What is a Focus Group?
A focus group is a small group of people who are selected to participate in an organised discussion, under the guidance of a moderator, to discuss a topic related to their personal experience.
There are two main ways you can use a focus group:
- You may be curious about your survey results, and want to find out more about a particular topic. For example, your OurSCHOOL survey results may reveal that interest and motivation is low in your school. You can use a focus group to speak directly with students to gather more in-depth information about why students are not interested and motivated, or any other topic you choose. You can also hold focus groups with parents, teachers, and other key stakeholders.
- Focus groups can also be used to test new survey questions before you include them in the survey (item testing). For example, you may want to ask students a custom question, but first would like to find out how students would interpret the question, to make sure that they understand what is asked of them.
Please review the attached PDF for some focus group ‘best practices’.
Focus Group Guidelines (1.25 MB)