What is focus group

Focus groups possess a distinct advantage over other market research methods. It allows you to extract meaningful insights and opinions. The purpose of the group is not to arrive at a consensus or agreement on the topic. Instead, it seeks to identify and understand customer perceptions of a brand, product, or service.

Follow these five steps to create a market research focus group. Participants: A crucial step in conducting a focus group is the process of participant selection.

The main criteria for selecting the participants must be their knowledge about the subject. If you need help selecting members, look for a research-based organization that matches you with qualified participants.

The role of a moderator: The moderator conducts the group with confidence and leads members through the questions. They must be impartial throughout the process. As the researcher, you can also be the moderator, so long as you remain objective.

You can also hire a suitable professional moderator to run your focus group survey. Your choice of focus group depends on the needs of your research. Types include:. A researcher must be careful while recruiting participants. Members need adequate knowledge of the topic so that they can add to the conversation.

Your moderator should understand the topic of discussion and possess the following qualities:. Existing relationships between a member and moderator cause bias and can skew your data. While conducting a focus group, it is essential to record the sessions or meetings. A researcher can record the discussion through audio or video. Before the session starts, it is crucial to write down clear session guidelines. Give out the instructions in advance and request participants to comply with them.

Once participants understand their role, the moderator leads the focus group survey. You can ask members to fill out a feedback form to collect quantitative data from the event. Use your data and generate reports on the overall findings of your study. Share your report with stakeholders and decision makers in your organization.

A good report helps you design actionable plans to improve products or services according to the focus group feedback. Update focus group members on the changes you make and the results of those changes. For example, a laptop company needs customer feedback about an upcoming product.

Focus group research provides direct information about the market from actual consumers. The company chooses eight individuals who represent their target market for a constructive discussion. The moderator asks questions regarding customer preference on laptop size and features. Group members discuss why they do or do not like certain aspects of a laptop. The company uses the opinions of the participants to create a product that fits customer needs and wants. Our focus group recruitment questionnaire template gives you a range of survey questions for maximum responses.

These responses also help you make the best choice in recruiting the appropriate group members. When using a focus group in marketing research , you must ask the right questions for accurate results. Good focus group questions have the following characteristics:. Avoid asking questions to specific individuals to ensure the inclusion of all participants. Restrict discussion time per question to minutes to keep the conversation efficient.

Primary question: This first open-ended question initiates the entire discussion. Probe questions: These questions dig deeper into the discussion of the primary question. Questions to follow-up: After establishing the overall knowledge and feelings of the group, the moderator identifies specific insights. Questions for the conclusion: Review previous questions to avoid overlooking the main points. It is the time when a moderator can revisit specific topics to gather more data.

Online focus groups remove the need for a physical location. Like in-person groups, online groups involve participants who share their opinions. Many researchers prefer online focus groups for convenience and cost-effectiveness. QuestionPro Communities is an online focus group software. Organizations invite participants to a moderated online discussion forum. Participants may answer questions at any time suitable to them. Who Can Join? Just about everyone!

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Gantt Chart Definition: A Gantt chart is a useful graphical tool which shows activities or tasks performed against time. It is also known as visual presentation of a project where the activities are broken down and displayed on a chart which makes it is easy to understand and interpret. Description: A Gantt chart is a popular tool in project management. It basically drills down activities which need to be done by a fixed time period.

It is commonly used for tracking project schedules. On the chart, tasks are shown on the vertical axis while the scheduled time-spend is laid out on the horizontal axis.

Each task is represented by a bar that shows the time required for the project. The bar then represents or shows percentage of tasks that have been completed. It also shows dependencies, which simply means the interlinkages between various activities in the project. Understanding the interlinkage between activities is very important to monitor and Gantt charts help the project manager to do just that. It conveys the information about the completion of other activities in the project.

This information is important because of the interlinkages between various activities and if one activity gets delayed it will have an impact on others. Gantt chart is a useful tool in planning and scheduling the projects. It keeps the management updated as to when the project will get completed.