Focus Group Guide on Dental Flossing PDF

**Short Guide to Conducting and analysing Focus Groups** **INTRO -- DISGUISE SPONSOR** **3 Types of Questions** **Questions for a Focus Group on Dental Flossing** **Engagement questions:** **1. What is your favourite toothpaste?** **2. What do you notice when you look at other people's teeth?*...

**Short Guide to Conducting and analysing Focus Groups** **INTRO -- DISGUISE SPONSOR** **3 Types of Questions** **Questions for a Focus Group on Dental Flossing** **Engagement questions:** **1. What is your favourite toothpaste?** **2. What do you notice when you look at other people's teeth?** **Exploration Questions:** **3. Who in particular has influenced your dental habits?** **4. What are the pros and cons of flossing your teeth?** **5. When you floss, how do follow through? When you don't, why not?** **6. How do you feel when told about possible damage caused by not flossing?** **7. How do you feel about yourself when you floss regularly? When you don't?** **Exit question:** **8. Is there anything else you would like to say about why you do or do not floss** **your teeth on a regular basis?** **Note: Flossers and non-flossers in separate groups.** R **FOCUS GROUP INTRODUCTION** **WELCOME** **Thanks for agreeing to be part of the focus group. We appreciate your willingness to** **participate.** **INTRODUCTIONS** **Moderator; assistant moderator** **PURPOSE OF FOCUS GROUPS** **We have been asked by \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (but disguise actual brand / company, so it could be ABC Market Research Agency) to conduct the focus groups.** **The reason we are having these focus groups is to find out\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (again, disguise actual nature of the specific research / brand and just talk in more general terms about 'consumption patterns' in a certain food category, product usage, or 'consumer likes and dislikes when shopping for particular category of goods' etc.).** **We need your input and want you to share your honest and open thoughts with us.** **Remind them they are being paid and need to contribute......** **GROUND RULES** **1. WE WANT YOU TO DO THE TALKING.** **We would like everyone to participate.** **I may call on you if I haven\'t heard from you in a while.** **2. THERE ARE NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWERS** **Every person\'s experiences and opinions are important.** **Speak up whether you agree or disagree.** **We want to hear a wide range of opinions.** **3. WHAT IS SAID IN THIS ROOM STAYS HERE** **We want folks to feel comfortable sharing when sensitive issues come up.** **4. WE WILL BE TAPE RECORDING THE GROUP** **We want to capture everything you have to say.** **We don\'t identify anyone by name in our report. You will remain anonymous.** **Before asking the first focus group question, an icebreaker can be** **inserted to increase comfort and level the playing field. Example:** **"If you had a limitless budget, where would you vacation?"** 􀂉 **The focus group moderator has a responsibility to adequately cover** **all prepared questions within the time allotted. S/he also has a** **responsibility to get all participants to talk and fully explain their** **answers. Some helpful probes include:** 􀂃 **"Can you talk about that more?"** 􀂃 **"Help me understand what you mean"** 􀂃 **"Can you give an example?"** 􀂉 **It is good moderator practice to paraphrase and summarize long,** **complex or ambiguous comments. It demonstrates active listening** **and clarifies the comment for everyone in the group.** **A moderator must tactfully deal with challenging participants.** **Here are some appropriate strategies:** 􀂃 **Self-appointed experts: "Thank you. What do other people think?"** 􀂃 **The dominator: "Let's have some other comments."** 􀂃 **The rambler: Stop eye contact; look at your watch; jump in at** **their inhale.** 􀂃 **The shy participant: Make eye contact; call on them; smile at** **them.** 􀂃 **The participant who talks very quietly: Ask them to repeat their** **response more loudly.** 􀂉 USE FUNNEL APPROACH **Use open-ended questions** What did you think of the program? How did you feel about the conference? Where do you get new information? What do you like best about the proposed program? Be cautious of phrases such as \"how satisfied\" or \"to what extent\"  **Avoid dichotomous questions** These questions can be answered with a \"yes\" or \"no\"  **Why? is rarely asked** Instead ask about attributes and/or influences. Attributes are characteristics or features of the topic. Influences are things that prompt or cause action.  **Use \"think back\" questions.** Take people back to an experience and not forward to the future  **Use different types of questions** Identify potential questions Five Types of Questions 1\. Opening Question (round robin) 2\. Introductory Question 3\. Transition Questions 4\. Key Questions 5\. Ending Questions  **Use questions that get participants involved** Use reflection, examples, choices, rating scales, drawings, etc.  **Focus the questions** Sequence that goes from general to specific Ec **Focus Group Analysis Tips** **When analyzing focus group data consider..**. **WORDS** Think about both the actual words used by the participants and the meanings of those words. A variety of words and phrases will be used and the analyst will need to determine the degree of similarity between these responses. **CONTEXT** Participant responses were triggered by a stimulus\--a question asked by the moderator or a comment from another participant. Examine the context by finding the triggering stimulus and then interpret the comment in light of that environment. The response is interpreted in light of the preceding discussion and also by the tone and intensity of the oral comment. **INTERNAL CONSISTENCY** Participants in focus groups change and sometimes even reverse their positions after interaction with others. When there is a shift in opinion, the researcher typically traces the flow of the conversation to determine clues that might explain the change. **FREQUENCY OR EXTENSIVENESS** Some topics are discussed more by participants (extensiveness) and also some comments are made more often (frequency) than others. These topics could be more important or of special interest to participants. Also, consider what wasn\'t said or received limited attention. Did you expect but not hear certain comments? **INTENSITY** Occasionally participants talk about a topic with a special intensity or depth of feeling. Sometimes the participants will use words that connote intensity or tell you directly about their strength of feeling. Intensity may be difficult to spot with transcripts alone because intensity is also communicated by the voice tone, speed, and emphasis on certain words. Individuals will differ on how they display strength of feeling and for some it will be a speed or excitement in the voice whereas others will speak slowly and deliberately. **SPECIFICITY** Responses that are specific and based on experiences should be given more weight than responses that are vague and impersonal. To what degree can the respondent provide details when asked a follow up probe? Greater attention is often placed on responses that are in the first person as opposed to hypothetical third person answers. **FINDING BIG IDEAS** One of the traps of analysis is not seeing the big ideas. Step back from the discussions by allowing an extra day for big ideas to percolate. For example, after finishing the analysis the researcher might set the report aside for a brief period and then jot down the three or four of the most important findings. Assistant moderators or others ruiting and