Focus groups are a productive way of gathering information from an area you choose to focus in on. It demonstrates how much knowledge can be gathered within the one space. The people I am choosing to research are performers within the entertainment industry from ages 19 to 30. I feel this will give me enough variety as it is individuals starting their careers as well as those who are more experienced. I feel the more mature members of the group can provide me with reflections on past experiences and maybe techniques they feel they should have utilised more. For example, seeing how other industry friends of theirs have used certain networking techniques in the past which have therefore impacted the success of their careers and to see if they wished they would have followed by example. The more inexperienced members (recent graduates) will demonstrate to me the amount of knowledge they have regarding networking. Do college faculties prepare students for what is ahead and how sources can be used?
I think it is a good idea to have a focus group which incorporates successful industry professionals, with those who have maybe not made as much of an impact. How do these people differ? Is there as pattern? Does networking result in a more successful career? A good suggestion from one of my SIG group members Hannah, was to divide up the focus group in to confident speakers and those who are slightly quieter and less confident. You can therefore conduct two separate focus groups. I feel this is important as you want equal participation and if you have an individual who is talking a lot and being confident, then it might nock a quieter person and mean they don't join in. I have noticed in group campus session that this is sometimes the case. It is clear that some people talk out a lot more whilst others just sit and listen. On the other hand, it is interesting to allow these people to come together to discus thoughts and opinions as this sometimes results in the more reserved people being probed on by others and so therefore involving themselves more.
I experimented with a small group of professionals when conducting my pilot. This I felt would ease me in to the focus group experience gently. As the reader suggests, you should ask each person to speak and identify themselves before the process begins. Similar to my point made in the previous paragraph, reader 6 talks about bigger personalities “also influence, and in some cases actually take over, a group and make it difficult for the less assertive members to speak” (Bell, 2005, p. 163). This is why it is vital that you identify each person as this will help you when analysing the data. To prevent anybody taking over the discussion, I made sure I derived a suitable seating plan and also highlighted the importance of not talking over one another. Picking suitable questions helped the discussion stay on the right track and not veer off on to a completely irrelevant subject.
Pros
Allows opinions to develop as people hear other people's thoughts and so can build on their own. Group interaction helps come up with new ideas and therefore more tools and techniques. It is a fun and informal atmosphere so allows participants to relax and allow themselves to speak openly and honestly. They can share experiences and reflect on them.
Cons
People may participate more than others (which is why I may try dividing up the group as I mentioned earlier). People may have conflicting opinions which is a good thing, but you have to maintain control and not let It get out of hand e.g talking over each other. A certain degree of preparation is required; consent forms, suitable location which is within ethical requirements, suitable topic questions, arranging a time that suits your focus group.
Online focus group?
This is another suggestion I found. How about an online focus group? Yes this overcomes the problem of distance but does it take away from the fact that we are together and relaxed in a group environment where we feel comfortable enough to voice our opinions. Discussion is constrained but could make it easier to construct and reflect on information as it would be in a written format. This is something I may experiment with but at the moment, I may just use the survey tool as an online source.
I really enjoy focus groups as I love how anyone is free to voice opinions. Others can then relate to your experiences and you can then reflect on it together. They help widen your knowledge as someone might mention something that you was not aware of before. You can then put it in to practice yourself which could help benefit you as a person and a professional.
Bell, J. (2005) Doing Your Research Project (4th ed), Milton Keynes: Open
University Press.
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