SIX LESSONS LEARNED FROM LEADING 6,000 FOCUS GROUPS- RECAP

If you are following this six part blog, you know that the first two blogs discussed were Lesson 1: “Trust your own Judgment” and Lesson 2: “Put everything in Writing”.  The list of all six lessons is presented below.

Lesson 1:       Trust your own judgment

Lesson 2:       Put everything in writing

Lesson 3:       No one remembers the last group you led – you are only as good as your next group

Lesson 4:       Maintain research rigor not research rigidity

Lesson 5:       Laugh early – it will all be funny later

Lesson 6:       Learn to expect and embrace change

Recap from Lessons 1 and 2

What does trust your own judgment mean?

It means doing what you think is best, right in the moment.  That can apply to selecting cities for focus groups, for deciding the order of questions in a guide, for how to host the debriefing after the research day is over.

What questions do I need to ask myself as I walk the research journey so I can trust my own judgment?

Some sample questions:

• What is the study purpose?
• Is there more than one purpose?
• What can be done in the time allowed and what cannot?
• Am I the right match for this project?
• What is the client expecting?
• What they do not want?
• Is this project traditional or one that will require creative approaches?

What is the value of putting everything in writing?

It means being a good steward of the process of being a qualitative researcher by keeping track of agreements made with and for clients as well as having a record of the materials related to the project, such as proposal / research brief, screener, moderator’s guide, description of stimuli used, and any materials related to reporting of outcomes.