>Online Focus Groups
>Online focus groups are an interesting alternative to in person groups. There are two basic forms: real time Internet groups and ongoing chat rooms/bulletin boards. Compared with Internet chat rooms, a real time Internet group is more like it’s in person counterpart. Respondents log onto an Internet site and type their responses to a question posed by the moderator and to comments made by participants. Participants can see the comments of all participants and the moderator. The moderator guides the discussion by probing and moving to new topics. In addition, the moderator can communicate individually with respondents if the need arises – to encourage participation, for example.
Real time groups are generally shorter than in person groups – 60 – 90 minutes as respondents fatigue more quickly. They are limited to the same amount of participants (6-10) but can actually move along at a slower pace than traditional in person groups because people can generally talk faster than they can type. As a result, you will collect less information in a group online than you will in a traditional focus group.
Internet groups can be conducted more quickly than in person groups – as travel time is eliminated, there is less geographic concern when recruiting participants and a greater range of times are available to the researcher since participation is generally at home. They are a great way to conduct groups with the technically savvy, with hard to find respondents, or with younger respondents who are more comfortable communicating online.
Ongoing chat rooms are much like other common chat rooms. These begin with a moderator posing questions and respondents answering, as well as responding to one another’s comments at their leisure. Such groups can go on over the course of a week or more, with the moderator adding questions or redirecting discussion as needed.
One advantage of either approach is that a transcript of the dialog is available immediately after the session. Also, respondents can be less inhibited than with face-to-face groups, and therefore express deeper feelings.
If you are looking to check out online focus group software for yourself, Itracks is a common used one.
