Focus Group Reporting
Focus groups are a useful research technique employed by organizations ranging from product/service businesses to government agencies in order to obtain a group of opinions about a given project. After every focus group project, a report is prepared by the moderator for the client. This report documents the project, summarizes the findings and provides recommendations.
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Types
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Focus group reports fall into three basic types:
A topline is a brief summary of the focus group learning, combined with conclusions and recommendations. Toplines are usually delivered to the client within a week of the project's completion.
Although less common that toplines, moderators are occasionally asked to present the findings to the client's team. In these situations, a good moderator needs to understand who the key stakeholders are within the client's organization. Often, a presentation is valuable if face-to-face discussion needs to take place for everyone to be on the same page.
A final report is usually delivered about three weeks after a project closes. The report includes details such as the respondent screener and discussion guide. In practice, final reports are often an archival formality; frequently the client has moved on to the next steps in the process by the time a final report is issued. As such, final reports often serve as background and context to future inheritors of a given project.
Features
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Focus group reports typically include the following:
Management summary: A one- to two-page summary of key findings and recommendations.
Disclaimer: A caveat about the qualitative nature of focus group research.
Background: The conditions or situation leading to the need for research.
Research objective: The key question or questions addressed by the research.
Methodology: Number of groups, locations, respondent description and overview of respondent tasks.
Key findings: The major takeaways from the research.
Next steps or recommendations: What the research suggests the client do next.
Detailed findings: An elaboration on the key findings which usually also includes examples of any stimulus used, and specific quotes from respondents. Generally, this section appears only in a formal final report.
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Usage
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The topline is frequently the client organization's initial exposure to the focus group findings, other than those clients who might have attended. Upon issuance of this report, the client stakeholders will typically meet, discuss the findings, and agree to next steps. The moderator frequently attends this meeting.
Organizations frequently have their own marketing or marketing research staff prepare an independent summary for their team immediately after a project ends. This report is almost always consistent with the moderator's topline, but is often issued when the client's organization requires an immediate update.
In practice, final reports often serve an archival function, as usually the client has moved on to the next steps by the time a final report is issued. As such, final reports often serve as background and context to future inheritors of a given project.
De-briefs
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De-briefs are discussions between moderator and client that typically occur between groups or at the end of a day of groups. Clients and moderators use de-briefs to share insights, observations and hypotheses about what has been learned so far, and sometimes, to modify questions for future groups.
In this sense, de-briefs are another form of focus group reporting, although preliminary and much less formal. A good moderator must be prepared to lead de-brief discussions and help the client begin to synthesize what has been learned, keeping in mind there is still work to be done.
Considerations
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In addition to being a good moderator and writing clear concise reports, the moderator needs to fully understand the client's timing needs, the client organization's concerns and interests surrounding the project, and of course, budget. If a moderator is well prepared upfront, she can offer flexible reporting solutions. For example, if the situation is such that the client has organizational concerns and a limited budget, then a moderator might suggest an in-person presentation instead of a topline. If timing is of the essence, the moderator might suggest an immediate turnaround on a topline, in exchange for additional time to compile a final report.
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