Focus Groups Yay or Nay

While focus groups are a popular way for researchers to gather data on a specific topic the analysis of this data can be time consuming. It has also come to my attention that when using a focus group for research you must first consider the group that you are going to be working with and ask yourself; is this a suitable way of gathering data from this particular group?

Unfortunately for me it was not a suitable way of gathering data as the group of young adults that I was working with found it difficult to maintain concentration for the focus group on the particular topic. The second issue that arise for me was that the incentive their instructor gave the participants was that they could finish early when they had completed all that had been required of them; this in turn made the participants less interested in the focus group topic and more interested in going home.

In conclusion the data gathered from the focus group was less useful in my research process than I had hoped, but thankfully I also have the Pre and Post surveys for my data analysis. My advice to anyone considering using Focus Groups as a form of data analysis is to ensure that it is suitable to the group that you are going to be working with. I know I now wish that I had considered this point.