Online focus groups

Posted by on November 1st, 2006 at 3:55pm

What are online focus groups? How do they differ from traditional qualitative methods? What value can they serve to better understanding consumers?

With the advent of large scale computer networks, such as the Internet, it is now possible to link participants electronically. Online focus groups are an effective way of leading select groups into in-depth discussion about specific topics. Clients and respondents can participate in the comfort of their own home or office. This enables the geographic scope of participants, in any one group, to be worldwide. More…
Respondents share images, data, and their responses on their computer screens. They are usually limited to six to eight participants.

Advantages of online focus groups
One reason for using online research is that responses are more objective. That means respondents participating in online focus groups tend to be more impartial and straight to the point when they are not communicating face-to-face. Responses are therefore more anonymous.

Furthermore, online focus groups are more cost effective than traditional methods. Expenses such as phone calls, facility rental and transcribing can be eliminated. You can also recruit from a wider geographic scope. Participants can join discussions from multiple locations around the globe.

Some difficult to recruit groups [web masters, network administrators, farmers, etc] are much easier to contact online than through other means. For example, inviting someone to participate in an online focus group via email or web is much less intrusive than contacting them via telephone. Online focus groups have a much faster turnaround than traditional methods because the recruiting process is shorter and there are is no need to record and transcribe the sessions.
Another important advantage is quality control. The client can observe group sessions without an intimidating one-way mirror for example. They are also able to communicate with the moderator without interrupting the session.

Disadvantages of online focus groups
Although online focus groups are very advantageous in today’s society, there are a few admonitions to be taken into consideration. One point is the non-visual aspect, where pictures or video clips have limited presentation and physical emotions, gestures and intonations are withheld.

There are potential problems with conversation flow. If participants are typing at the same time and then trying to react to the next burst of text, it can be difficult to keep up. It is therefore not surprising when the flow is disjointed.

Another big problem is self-selected recruiting bias. Often online participants are self-selected. Furthermore, a sample of older people, particularly those over the age of 50, would be hard to recruit online as they are generally less technologically savvy, typically fleeing from computers and all things technical.

In addition, participation problems may arise. Participants can lose interest and drop out during a session or get lost in the flow.

Despite its disadvantages, online focus groups provide a good, widespread method of extracting qualitative information. When used appropriately, this technique will certainly become an eminent practice in future market research.

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