Updated October 2026. Grammar and spelling corrected; 2014 services footer removed. No new group-size figure added.
During her final year at university, Abi-Gaye White ran her first focus group. The session worked because the preparation was done early. In March 2014 she set down six steps for someone about to run their first group. She was then Legal and Corporate Communications Manager at Balcostics Ltd. The byline is left as published.
A focus group is a qualitative method. A moderator guides a conversation so that people can talk about a subject, and about how they see it, what they think, what they believe and how they feel. The six steps were these.
- Organise and plan. Do not leave the room, the time or the questions until the last minute.
- Recruit and screen for the right people, with the right characteristics and the right knowledge of the subject. Contact each participant again and confirm the time and the place.
- Know the subject, and stay neutral in the conversation. If a comment is unclear, ask what the person means. Treat every statement as worth clarifying.
- Draw everyone in. Do not let one person dominate, and do not leave someone sitting through the session without a chance to speak. Some people are more at ease in a group than others. That ease should not decide whose view is heard.
- Keep the session moving. A focus group is allowed a natural run of topics. Do not jump, and do not let one topic use the whole hour.
- Check the equipment first. Make sure the recorder works. You cannot write every comment down verbatim during the session.
The original post did not state a group size, a number of groups, or an incentive. None has been added.
Updated October 2026
- Spelling and grammar were corrected, including "organise", "recorder" and the split between planning and recruitment. The six steps are otherwise the 2014 list.
- A site footer about research management and outsourcing was removed. It was not part of the method.
- The in-article photograph was left off this page. It is a camera file from the original post, and it was not possible to confirm that it does not show participants.