Frequently Asked Questions

What is a focus group?

A focus group is an informal gathering of individuals who meet to discuss a product, service, concept or issues (social or political). This imperfect science of asking questions of strangers helps clients understand more than top-of-mind behaviors of the very consumers who eventually buy or don’t buy what clients have to offer. It perhaps more importantly, enables the client to answer the "why" or "why not" of purchasing while giving a more clear understanding of marketing patterns and strategies.

Why a focus group?

A focus group provides qualitative information about the attitudes, perceptions and opinions of participants involved in the topic of discussion. By speaking with "real" people, researchers translate what is shared with them into action reports which thereby enables a client to make better, more informed decisions in their marketing strategy.

Who is in a focus group?

A focus group is typically composed of 6 to 12 people. Participants are reasonably homogeneous and are selected on the basis of specific characteristics (age, gender, occupation, interest, education, income, residency, group membership (the aforementioned are as delineated by the client)). Special one-on-one focus groups are also available. If you are interested in participating in a focus group as a respondent complete the Respondent Form and send it to us for consideration.

What is a moderator?

A "good" moderator or facilitator is able to encourage respondents to open up and share their beliefs, their attitudes, their thinking and their reactions to a wide range of options about products, services and ideas. Further, the facilitator is able to impart to the respondents that all expressed opinions related to the topic are an asset to the client.

As a client, how many focus groups should I do?

There is really no correct answer. The decision is generally based on available budget, number of different groups to be included in the research and the number of geographic areas to be covered. The average focus group project consists of 4 to 6 groups, with smaller projects holding only 2 or 3 groups and larger projects having as many as 15 sessions. If you are interested in submitting a bid to schedule a focus group, complete the Bid Inquiry Form and submit it to us.

Where are Focus Groups held?

In most situations, focus groups are conducted at our focus facility in Ellicott City. Our conference style focus room seats twelve respondents. Behind a one-way mirror is a tiered client viewing area which seats seven and offers dimmer controlled writing ledges. A newly constructed client workroom seats an additional five comfortably and the focus group can be viewed via a wall-mounted closed circuit TV. Other details about our facility can be found in the About Columbia Focus page on this site.

How do you find the people who participate in the Focus Groups?

There are three ways we locate participants. First is a client provided list of potential participants, usually existing customers of the client. The second is to recruit from our ever increasing in-house database which is carefully updated and maintained to discourage "professional respondents". The third is to advertise for participants in local newspapers or on the radio. If you’re interested in participating in a focus group as a respondent you can complete and submit the form found at the Respondent Form page.