In a short essay, describe the characteristics of a focus group, and list and discuss the basic steps to conducting a focus group

What will be an ideal response?

A focus group is an interview with a small group of respondents conducted by a trained moderator who leads the discussion in a nonstructured and natural manner. The main purpose of a focus group is to gain insights on issues of interest to the researcher by listening to a group of people from the appropriate target market. Focus groups are the most important qualitative research procedure. They are so popular that many marketing research practitioners consider this technique synonymous with qualitative research.

The following are basic steps to conducting a focus group.
a. Designing the environment - focus group sessions are typically held in facilities specially equipped to comfortably accommodate and record a group discussion. The setting is typically an informal conference room equipped with a one-way mirror and microphones throughout the room. Behind the one-way mirror is a viewing room for management.
b. Recruiting and selecting focus group participants - a focus group is generally made up of eight to twelve members. A focus group should be homogeneous in terms of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
c. Selecting a moderator - the moderator plays a key role and must be well trained. General group management skills as well as background in psychology and marketing typically suffice in most focus group situations. The moderator must be able to establish rapport with the participants.
d. Preparing the discussion guide - regardless of the skills or qualifications of the moderator, any focus group will flounder without an outline of the topics to be covered. The discussion guide should reflect the objectives of qualitative research. A moderator's discussion guide can reduce some of the reliability problems inherent in focus groups, such as the lack of consistency in topics covered from group to group.
e. Conducting the group interview - during the interview, the moderator must 1. establish rapport with the group; 2. state the rules of group interaction; 3 . set objectives; 4. attempt to summarize the group's response to determine the extent of agreement. Ideally, the number of focus groups conducted should increase until the moderator becomes familiar enough with the range of responses and can anticipate what will be said.
f. Preparing the focus group report - following the focus group session, the moderator and the managers who viewed the session often engage in an instant interpretation. There is value in this free exchange in that it captures the impressions of the group and may be a good source of information for additional brainstorming. Due to the small number of participants, frequencies and percentages are not usually reported in a focus group summary.