Editor’s note: Matthew Harrison is director of B2B International, a White Plains, N.Y., research firm.

The technological revolution of the past 15 years has led to the rapid development of online data collection methodologies. Of these, the online survey is the most established, being regarded as an excellent way of obtaining the views of large numbers of respondents in an accurate and cost-effective way.

More recently, online focus groups have emerged, making it possible to obtain qualitative information online. This evolution has been driven not only by the speed and sophistication of new technology but also by respondents’ willingness - or even their request - to provide their views over the Internet rather than face-to-face or over the telephone.

In our view, the most reliable market research data is obtained by engaging the interest of the respondent. This is achieved through a subject matter that is perceived as relevant and is also dependent on us communicating through a medium of the respondent’s choosing at a time that suits them.

This article outlines the principles of online focus groups, before examining the 13 key benefits of the technique, some limitations and offering thoughts on the future of the technique.

The experience of the online focus groups we conduct is similar to that behind Internet message boards. Participants are given a user name and password to access a secure Web site, on which questions about the research topic are posted. The participants are asked to reply to each question, rather like they would with an online questionnaire.

A key difference with an online focus group, however, is that every participant sees the responses of all of the other respondents and is asked to respond to these views as well as to the initial question posed by the researcher. In addition, the researcher inserts questions as the discussion develops in order to probe areas ...