A new series of articles addressing different issues within research methodology. In the first of the series, Jennifer Cassels looks into issues around ‘size’ specifically relating to focus groups and the idea that less is more.
Jennifer Squire 
15 Jan, 2008
Qualitative Corner: Issues in Research Methodology
When deciding on the most suitable methodology for a research project, one of the key questions we ask ourselves is ‘what is the best way to meet the objectives, is it one to one interviews, is it group discussions etc?. If group discussions are felt to be most appropriate, we have second question to ask ourselves. How many participants shall we have in each group? This is fundamental to any research project and the decision can significantly impact the research outcomes.
For years market researchers (in both the medical and consumer fields) have sat in front of groups of eight, nine, even ten people and talked to them about well anything that the client wants them to talk about. And what was the main reason for having so many people in one group. In most instances it was to cover the biggest sample possible in the shortest space of time for the least amount of money. When it is put like this it seems relatively sensible however there are a number of reasons why it is probably not.
Picture the scene, everyone fighting to get their opinions and views across,
vying for the same bit of airtime as someone else – and who wins in this
war of words, well usually the person that can shout the loudest. And who loses
out, actually the client does in this case.
Such large group discussions can be fraught with problems.
- Generally when you place people in a room together and discuss a subject of common interest, dominant and submissive personalities will become evident. When 8 to 10 people are in a room, you are likely to find up to half of them falling into the submissive category, feeling intimidated by others in the room and often contributing little to the group discussion as a result. It takes an extremely experienced moderator to bring such personalities fully into the discussion
- Keeping the discussion ‘on track’ is also very challenging with a large group. Participants will often lose focus and may take the discussion on a different (and often unrelated) tangent
- Objectives and questions may remain unanswered or not covered in enough detail. It is difficult to drill down fully on 8 potentially different views. Things can often get lost within the discussion as a result
- And finally, it is not easy for those in the back room viewing a group of this size to capture fully what is going on. They are also likely to miss what could be key points or insights
So you may have officially ‘interviewed’ a larger sample but may not gain in true insights by doing so. There is an alternative approach to this. Conducting group discussions with fewer participants (or ‘mini’ groups as they are known in the industry) can often provide the depth and insight that is sometimes lacking from larger groups. Recruiting four or five participants for a discussion can overcome most, if not all of the problems associated with large groups.
Not
only is it much easier for the moderator to build rapport with the participants,
it also allows for better group dynamics, with each participant feeling ‘part’ of
the discussion, having their opinions, views and experiences heard. ‘Mini’ groups
can also allow responses and opinions to more easily and fully probed, thus
capturing the all important insights.
We believe this ‘less is more’ approach is highly valuable and can enrich the overall group discussion. This ultimately benefits the research itself (and therefore the client commissioning the research) by providing a more in depth and detailed discussion and potentially more usable outputs.
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