Many people have a number in their head for how many people to include in a focus group.  One of the great things about qualitative research is that there is no one – or ‘right’ – answer to this question.  If you ask five focus group moderators, you may get as many answers. 

Anything larger than two consumers in a room with a moderator would constitute a focus group of some sort.  Three people in a focus group make up a triad; four make up a quad – which is sometimes called a mini-group; five consumers in a focus group is generally a mini-group; and anything larger than five people would constitute a good old-fashioned focus group.

Eight people in a focus group room with a moderator is often a magic number, but I occasionally have clients request as many as 12 people to be recruited for one focus group.  There may be some fitting analogy out there to recruiting a jury of one’s peers to come together to discuss ideas for branding, positioning and strategy of a brand.  However, this large number exceeds anything that would constitute a productive focus group session.

The most important thing to consider when setting up a focus group for your brand, product or advertising idea is that you want people to bounce ideas off each other and grow them.  It can be very difficult for a large focus group to come together as a team and begin to work in tandem with one another.  Also, a large number of focus group participants tends to have more group dynamic issues.  Of course, the focus group moderator is there to keep those dominant respondents in check; but when there are 10 people (or more) in the room, it is much easier for someone to ‘hide’ in the background.  Ultimately, clients can end up feeling like they did not hear from everyone when the focus group has so many people in it, and that is not good for anyone. 

Another dynamic that occurs with a large focus group is that people often end up answering the moderator’s questions – but without enough follow up probing.  This is because the more people you have in a focus group, the less time you have to engage the group in discussion.  The moderator is left in a bind – either you get depth with some people or on some issues, or you hear from everyone, but just in a perfunctory fashion.  It can almost feel like the consumers are participating in a live survey, which will not help you meet your research objectives, especially when it comes to qualitative research.  There is a time and a place for surveys, but the focus group room is NOT where you want to see that happening.

So how many people are optimal for focus group participation?  Of course, it varies from study to study, but my ideal number for a traditional focus group is six participants in the room with the moderator.  Generally, we recruit eight or nine respondents to come in for the focus group, and from that set of people, we select the best six for the conversation.  Ultimately, it’s OK to go with seven or even eight respondents in a focus group, provided it is a two-hour group, but six really does seem to work best.

The reasoning for six participants in the ideal focus group:  it allows the group to form a solid and meaningful working dynamic.  They can get to know each other, and ultimately they can bounce ideas off one another and create new ideas without feeling marginalized.  Additionally, not only do the respondents get to know each other, but the clients also get to know their consumers in a more intimate way.  This level of depth that six respondents provide allows us to probe more deeply and ultimately uncover more insights for brand and advertising development.

For shorter focus groups that are more specific in nature, I have had good results with a 60-minute focus group of four respondents (recruiting 5 or even 6, if budget allows).  Having four people in this amount of time has worked well in that you get to hear from everyone in depth and also create some point-counterpoint discussion.  This focus group methodology works particularly well with advertising development, but I have also used this on an exploratory basis.

Triads – or focus groups containing three participants – are popular among clients.  When a client wants to downsize a focus group from the traditional 6-8 people, many feel that a triad fits the bill.  You can get to a deep level of intimacy with consumers, and have them debate the different sides of an issue or an idea.  Optimal recruiting for a triad style focus group is to recruit five respondents to seat three; however, you can pull it off with four recruits if your research budget it tight.  As with the four-person focus groups, or quads, you should aim for a 60-90 minute focus group.  With a group this small, you can achieve a lot quickly.  Also, as with quads, your objectives will most likely be clear and focused, so you may not need a full two hours to work through all the issues and materials during the focus group.

Ultimately, you need to look at your research objectives and figure out what plan of attack will best serve your needs when it comes to qualitative research.  Just remember, qualitative research prides itself on a ‘less is more’ philosophy, so do not feel compelled to load the room with consumers because you feel you will get more out of the focus group.  That strategy just may backfire on you.  With a fantastic focus group moderator and researcher and solid recruiting, you will get to the bottom of your issues in an efficient fashion.

Well, Goldmine’s web site has been live for more than 18 months, which is very exciting. Less exciting is our to-date ability to post blog entries in a timely fashion…or in ANY fashion. Since the launch of the web site, many people have explained the power of blogging when done consistently, so I have now committed to converting to the 2.0 side of things.

Look out on this space for bi-weekly entries to Goldmine’s blog (I would say weekly, but I wouldn’t want to curse the keyboard).

Here’s to an ongoing blog about conducting focus groups, gaining consumer insight, and using qualitative research in general from the perspective of a focus group moderator and qualitative research consultant who’s been in the market research biz for more than a decade.

Any comments, questions or requests for discussion are welcome.

While many clients approach qualitative research knowing exactly what they want for a methodology, others are not sure what is the best way to connect with their consumers and are open to hearing thoughts about how to approach the research. 

Of course, there is no ‘golden rule’ as to the absolute best approach for qualitative research; however, there are certain guidelines to consider when tackling the research methodology.

The most commonly discussed methodology for qualitative research is, unsurprisingly, focus groups.  They are definitely the backbone of this form of marketing research, and when used (and moderated) properly, they can provide invaluable insight and perspective from consumers.  Focus groups are also a fantastic way to help build ideas.

Some examples of scenarios that are ideal for a focus group methodology include:

• Exploratory work, where you are learning about a category or type of consumer
• Brand chemistry work, where you are exploring the marketplace and how certain brands fit within that marketplace
• Advertising development work, especially early on in the development process
• Strategy development or working to create an advertising brief
• Positioning research or concept development

The main idea here is that focus groups provide a forum in which consumers can bounce ideas off one another.  Discussing a concept or potential positioning for a brand or product as a group creates the potential for an idea to grow in a way that it would not just by talking to a single person ‚Äì the dynamic is the notion that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Focus groups are less powerful when used to evaluate finished ‚Äì or near finished ‚Äì work, specifically finished advertising.  At this point, you are not getting the benefit of consumers bouncing ideas off each other and building on what is there.  Instead, you have consumers fighting off the urge to become ad critics and while a good focus group moderator can mitigate this, you are putting consumers in a role that is less useful to your objectives and in a role that is outside of their expertise.  Of course, there are times where it makes sense to run focus groups against this scenario, but the above should be considered.

In-depth interviews (IDI‚Äôs), also called one-on-one interviews or depth interviews, are also a great methodology for qualitative marketing research.  As their name implies, IDI‚Äôs allow for much more depth and concentration on a single area and within the context of a single person.  A depth interview can last from anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, although in the US, I find that consumers lose their focus after about 90 minutes, so I would stay in that range.

Some good examples of times to use in-depth interviews include:

• Discussing finished advertising, including print advertising, television advertising, online advertising, and even radio advertising
• When you need to understand a decision making process          
• Any kind of usability research, from web site development to game testing
• Research that involves sorting exercises

Clients sometimes decide to employ a mixed methodology for qualitative research ‚Äì depending on objectives, this may be the best way to come at the questions from all angles, giving yourself the opportunity to interview consumers in-depth, while still having the group dynamic available to build and grow ideas.  

Another methodology consideration is that of ethnography, whether it be in-home interviews, shop along interviews or other forms of observational research in a more natural or organic environment (as opposed to a focus group facility).  Since this is a hot area currently in marketing research, I will leave this for its own entry.

Ultimately, the decision to conduct focus groups or in-depth interviews is often a matter of feel or instinct, but using these guidelines helps to inform that end decision.

We are hoping to use this portion of the site to write about some of the trends and insights that are being spotted among consumers of all sorts, as well as to share experiences in some of the markets visited across the country. While large, ‘traditional’ markets are always useful when conducting focus groups and interviews, some of the smaller markets have also yielded insightful discussions with consumers, and we are happy to spread the word about new places in which research could be useful.

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Goldmine qualitative research has launched its new website at:

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http://goldmineresearch.com.

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The site boasts stellar Goldmine team bios, and impressive client list and easy-to-read blog.

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The site was designed and implemented by Sophic.

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