin tes0ng the hypothe0cal ques0ons posed by the par0cipants.
So the advice is to always ask the “what more do you want to know,” ques0on at the very end
aRer you have squeezed the orange on what they do have in front of them.
How to do a narra?ve focus group:
Simple. Less is more. The simplest solu0on is almost always the best. There is beauty in
simplicity. You get the point; but all of the axioms on simplicity are true in this context.
This point is profound. The more facts you insert into your narra0ve, and the more complex you
make it, the less useful feedback you will get. This is again why one of the first things we
covered in the Introduc0on was to have an objec0ve to your focus group presenta0on.
You frankly cannot fit everything you need to test into one focus group. This is why with an
objec0ve you can ensure that each fact you do include helps you further your specific focus
group objec0ve.
The order of a narra0ve presenta0on is as follows:
! Read your narra0ve and show any visuals that you may have.
! Read your narra0ve and show any visuals again.
! Have the par0cipants on a sheet of paper or however you are doing so in your virtual
focus group write the answers to your four wriHen ques0ons.
! Conduct your verbal de-brief sec0on asking ques0ons of the group out loud.
! Collect all of the wriHen votes and draR your focus group memo.