Common focus group challenges
Because focus groups are all about feedback, the two biggest challenges have to be addressed very early in the planning process:
Who will be providing feedback? (That is, participant selection.)
What feedback will they be offering? (That is, what questions will be asked?)
Selecting the right participants
The goal in participant selection for a focus group is balance. You want to have a variety of opinions to create a good discussion. If the group view is too similar, it might not produce any relevant information. If it's too divided, it could be impossible to see a trend or common view.
The meeting cannot have too few participants because it might lose the opportunity for discussion. Too many participants might exclude introverted participants from speaking up. There are many schools of thought when it comes to the perfect number of participants; 8-12 seems to be a very common range.
Another thing to consider is whether individuals are participating in their own...
