Focus Group

We hear a lot about focus groups. During the recent presidential debates, a CNN reporter ran a "focus group" in Columbus, Ohio. Wikipedia describes a focus group as

A form of qualitative research in which a group of people is asked about their attitude towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members.

This is true as far as it goes.

What the CNN reporter ran was not a "focus group" in a market research sense. A real focus group occurs in a room around a table, consisting of 6-12 participants, led by a trained moderator, focused on a give topic or range of given topics. Usually the sessions are taped and the participants screened and reimbursed. Sometimes they are held in a professional focus group facility with videotaping. However I've lead many successful focus groups in hotel rooms, meeting rooms in libraries, once in SE Minnesota off a small room in a bar and in Big Lake, Texas, in a bank conference center.

What CNN had was, as George W. Bush would say, "a bunch of folks." It was basically a series of two-way dialogues with the reporter asking the questions and the audience answering them. I'm not saying what she did was without value. It was very interesting, just not a focus group. A successful focus groups features a lot of give and take among participants. The moderator simply guides the discussion and backs off and listens to what people say and what they don't say.

If you're interested in focus groups, read the Wikipedia article and follow its links and references. And post a comment. I'm interested in what you have to say.

Entrepreneurship informs all my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing, click on www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com