As a UK researcher I am often told that US focus groups can be quite different to UK focus, groups, but it is rare for me to get a chance to see what people mean. The YouTube below shows one example, of one US focus group.
I think there are a couple of things to note
1) I like the way the group is laid out to aid the camera work, which results in the camera zooming in easily on the person speaking.
2) I like the fact that sub-titles have been added to the video, that always makes it easier to follow.
3) I smiled when I saw the 'voting', how many out of 10 said yes or no to one idea or another. I think UK researchers focus on how non-representative such polling is, but on the other hand it did not seem in the least disruptive, and could, perhaps, simply be seen as a tool for keeping all ten group members engaged.
I think there are a couple of things to note
1) I like the way the group is laid out to aid the camera work, which results in the camera zooming in easily on the person speaking.
2) I like the fact that sub-titles have been added to the video, that always makes it easier to follow.
3) I smiled when I saw the 'voting', how many out of 10 said yes or no to one idea or another. I think UK researchers focus on how non-representative such polling is, but on the other hand it did not seem in the least disruptive, and could, perhaps, simply be seen as a tool for keeping all ten group members engaged.
As a US researcher, are there any examples of UK focus groups? How are they different from what you saw here?
Posted by: David | March 31, 2009 at 06:48 PM