Communication Research Chapter 10 PDF

During every election season, most of the news channels (e.g., CNN, Fox, MSNBC) consult focus groups of voters who discuss the candidates before, during, and after any candidate debates. A moderator is in the room while participants watch the debate. The moderator asks questions about the issues and...

During every election season, most of the news channels (e.g., CNN, Fox, MSNBC) consult focus groups of voters who discuss the candidates before, during, and after any candidate debates. A moderator is in the room while participants watch the debate. The moderator asks questions about the issues and the candidates. The questions help the news channels make claims about what issues Americans care about and about the candidates themselves, including who "wins" debates. The candidates run their own focus groups. All major candidates have consultants who develop campaign materials (e.g., slogans, advertisements, and even campaign colors). The materials are generally pre-tested on focus groups so that consultants can get feedback from a group, make alterations, and then release the materials to the general public. Focus-group research is standard practice in advertising and filmmaking (Morrison, 1998). Researchers interested in political communication could easily employ focus groups to study a variety of communication theories and/or communication situations. For example, a researcher could use focus groups to look at different ways candidates try to persuade voters using theory of planned action (Ajzen, 1985), social judgment theory (Sherif, Sherif, & Nebergall, 1965), elaboration likelihood model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1983), or inoculation theory (McGuire, 1964: Pfau, 1992). In this chapter, you will learn how to use focus groups to conduct research. What Is a Focus Group, and Why Use One? A focus group is a research method where people are collectively interviewed about a specific topic. Methods for conducting focus groups can range from formal interviews, to informal interviews, brainstorming sessions, and group interviews in the field (Lindlof & Taylor, 2002). Like interviews and ethnography, focus groups typically fall under the interpretive or the critical/cultural paradigms. As with the previously discussed qualitative methods, two types of claims are generally associated with focus groups as a method: descriptive and interpretive. Focus 116 groups are led by a moderator (sometimes called a facilitator). The moderator leads the discussion among the participants in the group. We will talk more about the role of the moderator shortly. Focus groups are used extensively in mass communication and advertising (Lindlof & Taylor, 2002), and have recently gained prominence in the social sciences (Berg, 2009). By broadly exploring the thoughts of a group of people on a specific subject of interest, focus groups are able to identify "general background information about a topic of interest" (Stewart, Shamdasani, & Rook, 2006, p. 15). Today, researchers use focus groups for a variety of research projects. Peterson, Antony, and Thomas (2012) explored how "successfully home stable individuals" remain home stable and factors that could challenge their stability. Their study brought forth numerous thoughts about what individuals consider to be the causes of homelessness. Sanders and Anderson (2010) analyze the conflicts that arise between faculty and students over disappointing college or university grades. The results reveal that discussions about grades could be uncomfortable, yet also positive and constructive. Focus groups explore general information about topics for a variety of reasons. First, moderators in focus groups usually have a list of questions to guide the group. The questions help the moderator elicit information from the participants. Since a number of participants are in the group, multiple points of view should emerge during the discussion. Second, the moderator's questions are a starting point. Focus groups generally take on a life of their own (if run well by the moderator). Sometimes, focus groups can be used to help "generate important insights into topics that \[are\] not well understood" (Berg, 2009, p. 165). Often with qualitative methods like interviews and ethnography, researchers are trying to learn more about constructs and how they occur in real life. Researchers are able to tap what Carey (1994) calls the group effect. When group members interact, new data and insights emerge which may have been less accessible at the level of the individual. Group interaction can lead to more in-depth understandings of communication phenomena. The following is an example of how the use of focus groups can tap a variety of opinions. Shyles and Hocking (1990) found that United States Army troops were not all that fond of the army's "Be All You Can Be" campaign. Through the use of 12 focus groups, the authors showed how active members of the army saw the campaign in a negative light and thought that it might lower troop morale. Shortly after Shyles and Hocking completed their data analysis, the advertising firm that developed the ads contacted the authors and were not pleased with their results. Shyles and Hocking discussed the data with the firm and "went so far as to offer to conduct one of these replications at the ad agency's expense. The conversation ended abruptly, and not only were Shyles and Hocking not used, neither researcher ever again received a communication from the advertising agency" (Hocking, Stacks, & McDermott, 2003, p. 402). A few years later, after new ads were aired with the "Be All You Can Be" slogan, the ads were modified; the modifications fit some of the issues noted by Shyles and Hocking. How to Prepare for a Focus Group In order to generate insights, a researcher must prepare a well-designed focus group. One must consider six important components when preparing to conduct a focus group. First, as with all of the other forms of research discussed in this textbook, you need to be sure you have a research agenda for your study. Second, determine if a focus group design is appropriate for your study. For example, while a focus group could be used to collect data on people's public behaviors, or ask individuals about their self-disclosures, or study how conflict styles differ across age groups, other methods may produce more fruitful findings. Let's say you want to explore the effectiveness of a new campaign slogan developed for a political candidate. A survey could work, but will only take a snapshot of people's feelings at one point in time. An ethnographic approach could work, but observing people reading a slogan or hearing it in an ad will not really provide you with much information about how potential voters feel about the slogan. Individual interviews could work, 117 but will lack interaction between potential voters; a focus group really is the best method for this study. In a focus group, voters talk to each other, and you---as the researcher---can use their interactions and answers to your questions as data. Once you have decided on the focus-group approach, you need to determine how many focus groups you will conduct and how many people you will put in each group. There are debates over both of these questions. Here's the rule on the minimum number of focus groups: never settle on just one focus group. You need more than one focus group so you can compare the results from each group to the other. You are able to see emerging trends in your data when you conduct multiple focus groups. Let's return to our political campaigns scenario. You may see focus-group members consistently point out strengths and weaknesses in a political slogan, regardless of who is in a group. Lindlof and Taylor (2002) argue that a sound study should have a minimum of two to three focus groups. You want between 3 and 15 people in each focus group. However, when you have only three people in a group, you have less chance of seeing the group effect (Carey, 1994) because of the low number of members interacting. However, a group which is too big can become hard to handle. We talk more about this later. Many researchers who use focus groups typically want 6 to 12 people in a group (Lindlof & Taylor, 2002). Just like interviewing and ethnography, you need to find your participants. Do you post flyers in significant places, work your gatekeepers, use e-mail lists, or use social media? Use the best means available to locate your participants. One of the things we talk about later is how often your participant selection for a focus group is non-random, including convenience or purposive sampling. In a study using a focus group, you should try to include people with a variety of opinions in order to generate the true group effect, as groups generally include a variety of opinions. So, set up two or more groups with 6 to 12 potential voters and ask them to look over the new slogan for the candidate. One common technique in focus groups is to show some sort of stimulus material and ask participants to respond to it. In the case of the slogan, you could show the group the statement and record their opinions. In each group, you would try to include voters from a broad range of positions on the political continuum; this way, you can get opinions from multiple perspectives. Including both males and females in your groups is a good way to see how both sexes respond to the slogan. You might want to include people from different ethnic or racial backgrounds. The more diversity you have in the group, the better chance you have of learning more about how the general public may respond to the slogan. The third important component to consider is whether you are going to pay your participants for their participation. In a research project using focus-group interviews, the participant is actively engaging and spending valuable time with the researcher. Thus, in some cases, researchers may offer participants financial or others forms of compensation for their time (e.g., food, extra credit). To set up a successful focus group, you may need to offer incentives for participation. Incentives for participation are paid or unpaid ways of encouraging people to participate in a study. The type of incentive will depend on your population. Since some focus group meetings can range from 30 to 90 minutes (and sometimes longer), a researcher is taking time from the participants. At the University of Jyväskylä, where Stephen previously taught, some departments offered movie tickets to research participants. Some university departments permit a researcher to offer students extra credit for participation. In advertising research, firms may pay or provide free products for participation. The issue of incentives is something you need to determine and be up-front about with your participants in the informed consent form. Since you are occupying the time of each of your participants, you might want to consider offering them some kind of incentive for participation. Since these individuals are not undergraduate students, extra credit in a class is not an appropriate incentive. Maybe you could provide them with lunch, movie tickets, a gift certificate for coffee, or something similar in value. If your incentive for participation does not draw in enough participants, you may need to increase it. Fourth, you need to determine where the focus group will take place. Unlike ethnographies, which take place in the natural setting of the participants, and interviews, which can take place in the natural setting or in a lab, focus 118 groups almost always meet in a controlled environment. You, as the researcher, determine the place and time for the group to meet. Hocking, Stacks, and McDermott (2003) list a few conditions that explain why focus-group locations are predetermined by the researcher: Most focus groups are run at night, with one group following a second by 10-to-15 minutes. Because of the interaction required, most groups run between one and two hours, with at least one refreshment and bathroom break included. Some research companies have two-way mirrored and electronically monitored rooms that you can rent. You need a room that is conducive to communication and not too formal. Preferably you want your participants to face each other, perhaps in a circle around a table. (p. 205) These conditions make clear why a researcher would want a focus group to meet in a predetermined, controlled location---too many variables cannot be controlled in a natural environment. So, choose a location that best suits your needs. Some university departments have focus-group or laboratory rooms you can use. Many advertising firms and other corporations have specially designed rooms for focus groups. The key is to develop a plan for where you will do the focus group, keeping in mind: 1) how many people will be in each group, 2) how long each group will run, 3) whether or not you are recording the groups (we will talk about that shortly), 4) how the room is set up, 5) whether or not are there bathroom facilities nearby, and 6) if the location is easy for the participants to find. Fifth, as discussed in the chapter on interviewing, recording interviews can make data analysis a whole lot easier. With focus groups, your data may involve not just what people say, but also how they say it. So you will need to decide if you are going to make audio or video recordings of the groups. You will, of course, need to get permission from the participants to record. We recommend that you record the focus-group meetings and then transcribe the data as soon as possible after conducting each group. Numerous software programs can make transcribing easier (e.g., Interact-AS, NCH Software, Nuance, Vocapia, VoiceBase). Remember, you should still take notes during a focus group even if you are recording. Taking notes will add to your understanding when you analyze the transcripts of the data because you can jot down insightful notes during the focus-group session. You decide that you are only interested in what the participants say about the slogan. In this case, it is only necessary that you audio-record the focus group. So, you get permission from all of the participants to audio record the focus groups. The sixth element you need to see to before you conduct a focus group, and one of the most important ones, is the preparation of the moderator. The moderator is the one who leads the focus group and makes sure the discussion guide is followed. A discussion guide is the program for the focus group. The guide includes your opening and closing statements, and the questions for the group. The moderator uses the discussion guide as a roadmap for leading the group. The questions in the discussion guide are based on the main purposes of the study. The following box contains an example discussion guide. The questions in the discussion guide are only as successful as the moderator. Morgan (1988) describes how a moderator should be a good interviewer and must be a good listener. A moderator should be prepared to adapt questions if participants do not respond to some questions. "Moderators try to achieve a fine balance between enfranchising individuals to speak out and promoting good group feelings" (Lindlof & Taylor, 2002, p. 183). A good moderator has a knack for drawing out quiet participants and politely silencing aggressive or overly talkative participants. Many advertising firms hire moderators with strong communication skills to lead focus groups. Hocking et al. (2003) strongly urge researchers not to serve as moderators for their own focus groups, but to hire professional moderators whenever possible. Of course, few student-researchers can afford to hire a professional moderator, so you need to be prepared to moderate your own focus groups. Sample Discussion Guide for Study on Political Slogan Effectiveness PARTICIPANT INTRODUCTION Hello my name is \[name here\] and I have been asked to lead a discussion today about a new slogan Candidate 119 X is developing for his/her election campaign. What we are going to do today is watch his/her new advertisement, which includes the new slogan, and then I am going to ask you some questions. There are no right or wrong answers. I am just interested in what you think about the slogan and the advertisement. Everything you say here will be kept completely confidential. We will be audio-recording the focus group today, and then transcribing the session. The transcripts from the group will be summarized and presented in such a way that no individual could be identified in the future. What I am passing out to each of you now is an informed-consent form. This form outlines everything that you will be doing today, all of your duties and responsibilities. This form also explains the benefits of this study, how to contact the researchers in case you have any questions or concerns about the study. The form also notes that for participating in this study, which should take about 60 minutes, you will receive a \$10 Starbucks gift card. However, if you stop your participation before completion of the study, which is your right, you will not receive the gift card. One last thing before we get started: I would like each of you to take a name tag and put your first name on it. It can be your real first name or a fictitious one, it is up to you, whatever you feel comfortable with. Can everyone now take a couple of minutes and read over the informed consent, ask any questions you might have, and if it's OK, sign it. Let me know when you have signed it and I will collect it. Has everyone signed the forms? OK, let's get started. I am going to turn on the audio-recorder now. Can I have each of you say your name for the group and introduce yourself. \[THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO GET EVERYONE'S NAME ON THE RECORDER\] \[FROM THIS POINT, THERE IS A LOT OF VARIABILITY IN WHAT YOU COULD DO\] I would like you all to watch the following new advertisement that was just developed by Candidate X's team ---play advertisement. FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS OK, now that you have seen the new ad, I have some questions for us to think about. \[HERE THE QUESTIONS ARE GUIDED BY THE FOCUS OF THE STUDY; WE WILL LIST TWO SAMPLE QUESTIONS. DEPENDING ON HOW LONG THE MEETING IS, REMEMBER TO BREAK FOR BATHROOM ☺\] 1. 2. What did you like and what did you dislike about the advertisement? Candidate X in this advertisement is trying to persuade you that he/she is the best candidate for President. How does he/she do that? \[THE GROUP COULD CONTINUE WITH MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ADVERTISEMENT UNTIL THE MODERATOR IS READY TO WRAP UP THE GROUP\] Well, I would like to thank you for your participation in this discussion today. I think we have really uncovered some interesting insight into \[name of the advertisement\]. As I said at the start, if you have any questions about the study, feel free to contact us via the information provided on the forms. Now, I think it's time to pass out some coffee gift cards. Thanks again. How to Conduct a Focus Group If you have taken the proper steps to prepare, then conducting the group is systematic. You should already have your questions designed, your number of groups and participants set, incentive for participation determined, the location reserved, prepared your record equipment (assuming permission is received), and chosen a moderator. When you conduct a focus group you need to: 1) make sure the location is functional, 2) double-check the recording device(s), 3) conduct the discussion using the guide, and 4) analyze the results. First, while you may have a location set for the group, always make sure the location is ready before the participants arrive. This may sound silly, but Dan and Stephen have been involved in research projects (as researchers and participants), where we have arrived and things are not ready. Remember, you are asking for your participants' precious time and 120 watching a researcher run around in circles setting up the room may be seen as wasting their time. Second, as you will more than likely be recording (audio or video), it is a good idea to check the equipment before the group begins. What a shame if your participants are ready and the technology fails you. Third, use the discussion guide to conduct the focus groups. The purpose of the discussion guide is to help the moderator(s) facilitate the focus group. If you look at the preceding box, this kind of guide can be modified in many ways to help a well-trained moderator lead a discussion. The moderator is looking for the participants to answer specific questions about issues pertinent to the research subject. However, the moderator does not give the participants answers. Thus, the moderator needs to be open to the participants providing a variety of expected and unexpected answers. This is one reason why the discussion guide needs to be somewhat flexible in its format. Like open-ended interviews, discussion guides should be flexible, to a point, meaning that the moderator (and the discussion guide) try to remain on the same research theme while allowing participants to talk about issues important to them and relevant to the group's subject. Fourth, once a focus group is complete, you need to analyze the transcripts (your data). You can analyze qualitative data in numerous ways. For example, you could conduct a grounded theory analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1991), a metaphoric analysis (Gill, 1994), a conversation or discourse analysis, or a content analysis. We will talk more in-depth about some of these methods in later chapters in this text. You should also consider the notes and observations of the moderator as an important part of your analysis. A well trained moderator should be versed in taking good notes and understanding human behavior. Talk to the moderator(s) and find out what they thought about the groups and use their insight as one kind of data to help your analysis. With our advertisement for Candidate X, we decide on our meeting date for the first focus group, recruit our participants, compose our discussion guide, select our moderator, procure our coffee gift cards, and have the recording device all ready. We (the advertising firm) show up an hour beforehand with the moderator to make sure that the location is all set up and ready for the session. We then do a test run of the audio-recorder (it works great!). Then the participants arrive. The moderator reads the introduction and goes through the script on the guide. After the session, which was a lively discussion about the advertisement by the way, we go back to our firm and get a debriefing from the moderator on their thoughts about the participants and the session. We add their notes and thoughts (as data) to our transcripts. We are still debating whether we will analyze our data using a content analytic approach or a discourse analytic approach, but we will decide that soon. Tomorrow, we have another session; our second of six focus groups. Advantages and Limitations of Focus Groups Focus groups have numerous advantages and a few limitations. The five main advantages to focus groups are: 1) cost, 2) speed, 3) quantity of participants, 4) ability to reach sensitive populations, and 5) the group effect. The first three advantages of a focus group are closely linked to one another: cost, speed, and quantity of participants (Berg, 2009; Lindlof & Taylor, 2002). Focus groups often provide an inexpensive and quick way to gather data from a lot of participants. If one conducts three focus groups with seven people in each group, this means the person has collected responses from 21 people at three points in time. Consider the alternative of conducting 21 individual open-ended interviews on 21 separate occasions. The data for the three focus groups will likely take less time to collect. The cost of data collection (e.g., transportation, recording, incentives for participation) may end up being less for three focus groups than for 21 individual interviews. The fourth advantage of focus groups is the ability to reach sensitive populations. In many situations, you may want to investigate a sensitive topic, such as sexual abuse. In such studies, participants may not feel as comfortable discussing the issue one-on-one. However, people are more likely to open up about sensitive topics when in the presence of other individuals who have similar experiences (Morgan, 1988). Finally, as previously mentioned, focus groups allow us to tap the group effect (Carey, 1994). When people are together with others discussing an issue, they are likely to bounce ideas off one another and feed from each other. These group interactions will produce more insights into the communication phenomena under investigation. Focus groups have two limitations you should keep in mind: 1) the moderator(s), and 2) the participants. While the moderator is necessary to facilitate a successful focus group, you must make sure the moderator is well 121 trained. If the moderator is not well trained and is unable to successfully manage the group, then the focus group could fail. The discussion could stagnate, or some participants may monopolize the conversation, or (worst-case scenario) the moderator could monopolize the conversation and be the only one talking. The role of the moderator really is integral to the success of the focus group. Second, the participants themselves can make or break a focus group. Participants are volunteers. Like Forrest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." Well, participants are like that, you never know what you're gonna get. Based on the participants in our focus groups brought in to discuss Candidate X's advertisement, we should learn some things about how average voters think about the advertisement. If we have been careful in our development of the discussion guide, particularly in the questions, and chosen a good moderator or moderators, our job should be a success. Focus groups are increasingly used by advertisers, and also by researchers in communication. This qualitative method, if executed properly, can be an effective tool for analyzing how groups perceive messages and how groups interact. Summary This chapter was a how-to guide for focus groups. As discussed in the chapter, focus groups are generally approached from the interpretive or critical/cultural paradigms. Hopefully, after reading this chapter, and the accompanying student paper using focus groups, you feel comfortable enough to use focus groups for your own research project.