Conduct focus groups

Use this play to...

• Gather opinions and attitudes about issues of interest
• Explore issues and experiences more deeply than possible with surveys
• Inform the development of changes in programs or services with the user
• Collect additional information to complement other forms of research (e.g. surveys, administrative data)

Running the play

Define the purpose

Determine your objectives for the focus group and the key information that you wish to gather. Having a clear objective is best. 

Consider whether the information that you would like to gather is best suited for focus groups or some other data gathering tools (e.g. surveys, administrative data and interviews). Gathering views, perspectives and experiences are best suited for focus groups as well as understanding factors in decision-making processes (vs. discussions of a sensitive nature or situations where individuals may influence each other – interviews, and technical information – surveys or administrative data analysis).

Identify the target group(s) 

Identify your target groups and how many participants you may need. You may wish to develop a list of attributes to inform the selection of participants or a list of key information that you would like to gather from different groups of users. 

Generally, each focus group should have approximately 4 to 10 individuals. Larger groups can become difficult to manage and you will want to ensure that everyone has a chance to contribute. Very small groups can limit conversation and possibly diversity.

Identify relevant policies or guidelines

Focus groups for behavioural research, user research, and consultations are generally not considered to be public opinion research; to determine if your interviews could be considered as such, see Defining Public Opinion Research for more information. With public opinion research, there are specific requirements that would need to be followed.

In addition, you may wish to familiarize yourself with some of the following sources for consultations and stakeholder engagement involving regulations, Indigenous groups, or grants and contributions programs:  

• Guidelines for Effective Regulatory Consultations
• Government of Canada and the duty to consult
• Public Engagement Principles

Establish a timeline

A focus group cannot be developed in a day. You should ensure that you have enough time to be able to prepare, reach out and follow-up with potential participants, and develop any other physical materials required. Typically, you would want to have 6 to 8 weeks for planning and preparation. 

Generate your questions

A typical focus group that is 1 to 2 hours in length will likely only have time to cover between 4 and 7 questions. Having too many questions can create situations where participants do not have enough time to provide comprehensive responses, limit the ability to allow new issues to be explored and create a risk of running overtime or cutting the discussion off prematurely. Therefore, take care to focus your questions.

To help refine your questions, consider the following: 

• Use open-ended questions. Open-ended questions require participants to have more than one-word answers and require some discussion.  
• Move from general to more specific questions.  
• Start with a warm-up question to get participants comfortable. 
• Compare your list of questions to your purpose statement. If trying to find ways to cut down the questions, consider examining which are essential questions and which are “nice-to-have” questions. 
• Keep your questions simple and written in plain language.  
• Test your questions to see if they can be further refined. 

Develop your script

Develop your focus group script with a 1 to 2-hour time frame in mind. Your script should have the following components: 

1. The opening section where you welcome the participants, introduce the purpose, and explain how the session will proceed and how the responses will be used. 
2. The question section where you will ask the questions that you designed. 
3. The closing section where you thank participants, wrap-up, and reiterate how the data will be used. 

Plan your analysis and reporting methods

You will want to determine your methods for analyzing the data that you collect during your focus groups as well as how you will report back on your findings. There are several courses and readings listed at the end of this play that can assist you in learning about the various approaches to focus group data collection and analysis. 

For sharing your findings, you may wish to share a summary report directly back to your participants, or, depending on the scope of your work, publish your findings on the Consulting With Canadians website, Canada Gazette, or other platforms.

In addition, make sure that you have considered privacy requirements and safeguards when collecting, analyzing and sharing the findings. You may want to include this information in your script for easy reference.

Determine roles and responsibilities 

Determine your focus group facilitation team and select their roles and responsibilities: 

• Facilitator – the individual who will have the primary responsibility in leading the discussion, ensuring every participant is heard, and keeping the discussion on track. In some situations, you may wish to have co-facilitators but try to limit the number of individuals as much as possible. 
• Note taker – the facilitator will not have enough time to take detailed notes while leading the discussion. Assign a separate individual to be the note taker. Alternatively, you may wish to record the session (if so, make sure you inform the participants!). 
• Observers – a few observers may attend the focus groups. Try to keep the number of observers limited as much as possible. Interventions by observers should also be limited. You may wish to make time for observers to ask questions at the end of the focus group. 

Plan logistics 

Determine the methods that you will use to recruit participants and develop any introductory materials (e.g., emails, letters) for outreach. 

Choose a location for the focus groups that is convenient and where participants would be comfortable expressing their opinions.  

The day has come, and it is time to conduct your session. As participants arrive, ensure that they are welcomed and make them feel comfortable. 

Ensure that your space is organized in a circle or U-shape. Participants and facilitators should be able to see each other from where they are seated. 

For your focus group: 

• Set a positive, welcoming tone for participants 
• Make sure that every participant is heard and find ways to prompt shy participants 
• Encourage more fulsome answers from participants (probe and ask follow-up questions as needed) 
• Maintain your schedule 
• Keep the discussion on track but also allow time for some spontaneity 
• Ensure that differences of opinion are dealt with respectfully 

After each focus group, meet as a project team and briefly discuss any observations or surprising findings that you might want to take note of. 

Once you have completed your focus groups, analyze the discussion notes and prepare a summary of findings. There are various approaches to analyzing focus group data, but generally, you will want to review your notes to identify common themes, connections, and differences of opinion.

Once your summary is complete, share your findings.

• Overview of planning and conducting focus groups: Method Mini-Toolkit: Focus Group Interviews (Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health, 2019) 
• Online course providing overview of designing and delivering focus groups and other topics related to qualitative research and analysis: Qualitative Research (Coursera, 2019). (English only) 
• Toolkit for Conducting Focus Groups: Community Toolbox (Omni & University of Kansas, 2019) (English only) 
• Examples of reports on findings from qualitative research: Consulting with Canadians (Government of Canada, 2019) 

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