Research techniques Focus groups and plan.

Research techniques Focus groups.

A small group of people whose thoughts, ideas and opinions are studied in order to find out if a good will be a success, a small insight into the greater population / target group. 

Advantages

·     can be time saving

·     instant reactions

·     increase validity

·     primary research

·     Insight into target audience 

·     Understand more about consumers wants and needs

·     Provide high amounts of qualitative data

·     Recorded

Disadvantages

·     Expensive
·     interview bias
·     social desirability bias
·     ethnocentric bias
·     ageism
·     Conversation may go of topic

Focus group plan

1} Purpose? Discuss ideas for genre of music for  music video (pop or indie pop) along with genre of music video (narrative, experimental or performance) as well as generating ideas for music video content that are what the ideal target audience of 18-25-year olds would like to see in a music video. 

2} Recording method? I will either record the session with a standard camera or a voice recorder in which the recorded session can be later transcribed in order to easily manage the ideas given or to be able to recall ideas that may have been missed while conducting the focus group. 

3} Prepare songs to propose to focus group and find out which they like best and would prefer seen turned into a music video. (Present mood board when listening)

·     Bastille – Laughter Lines 

·     Fun – Stars 

·     Twenty-One Pilots – Trees

Ask why the songs would work or why the songs wouldn’t work.

Ask participants to expand on points, avoiding yes or no questions.

4} Ask the participants questions to guide the discussion without restricting their thoughts/opinions 

All each topic enough time to gain a valuable insight into what the group thinks without rushing ideas.

Allow for the discussion to be flexible giving everyone time to talk to get everyone’s insight and input 

Allow participants to go off topic if you feel it will be valuable to your research.

5} Ask participants questions e.g.

1.    Which genre of music do you prefer, pop or indie pop? Is there are particular reason

2.    Which genre of music video do you prefer, narrative, experimental or performance and how would you like these set out?

3.    Which song would you prefer to see as a music video and why? 

4.    Which song gives a deeper meaning to you and why? 

5.    Is there anything you would like to add to the mood boards? 

6} Try to stay neutral when asking questions, avoid showing your own opinion during discussions, don’t let the topic of discussion linger on your preferences as this can reduce internal reliability and face validity. 

7} Repeat with different groups if possible, e.g. different target audiences. This will improve external reliability and predictive validity. 

References 

·     WikiHow (4^thFebruary 2019) (online) available from https://www.wikihow.com(Accessed 5^thFebruary 2019)