Data in Focus Group Research' from Google Scholar available here. Both are stored locally aswel.
A previous focus group plan had been worked on, but this one will bring together feedback from the pilot questionnaire as well as findings from the two academic sources outlined above.
D - 'What are the high level goals of the evaluation...'
1. Who wants it and why....
2. Where could this fit into a persons life
3. What other technologies are currently fulfilling needs and how this differentiates itself
E - 'Explore the questions'
1. To determine how and why they would use it.
2. To discuss alternative methods of interaction i.e. inputs/outputs
3. To discuss the use of a device 'key'; whether it could be built into wearable/everyday objects
3. Who are you? What do you use instead to let someone know you're missing them? Is the proposed system useful in sending this message?
4. Would you prefer a secret 'silent' message or one that can be easily observed by others?
C - Choose the evaluation approach and methods
1. Focus group. Qualitative and in a controlled situation. The use of portable functioning props means that they can move around the space and test out how they would work. Semi-structured, with group brainstorming and drawing will be encouraged to share and develop emerging ideas. It will be presented as the 'i miss you' bear, and its physical form will be discussed as per the pilot test.
I - 'Identify the practical Issues... For example how to select users, stay on budget, stay on schedule, find evaluators, select equipment'
Users will be selected at random as no user group has been determined yet. However, a range of different people will be asked to ensure as wide a range of users as possible. The focus group will be cost-free (barring snacks), and i will be the evaluator. Only audio recordings will be taken to ensure anonymity and to allow my test subjects to feel as natural as possible. Any interaction will be described for the purposes of evaluations.
D -'Decide about ethical issues... Develop an informed consent form... Users have the right to: know the goals of the study, know what will happen to the findings, privacy of personal information, leave when they wish, be treated politely'
GUIDELINES FOR INFORMED CONSENT FORMS: http://www.who.int/rpc/research_ethics/informed_consent/en/ I used this file as the basis of my consent form.
'Confidentiality concerns with focus groups 'The following applies to focus groups: Focus groups provide a particular challenge to confidentiality because once something is said in the group it becomes common knowledge. Explain to the participant that you will encourage group participants to respect confidentiality, but that you cannot guarantee it.'
Procedures
A. Provide a brief introduction to the format of the research study.
B. Explain the type of questions that the participants are likely to be asked in the focus group, the interviews, or the survey. If the research involves questions or discussion which may be sensitive or potentially cause embarrassment, inform the participant of this.
C. Discuss duration, risks, benefits, reimbursements, confidentiality. I have allowed 15 mins for the focus group, risks are confidentiality, benefits and reimbursements will be in snacks and confidentiality is only enforced if a member specifically requests it in the prep stage.
Note: Full procedural outline is within the Informed Consent guidelines as mentioned earlier
E-'Evaluate, interpret & present data'-reliability, validity, bias, scope, ecological validity. This will be conducted at the end so cannot be planned for.
The informed consent form has been completed and will be presented to all 3 focus group subjects. 'A Qualitative Framework for Collecting and Analyzing Data in Focus Group Research'' has some guidelines for conducting good focus groups.
'The research question and research design ultimately guide how the focus group is constructed.
Well-designed focus groups usually last between 1 and 2 hours (Morgan, 1997; Vaughn et al.,
1996) and consist of between 6 and 12 participants (Baumgartner, Strong, & Hensley, 2002;
Bernard, 1995; Johnson & Christensen, 2004; Krueger, 1988, 1994, 2000; Langford, Schoenfeld,
& Izzo, 2002; Morgan, 1997; Onwuegbuzie, Jiao, & Bostick, 2004). The rationale for this range
of focus group size stems from the goal that focus groups should include enough participants to
yield diversity in information provided, yet they should not include too many participants because
large groups can create an environment where participants do not feel comfortable sharing their
thoughts, opinions, beliefs, and experiences. Krueger (1994) has endorsed the use of very small
focus groups, what he terms “mini-focus groups” (p. 17), which include 3 (Morgan, 1997) or 4
(Krueger, 1994) participants, when participants have specialized knowledge and/or experiences to
discuss in the group. Because participants might not be available on the day of the focus group,
Morgan (1997) has suggested overrecruiting by at least 20% of the total number of participants
required, and Wilkinson (2004) suggested an overrecruitment rate of 50%.'
I will over-recruit on this advice and invite more people. I am conducting, by Kreugers definition, a 'mini focus group'. However, i do not know if my participants have specialized knowledge or experiences although all will be familiar with technology. I selected such a small group to allow everyone a chance to communicate freely, but i may now be getting enough diversity in the information provided. I will increase the size of my focus group to 6 and over-recruit by inviting 7 or 8.
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